On May 29, 3:10*pm, "Bob McKellar" wrote:
"noel.wade" *wrote in message

...

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

snip

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

My small club did exactly what you suggest. *The choice before us was
basically pony up for a newer trainer or fold.
We borrowed money from seven members and purchased a Grob 103 from a German
club.
Getting the money was the easy part! *Dealing with two countries, shipping
companies, Americanizing the trailer etc. was a LOT of work.
We have been flying it (and making the payments) for about a year now.

Bob McKellar

How do you think all those L-13's and 2-33's got financed? We faced
an even worse situation than now when the war surplus trainers wore
out. There were nearly 400 and most were gone by the 1960's. It was
tough sell when clubs were faced with buying metal trainers costing
10x what those war surplus trainers cost. There were pilots who left
the sport in a huff over spending that much money on "a damn glider".

Most clubs who survived - and then grew rapidly - got a member to put
up the down payment and financed the rest with a bank - usually Lea
County Bank in Hobbs. LCB says they've never had a glider loan go bad
so they're eager for more of them. They're waiting for your call -
interest rates are at a historic low and the Euro is tanking.