On May 28, 9:01*pm, Bill D wrote:

There will most likely be a fix eventually but the cost is probably
not going to be what people are hoping for. *(I hope I'm wrong about
that.) *Please try not to shoot the messenger.


I was talking to several folks at a soaring event this weekend, and I
had been on the bandwagon of "ditch the L-13s and lets buy something
new" for awhile... But their comments really made me see this in a
new light: We've been considering the L-13 a $10k - $20k airplane,
and the idea of dumping $10k - $15k into it for a fix seems "wrong"
because its such a huge percentage of the airplane's value. BUT,
there's another way to look at it. Instead of considering the "street
value" of the L-13, try considering the cost of the L-13 repair in
contrast with the next-better alternative; which is either a Grob-103
or something like a TST-14 "Bonus" or SZD "Perkoz":
G-103 = Roughly $35k+ (also likely to be high-time and parts are ??)
TST-14 = Unknown, but gotta be at _least_ $60k+ I'm guessing
SZD "Perkoz" = Looks like a sweet setup and cheaper than an ASK-21,
but its still ~$85k (public quotes of 65,000 euros)

So in light of THOSE costs, dropping $10k - $15k on a Blanik is a hell
of a lot cheaper.

Of course, its still just a short-term fix. Like our aging membership
issues, we find ourselves in a hole. This time around its equipment
and finances. The US Soaring scene leaned on tired 2-33's (and
L-13's) for way too long and did not do a good job of building
infrastructure or making stepwise investments in better equipment. So
now we have to try to dig ourselves out of a mess. I sincerely hope
that more clubs do a better job of long-term financial planning than
they have done over the last 20 years; it seems that few people
consider charging enough money to put aside funds for re-covering,
buying new gear, or any other multi-year goals.

On the topic of longer-term solutions, I would love to see what the
new Lea County State Bank trainer loans look like. With the EAA and
some aviation-oriented banks I can get 7-15 year loan terms on both
finished aircraft and even un-built KITS. It seems that similar
financing should be available for sailplanes, with long terms given
the lengthy service-life that our aircraft experience.

I am also curious if any clubs have self-financed new equipment (by
taking out loans from members)? Getting ~15 members to each pony up
$5k - $10k at 5% interest would get you a new trainer. And promising
individuals a ~5% return on their money is a hell of a lot better than
most CDs or Money-Market accounts these days; and even better than
some stock portfolios! :-P

In the "I wish..." column, I'd love to see a non-Euro-currency country
out there building an inexpensive (say $50k - $60k) trainer. The
aerodynamics nowadays are well-understood so it should be easy to make
something simple that has no "bad habits". I've always been told that
its the tooling and labor costs - especially the labor costs - that's
the issue. So shouldn't it be possible to get a known group of
aerodynamic and mechanical engineers together to make a solid design,
and then fabricate the darned thing in a region with lower labor
costs? I'm thinking South America, India, or another area where
technically-oriented people live and they can put something together
without major quality-control concerns... Seems like it should be
possible (see: Embraer, or some of the aerospace contracting that's
done in the Asia-Pacific region). Of course, Windward performance
comes to mind for a "local" solution. I'm sure they have a few
Duckhawk orders to process right now, but I wonder if Windward could
switch from PrePreg to some simpler fiberglass & kevlar layups and
operate cheaply enough to put out a reasonably-priced trainer that's
sold in US Dollars?

OK, enough wishing for now...

--Noel
P.S. I am sure a few people are thinking about chiming in and saying
that a trainer has to be metal because it needs to be tied out. My
only response is: If you can get the trainer down to a reasonable
price, you can afford a couple of extra thousand dollars for a nice
set of covers. Also, Polyurethane is probably a good idea (to make
repainting/refinishing easier over the next couple of decades), no?