At 01:06 12 March 2006, Jeff Runciman wrote:
Thanks for all of the advise. I dont think I can afford
a B or C and I have made 2 minor errors in preflight
in all of my hours. Any suggestions on a 25k and under
sailplane would be appreciated.

Jeff

I take it you have looked at:

www.wingsandwheels.com/wantads1.htm

Its great to see what types of gliders are/have been
on the market and the prices they go for.

With your budget, I can see a nice ASW19 for $22,500,
a Jantar for $18000, even a LAK12 (~48:1!!) for $20,500.

I really use it as an eye-opener to what is going around.
LAKs by the way are great machines and have flaps.
At almost 50:1 the performance per dollar cant be matched.
Just make sure you have done a bit of work with bigger
wings (20.5m)....

A friend at my club owns one and has never had any
problems with it, apart from it being a bit heavy on
the rigging side. He made a field landing last week
- late selection, landing in waist high crop, the glider
ground looped and came to rest within 2 fuselage lengths
of touching down. He walked away and the glider didnt
have an ounce of damage.

A glider like that at a price like that means (as someone
has already mentioned) you have a spare $4500 to do
upgrades or just to pocket the difference for those
aerotows!

As with any glider, each has its own characteristics
and should be respected. Do not be put off by flaps
or slightly bigger wings - its just a case of getting
some practice in a 2seater and then taking a day which
you can stay up a long time and get a feel for the
thing.

Hope this is of help,

JR