On Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 8:23:30 AM UTC-5, Rich Owen wrote:
At Seminole-Lake Gliderport in Orlando we have a DG LLC that includes a DG-1000T, DG-800S, and an LS-8-18. These aircraft are all in a hangar assembled. We have 12 partners who payed $30k for entry and we divide all bills by 12 so our annual expense for everything is $1,500-$1,700 a year. Since the glider operation is open 6 days a week, we are lucky. The season in Florida is basically year round. Ships are allowed to go to contests and on the road for fun events. Only 2 out of 3 ships were in the Seniors which is a contest at our home field. It is rare that all 3 ships are flying at the same time. We have had members as far away as England or Iowa. With apartments available at the gliderport, our members from outside the area come in for a few days. We give preference to the out of towners for which aircraft they want to fly but that has never been a problem. Got friends to fly, take the 1000. Want to go XC, take the ship closest to the hangar door. We have been running for 10 years usually with a waiting list. When you're ready to leave, you sell the membership. So your glider experience costs $30k in $30k out and $1,700 a year for 3 high performance glass ships. Just for comparison, I also own an ASG-29Es and just my insurance bill is $2,200 a year! The LLC makes good sense. As always, you have to find what fits for you. This is just another example of how other soaring pilots found a more cost effective way to fly high performance gliders.
Rich Owen

Seminole is one of my favorite places to soar, especially in "out of season" months in the northern states. But let us not forget in the calculations the additional cost of flying in to Orlando from England or Iowa. The good news is that thanks to the Disney World those air tickets seem to be subsidized and kept quite low.

Tom BravoMike