US Dollar sinks to new low against Euro

"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...
If the US$ continues to sink, the trade imbalance will correct itself:
imports
of any type will be too expensive, and US exports will boom, sailplanes
included.
Cheers, Charles


I don't know about that Charles.

If the Czechs and Poles can't match German build quality what hope have the
Yank's got?

Ian

( only slightly tounge in cheek )

tango4 wrote:
"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...

If the US$ continues to sink, the trade imbalance will correct itself:
imports
of any type will be too expensive, and US exports will boom, sailplanes
included.
Cheers, Charles



I don't know about that Charles.

If the Czechs and Poles can't match German build quality what hope have the
Yank's got?

Ian

( only slightly tounge in cheek )


One might say they went 'bossies' minimum 4 year recovery period. ;-)

As for matching build quality. It appears to be more the combination of price
and proximity to market that counts. Standards argument about "built to price"
and "value for money" - most people will buy what they can see and feel,
preferably from someone they can understand. Scary discovery to find that there
are less than 100 insured gliders in South Africa. Not going to get far
manufacturing them here no matter what the quality.

If the Czechs and Poles can't match German build quality

Well... I would doubt that, but I am used to that stereotypes and urban
legends are very hard to remove over just fifteen years since we left
socialism.

Regards,


--
Janusz Kesik
Poland

-------------------------------------
See Wroclaw (Breslau) in photography,
The XIX Century, the Festung Breslau, and photos taken today.
http://www.wroclaw.dolny.slask.pl

Going back to German quality, vs that of Polish, Czech, etc... Not only are
some DGs built in Slovenia (and sold as German), but also sales of German cars
have dropped, particularly VW...because of QC problems. It is a myth that East
Europeans build shlock. It did not take that long for Japanese manufacturers
to improve the quality of their products (remember Alan Sherman?), nor for the
Chinese. So why not East Europeans?

After all, if the market is in the West -- Europe or Americas --, manufacturers
have to deliver a good product in line with its price.

Cheers, Charles

Cheers anyway, Charles

(Vorsanger1) writes:

US exports will boom, sailplanes
included.

This might be right, but I think it will be used sailplanes that return to the
continent of their birth.

Steve

tango4 wrote:

"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...

If the US$ continues to sink, the trade imbalance will correct itself:
imports
of any type will be too expensive, and US exports will boom, sailplanes
included.
Cheers, Charles

I don't know about that Charles.

If the Czechs and Poles can't match German build quality what hope have the
Yank's got?

The US will be able to match German build quality in our exports,
because, unfortunately, most of the sailplanes we are likely to export
as the dollar weakens will be German sailplanes, which will become
attractively priced outside the US.

For any manufacturer, "build quality" is just one factor in a successful
product, as LS can tell you. Even the Germans don't all buy Mercedes or
BMWs. The US designed and manufactured SparrowHawk, for example, offers
offers features like none of the German manufacturers, along with good
quality construction.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Earlier, (Mike Stringfellow) wrote:

...Economic models would suggest a strong incentive for sailplane
manufacture in North America, but I wonder if the numbers of potential
sales would justify this.

Any thoughts?

I have no particularly meaningful thoughts on whether it is
economically feasable, except that I intend to give it a try and see
how it goes.

However, one other thing I'll toss into this thread is that the
materials costs of building sailplanes is closely linked (at least,
more closely than I'd like) to the price of oil. I've been talking
with my suppliers, and _their_ suppliers have been seeing monthly and
sometimes weekly price increases on composite and plastic materials.
What with oil prices doubling since Y2K, it makes a big difference.

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

Uzytkownik "Bob Kuykendall" napisal w wiadomosci
om...

However, one other thing I'll toss into this thread is that the
materials costs of building sailplanes is closely linked (at least,
more closely than I'd like) to the price of oil. I've been talking
with my suppliers, and _their_ suppliers have been seeing monthly and
sometimes weekly price increases on composite and plastic materials.
What with oil prices doubling since Y2K, it makes a big difference.

So what then? Back to the wood? At least in case of the 'sailplanes for the
beginners'?

Regards,


--
Janusz Kesik
Poland

-------------------------------------
See Wroclaw (Breslau) in photography,
The XIX Century, the Festung Breslau, and photos taken today.
http://www.wroclaw.dolny.slask.pl

Eric Greenwell wrote in message ...
Vaughn wrote:
"Mike Stringfellow" wrote in message
om...

Economic models would suggest a strong incentive for sailplane
manufacture in North America,


Like this? http://www.peregrinesailplane.com/

Vaughn

Or like this:

http://www.windward-performance.com/

And if the US$ continues to sink, maybe some of these will find their
way to Europe. We'll have to sell boatloads to make up for our trade
imbalance, though.

Glider exports to Europe will have to deal with the airworthiness
issue. There is no "Experimental" category in Europe like the 'Racing
and Exhibition' niche that so many of us - including me - have
registered their gliders in. That may be the reason why I've never
come across a US made glider during my time in Germany, come to think
of it. Bureaucracy is still king, particularly in Germany.
Herb, J7

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 20:10:42 -0700, "F.L. Whiteley"
wrote:


Ah shucks, I was figuring DG would outsource LS-4 production to US.

Talking about the LS-4b: It's back in production (by Walter Eisele, a
well-known german glider pilot), now called LS-4/2005.

Price is 39.400 Euro, complete with retractable gear and water bags.
Winglets are optional.

Lots of bang for the buck if you ask me.



Bye
Andreas