On Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 10:38:39 AM UTC-6, Nick Hill wrote:
On 04/05/2021 16:34, wrote:
On Monday, May 3, 2021 at 10:37:04 PM UTC-7, wrote:

For two place composite gliders, it seems there's basically two camps: dedicated trainers (17-18m) with low-ish performance and high-performance, cross-country machines with long wingspans unsuitable for basic training (20+m). But, both types of performance are needed on the training continuum at different times and few cross that divide with one platform. The only other 'adaptable' two seater where a shorter span could be used for daily training, but added wingspan added for higher-performance cross country, is the DG1001. But, I am guessing the DG1001 is much more expensive than the SZD-54-2.
I don't know US/Canada pricing but in the UK my club has looked at this,
although not moved forward with either due to recent lack of operations
and uncertainty in the recent past. Yes the DG1001 is more expensive but
for something you may own and operate for many years the price of a
DG1001 Club NEO against a Perkoz may be less than you think. Check with
the agents.

--

Nick Hill

To me this is a market that is SORELY lacking in the US at least. The training fleet is getting quite "long in the tooth". Every year we seem to loose a few 2-33s due to wind damage or some other incident. The G-103s are increasingly getting "beat up" as described above, and those that have been repaired continually seem to loose useful load, even as the US population gets heavier and heavier. For a decent trainer now, unless you are training pediatrics, you need a useful load of almost 400lbs. Anyone over 200lbs is going to have a hard time finding a place to train anymore. There are many clubs in the US that are really strapped for cash, and don't have any options to transition students from the 2-33 into glass ships, let alone do primary training in a glass ship. I really wish there were more options available in this area at an affordable price (under $25,000). But I guess it is a simple case of supply/demand where busy, successful clubs are able to pay the higher prices for more expensive gliders.