New low budget two seater

On Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 1:35:01 AM UTC-6, Gal wrote:
Hi!
We are trying to get new two seater from various funds for our club. Most of the funds force to buy new glider.
Can you please help us a little bit with market research and suggest low budget two seater?
Thank you all!

Pardon my cynical attitude, but I don't expect this to cost any less than the older version, and in fact would be surprised if it didn't cost more. These kind of gliders need to be more affordable. /[Rant]

At 06:07 14 July 2018, John Foster wrote:
On Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 1:35:01 AM UTC-6, Gal wrote:
Hi!
We are trying to get new two seater from various funds for our club.
Most
of the funds force to buy new glider.
Can you please help us a little bit with market research and suggest
low
budget two seater?
Thank you all!

Pardon my cynical attitude, but I don't expect this to cost any less than
the older version, and in fact would be surprised if it didn't cost more.

These kind of gliders need to be more affordable. /[Rant]


Then you find a way of producing them more affordably instead of siting on

your arse ranting. Don't think most sailplane manufacturers are making
vast profits.

American clubs need to bite the bullet and start renewing our fleet or we will continue to shrink. 100k for a glider shared across the membership and amortized isn't that much. An ASK21 is a steal compared to a c172.

On Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 2:43:06 PM UTC-6, wrote:
American clubs need to bite the bullet and start renewing our fleet or we will continue to shrink. 100k for a glider shared across the membership and amortized isn't that much. An ASK21 is a steal compared to a c172.

Its a little hard doing that when your "club" consists of 4 working stiffs, all of which don't even have the money to go out on their own and get a glider pilot's license. We're trying to get something started here in MT. And I can find a used airworthy c172 for easily as much or less than I can find a used ASK21 (which I have yet to see a used one go for anything less than $75,000).

You've certainly got a challenge with 4 members and a low population density to draw from up there. I was referring to new c172 vs. new k21 price however. Every club has its challenges, keep pushing! You'll find the right glider to get you going, but when you do, don't let your progress stop there. Too many clubs stopped advancing decades ago and now SSA membership is half of what it was when I was a kid.

On Sunday, July 15, 2018 at 12:48:07 AM UTC-5, John Foster wrote:
On Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 2:43:06 PM UTC-6, wrote:
American clubs need to bite the bullet and start renewing our fleet or we will continue to shrink. 100k for a glider shared across the membership and amortized isn't that much. An ASK21 is a steal compared to a c172.

Its a little hard doing that when your "club" consists of 4 working stiffs, all of which don't even have the money to go out on their own and get a glider pilot's license. We're trying to get something started here in MT. And I can find a used airworthy c172 for easily as much or less than I can find a used ASK21 (which I have yet to see a used one go for anything less than $75,000).

When my club, SES, started, we were launching with a car, a rope, and a pulley. I think there were around 10 members at the time. We found a Ka-8 and a Ka-7 that needed some love. Financed them at a local bank and paid interest only on the loans for a few years. I think we were paying something like $60/month for the Ka-7. Now we average around 40-50 members, 2 Ka-8's in pristine condition, a pretty good looking Ka-7, and a high(er) performance 2 seater (Scheibe SF-34), a Standard Cirrus, and a Pawnee tug. All paid for now, by the way. Regardless of what gliders you have, if they fly regularly, your club will most likely make it.