What First Glider to own?

At 19:54 02 December 2010, Tony wrote:
On Dec 2, 1:05=A0pm, 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. =A0(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

buy the best trailer you can afford with an airworthy glider
inside
it.

seriously.

So long as it isn't a DG or sadly an LS, you might find spares
very expensive to come by (see other threads)

On Dec 2, 1:16*pm, Nigel Cottrell wrote:
At 19:54 02 December 2010, Tony wrote:



On Dec 2, 1:05=A0pm, 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. =A0(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

buy the best trailer you can afford with an airworthy glider
inside
it.

seriously.

So long as it isn't a DG or sadly an LS, you might find spares
very expensive to come by (see other threads)



What Darrell says! If a partnership is a possibility, it would
definitely be my recommendation.

My first ship was a 19m Jantar-1, which I really enjoyed except for a
few issues:

1) The one-piece wing panels are heavy. Fellow pilots would hide
when I arrived at the field to rig! It only became a fun glider to
fly after I snagged hangar space.

2) The trailer was a British home-built piece of cr@p! A lousy
trailer will always bug you.

Mike

If it lives in the trailer, make sure you have a decent one with good
rigging aids.