Newbie seeking glider purchase advice -- II

Also, I'll be trailer-parking the bird at Turf or Estrella, I'm 5'11", 170
pounds, and able to lift fairly heavy pieces without assistance. (But I
would like something easy to put together.) Again, I'm most interested in
pursuing x-country, and competing as soon as I'm ready.

Hmmm. Can lift heavy pieces, and price under $25,000. Look at the
LS-3, which is in that price range, and whose only disadvantage is heavy
wings (170 pounds or so). An older glider (late '70's), but its flaps
have performance about the same as a modern standard class (flapless)
glider. Excellent for XC, especially with its gigantic spoilers that
will get you down anywhere.

Ted,

Thought I ought to put in my two cents as well. In an earlier post
you mentioned the lack of U.S. built gliders. There is one currently
in production. The SparrowHawk from Windward Performance. It offers
the most advanced construction of any sailplane on the market using
almost exclusively carbon fiber pre-preg's for the structure which
makes it extremely durable and extremely light. It has quite advanced
aerodynamics which allow it to fly with most of the 2nd generation
glass as long as it is not really booming conditions (others do
perform better at higher speeds) and have extremely good handling,
especially at low speeds. It is a very easy airplane to fly and has
been used as a first single seater by a few pilots. Everyone that has
flown it absolutely loved it.

My dad is planning to spend quite a bit of time at Estrella with his
this winter. I am sure he will be happy to show it to you. Contact
me directly if you need any more info.

Doug Taylor