Looking at an old Ercoupe today...

snip
That's *if* you own your own sailplane.
Where I flew, it was $35 for the tow (minimum), plus $X/hr for rental of
the sailplane.

You didn't say how much you paid for the 38:1 glass ship!

$11,000 for my 38-1 Sailplane with trailer and Parachute.


And it should be mentioned that taking it home with you in the trailer
vs. having a tiedown/hangar means having help and time to take the wings
off and put them back on each time. I've watched this...they don't go
together as quickly as Lego.


There are some that go together that way. Mostly that has to do with
the owners not putting the time and effort into making the trailers
work well.

5 of the 7 gliders I fly with can be assembled and disassembled in
less the 20 minutes. Less time that it will take you to do a good
preflight and fuel your power plane. The require 2 people for only
about 4 minutes to attach the wings the rest can be done by the pilot.

One of my flights this year, I left my house at 1:00pm drove 10
minutes to the airport with my glider in the trailer, I assembled my
glider, launched and was off tow and thermalling at 1:45. for what
turned out to be a 4 hour flight.


They are unique and wonderful, quiet, less manic than airplanes. But
there is a downside (depending on how you view it). You can't just go to
the airport, gas up your plane, take off and go from Point-A to Point-B.
You need a way to be launched (towplane/auto tow/winch), at least one or
two other people not going with you to help launch you, and if there
isn't any lift, you won't be going far.

Fair enough. But again with the right equipment only a tow pilot is
required.


I wouldn't describe it as "very inexpensive", either! It can go either
way. Sometimes, "inexpensive" is hardly the case, with paying for the
tow and the minimum hourly rental for what ends up being a 20-minute
flight (approximate duration of a tow to 3000 feet with no lift). When
learning and doing several "pattern tows" in a row, it can get downright
expensive very quickly.

Shirl (licensed in gliders before airplanes)

As with nearly any sport you can pay as much as you want. Getting a
glider license can be expensive but if you shop around and are
flexiable it can be inexpensive especially for a transition from
power. I had a freind transition about two years ago for less than
$800.

My annual expenses for about 50 hours of glider time per year have
been less than $1000.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
HP16T