Bruce, I just want to second your opinion.
I never meant to start PW-5 "fire" again. This post was originally intended to help find a Winglet/Wintips documentation - eventually a party interested making such.

Tremendous amount of heat IS JUST A CLEAR INDICATION OF THE OUTSTANDING VALUE OF THIS plane and fact that some pilots who made a different choice still have problem justifying their decisions.

We have our PW-5's and we are really happy with them.
As mentioned earlier:
-Flies just slightly "below "big brothers and sisters"
-Super SAFE - can't really stall it ;-), Do not believe? - fly one and check. Probably the only glider which offers such a forgiving behavior,
-Can be used a s transition trainer for faster SuperGlass (I practiced number of fast/flat landings before I got into 40x:1 ship..), yet could be "mounted" almost right after Solo
-Super cheap insurance,
-Super easy maintenance,
-Super Comfy - as mentioned I am 6'4" - 215lb .. and it feels roomy :-)
-During winter it simply "sleeps" in a standard garage (where I can work on it as it pleases me ;-)
-I can assemble this plane MYSELF (with some stand/riger) within 15minutes !!! - no problem / no kidding. If I have a helping hand rigging become a positive "joke".
-beats ALL the "antic metal" I can think off (and fly in our club) ... IT IS A GLASS by the way :-)

I fly it for FUN .. read it again .. FUN !!! ... It can "scrab" very well so I can stay in week Midwest lifts for surprisingly long time having FUN all the way. I simply "feel" PW-5 may use a bit longer wing / winglets especially for the heavier pilots like myself.

When I want some thrill then I jump on Orbitz and fly somewhere where I can RENT a "SuperGlass" (Duo-Discuss is my preference ;-) ... and due "something serious" Even then is costs serious backs it still offers me better / cheaper option then owning SuperGlass and all associated costs/troubles.

And please stop teasing me with a HP-24 kit. IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE A GREAT GLIDER, however IT IS GOING TO BE prohibitively expensive - even as a kit ;-) (and please correct me with ballpark numbers so we can hold you accountable.. ;-). Not counting skills and hours required to build it - when SZD-55 or Shark is already there and ready. Want to get "reality check" ? -- reexamine history of Silent kits .. price/hours etc. For me KIT BUILDING goes as far as putting together 1:48 scale plastic model ;-)

Now, PW-5 could be purchased a new from Jezow for about 20k - call them and check (Mr. Mynarski will happily make one up for less - I bet) .. and remember that PW-5 was also made as kit (more then twenty sent to Egypt as I remember) .. so it would be/ should be available for all of those who have all time on their hands ...

I want to click-and-fly .. and have fun doing it. If not flying - I would rather be working in my profession (which is not "garage-kit-builder", making some monies to fly even more ;-)

Thank You All for your great interest responding to my request .. and please stay "on subject" ...
If anyone considering "winglets build challenge" - here, we would take at least 3 kits if available (assuming some 2.5-3k price range).
If PW-5 Construction Plan Set is available anywhere, we would be interested as well

Kris Cichon - KiloCharlie