On Jan 10, 8:58*am, tstock wrote:
Why would I get bored in a two seater under 50K? *Even the old
Blanik's offer better performance than say, a 1-26, 1-23, etc, and
people don't seem to get bored with those?

Thanks

Have you been on many XC flights in a L13? Tried to find anybody to
help you derig one after a landout?

You may need to have a chat with you wife about the actual cost of
sailplanes. Whether you have this chat before or after you buy one is
up to you.

Most owners are definitely not bored with an old Blaniks. They get to
spend hours reading ADs and worrying about spar fatigue issues and if
their gliders are ever goign to fly again. So if you want that kind of
non-boredom I suspect many owners will be interested in selling you
their L13 at a "great" price.

It is hard to offer advice on first gliders without a real knowledge
of what you want to do. There are no two seat gliders going for $20k
that would have even the slightest possible interest as a two seat
glider for me. If you just want to do the occasional local flight and
take a family member along then joining a club or finding an FBO and
using their club two seaters would seem lot easier than buying your
own. But if you do want to buy one then I don't see much likely to be
available except for say older Schweizer gliders and they are
definitely not something that anybody is goign to be interested in
rigging frequently. And prices of say SGS 2-32 are kept high because
of their popularity with some FBOs etc.

Should your interest be in XC - There are lots of great XC two seaters
that either in club/FBO or private hands get used by pilots to take
friends XC flying or more importantly to help mentoring/training new
XC pilots. To really be effective there, i.e. show people what is
really possible and have the most fun and advance the fastest I think
you are into Duo Discus or DG-1000 class two seaters (or the older rev
before these e.g. Janus or DG-500) and those get a lot more affordable
if considered for clubs and syndicates.

BTW the best way to buy a great ~$20k XC single seater is find one or
two partners and find a nice condition ASW-24, Discus, LS-4, DG-300,
etc. That will get you in the 40:1 L/D range, much easier rigging,
auto control hookups, composite construction with no aluminum or
fabric to worry about. And in that price range you also have a hope of
a nice trailer.

Darryl