On Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 2:05:09 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

Thank you Bruce, thank you.

Yes that's right. According to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com a PW-5 in today's money would be $23,976.

I'll repeat that a second time for clarification $23,976.

And a third time for impact $23,976


I rest my case to all you naysayers who say a glider can't be produced at a reasonable cost!


I hate to be the math and economics guy all the time, but I think you rested your case on the wrong analysis.

The PW-5 was made in Poland. You applied the US CPI. Turns out US and Polish inflation rates are different because (drum roll) they are different countries. Poland went through hyperinflation after the end of the Cold War and did a 10,000:1 redenomination of their currency in 1995.

If you compound Polish CPI from 1994 to today you get higher prices by a factor of 5.9. That would make a $15,000 PW-5 in 1994 cost about $88,000 today.

But don't despair. Big differentials in inflation can be accompanied by offsetting currency exchange rates. The Polish Zloty has devalued a bit versus the dollar so, adjusting for inflation AND exchange rates (adjusting for the redenomination), a 1994 PW-5 would cost around $55,000 today.

I bet that's not too far off from what you'd pay for a GP 11, and the GP 11 performs a lot better than a PW-5.

This is a simplified analysis as inflation for skilled technical jobs (like making gliders) can rise at a somewhat different rate than overall prices. Nevertheless, engineering and economics are kind of like gravity, you ignore them at your peril.

Do I get a chicken dinner?

Andy Blackburn
9B