There are a few Experimental Gliders with great performance bang for
the buck and are great performers.
Also Experimentals can be maintained by YOU with the help of an
aircraft mechanic for annuals.
You dont see experimentals being grounded by AD's making your
investment a complete loss like the Blanik L-13.


The Schreder HP Experiementals are a great buy. I bought my 40+ year
old HP-11 for $6,000 with a good trailer.
Its had 9 owners and they have completed Diamonds etc in them.
Its all metal and I leave it outside rigged in the blistering CA sun
and occasional rain, year round and its virtually maintenance free. L/
D ~37:1

Its durable and learning Flaps is easy and less scray than you have
heard and gives you capabilities to exceed your best expectations,
with flap assisted slow thermalling and reflex flaps for top end
speed. and full flaps to get in to incredibly small postage stamp
sized fields. I now prefer flaps to spoilers alone and I think most
people would too if they gave it a try.

Its also a rugged and durable design and will out survive a fiberglass
model with reduced maintenance required.

You should check out the HP-11, HP-14, HP-18 and RS-15 in the Schreder
line at soaridaho. com, mostly under $15K

To fly one is to become a believer in late 60's high performance
contest proven technology. Plus you can afford all those extra tows
and road trips with the money you save.

Save for the modern glass while you have fun in the Schreders and pass
along your HP when you are ready to move up....they last forever.

Ray


On Dec 2, 11:05*am, Sparkorama
wrote:
I'm getting back into the sport after a long hiatus and flying in the
Boston area. I'll be putting some winter flying time in and I'm
considering buying my first glider once I'm back to comfortable solos
and my private license. (Naturally, I won't fly anything until I am
competent and ready). Any suggestions on a first glider? Because of my
price range, I realize I'll be looking at some older birds. I would say
my preferences are as follows. Under 20k, easy to fly, easy to maintain
and safe. Naturally, I'd like to see some decent glide performance, just
thinking that some future performance would be good for keeping the
plane for some time. *(currently I'm considering an IS29D2 Lark)
My club has competent instructors and the following fleet (winter flying
in only the 2-33):
1 Puchacz (two place, 30/1 performance; advanced trainer, aerobatic)
3 Blanik L-23 (two place, 30/1 performance; advanced trainer,
sightseeing)
1 Blanik L-33 solo (single place, 30/1 performance; cross-country,
sightseeing)
1 Schweitzer 1-34 (single place, 34/1 performance)
1 Pilatus B-4 (single place, 35/1 performance; cross-country,
aerobatic)
1 Schweizer 2-33A (two place, 23/1 performance; trainer)
1 Schweizer 1-26E (single place, 23/1 performance; aerobatic)
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

--
Sparkorama