On Aug 15, 9:29 am, Dan G wrote:
That said I think
the K13 is the perfect trainer and if I ran a club with a fleet of
those, I'd just repaint them and keep them, then add a K21 or G103 for
XC training

....and if you do add an expensive high-performance glider, set your
per-minute flying fees to be identical for all gliders - from your Duo
or DG to you 13s or 33s. Why? Because I've just remembered that my own
club, which happens to have exactly the fleet I've outlined above
(three K13s and a K21), also has a brand new Duo X on long-term loan,
which I'd forgotten about. AFAIK it's flown once(!!!) this year, and
that was only by a visiting pilot - the per-minute charge is more than
double than the other four two-place gliders. No-one I've spoken to
has the slightest interest in flying it at that cost so it just sits
there.

The club I mentioned that has just bought a second DG1000 charges the
same fee for their 13s, 21s and the two 1000s. Guess what? The DG1000s
are a regular sight in the skies all around the local area and beyond,
as they are used daily. In fact they're often first out of the hangar,
make a tremendous impression on trial flight folks (if you've ever
flown in the front seat of a DG, you'll know why - the vast view is
stunning!) and more often than not they go XC, exactly what they were
designed for. Bizarrely, that club is now actually investigating
changing the pricing structure, even though they originally introduced
the flat rate for exactly the reasons I've given, and are not
struggling to pay the loans on the new gliders. I hope they see sense!


Dan