When I bought my last glider, the Discus was all the rage. I paid more to get the ASW 24 because of its crashworthy safety cockpit. I also ordered the canopy wire deflector bar and added a 6-point harness and ELT, among other things, to improve crash survivability. Gerhard Waibel received an OSTIV award for his design, which includes an impact-absorbing landing gear and which has been used in subsequent Schleicher gliders.

The ads seem to indicate that the other makers are paying more attention to safety now but I don't know how successfully, or how important that is to most pilots. I voted with my wallet.

Chip Bearden