US Dollar sinks to new low against Euro

Uzytkownik "Andreas Maurer" napisal w wiadomosci
...
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.

Well, if we talk about money...

SZD-55, also back in production, but much more modern design than LS-4 (some
ten years younger)
Price: 34.990 Euro, so the buyer still has 4.500Euro in his pocket, and a
more modern glider in the hangar.
I would just count if the 'LS' on the side of the cockpit is worth
4.500Euro.
The '55' price list: http://www.szd.com.pl/downloads/01-551.html

Lots of bang for a buck, isn't it?

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

Andreas Maurer wrote:
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.



Wow! This is the thing i hoped. Indeed i can only agree with you, this
is the best bang for the bug one can find at present.


Bye
Andreas

--

Michel TALON

Janusz Kesik wrote:

SZD-55, also back in production, but much more modern design than LS-4 (some
ten years younger)

Meaning what exactly in terms of L/D, ease of use, build quality etc.
Seriously, i have never seen a SZD-55 i have no a priori.

Lots of bang for a buck, isn't it?


Depends on the answer to the above question. I know for sure the LS4
is an excellent glider. I know nothing about the polish one.

--

Michel TALON

U¿ytkownik "Michel Talon" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
...

SZD-55, also back in production, but much more modern design than LS-4
(some
ten years younger)

Meaning what exactly in terms of L/D, ease of use, build quality etc.
Seriously, i have never seen a SZD-55 i have no a priori.

Lots of bang for a buck, isn't it?


Depends on the answer to the above question. I know for sure the LS4
is an excellent glider. I know nothing about the polish one.

Yes, I supposed that, and that's why some people may be reluctant to
consider this glider.
But... it is really worth considering, as all the things you mentioned (L/D,
ease of use, build quality) are at least (if not better) equally good.

Here are some links on the '55' (including Flight Test Evaluation by Dock
Johnson)

http://www.piotrp.de/SZYBOWCE/dszd55.htm

http://www.ssa.org/Johnson/65-1992-03.pdf

http://www.szd.com.pl/downloads/szd55-1_data-.pdf

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

Earlier, "Janusz Kesik" wrote:

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

No, probably nothing like that, at least not in the way you'd expect.
Oil would probably have to get a lot more expensive before the many
more man-hours required for conventional wood construction becomes
more economically viable than composites.

Bob K.

Janusz Kesik wrote:

http://www.ssa.org/Johnson/65-1992-03.pdf


Well according to Johnson, the SZD-55-1 seems to be an excellent glider.
It has certainly better performance than the LS4, and is very nice
looking. The only dubious commentary i have seen is
"In my opinion, its stall charcteristics are about equal to those of the
Ventus", which may mean that it is more difficult to fly than the LS4.
Clearly if gliders of this quality can be built at this price in Poland,
this may help solving the lost standing problem of exploding prices
in our sport.



--

Michel TALON

Janusz Kesik wrote:

http://www.ssa.org/Johnson/65-1992-03.pdf


Well according to Johnson, the SZD-55-1 seems to be an excellent glider.
It has certainly better performance than the LS4, and is very nice
looking. The only dubious commentary i have seen is
"In my opinion, its stall charcteristics are about equal to those of the
Ventus", which may mean that it is more difficult to fly than the LS4.
Clearly if gliders of this quality can be built at this price in Poland,
this may help solving the long standing problem of exploding prices
in our sport.



--

Michel TALON

(Mike Stringfellow) wrote in message . com...

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?

Designed, tested and developed in the US, then made in china with our
current management practices. Net gain = new market = 0. The only
things we make here are hamburgers.

"The U.S. has a current account deficit, a budget deficit and a
president who appears unconcerned about dollar weakness," said Shahab
Jalinoos, senior currency strategist at ABN AMRO. "No one can see any
reason to buy the dollar at the moment."

The president cost me nearly $15,000 last year when I purchased my
current glider with flip remarks about not caring and then retracting
his statements about the dollar's strength. It has become so weak now,
that gliders are priced beyond all reason... meaning even though new
ones cost more, used gliders are losing value because demand is
reduced (psychologically, it's tough to justify six figures for a
piece of plastic). Since I don't quite earn 7 figures yet, my tax
break in miniscule, and now GWB is spending three-day weekends at Camp
David, effectively barring us from our local ridges on NW days.

Four more years... sigh!

(Mike Stringfellow) wrote in message . com...
The US dollar is now valued close to 0.75 Euro, down from its peak of
1.25 a couple of years ago. Analysts say it may go even lower, with
some projecting exchange rates of 0.7 (1.4 dollar to the Euro).

This has pretty much put the kibosh on my goals of buying a new
European sailplane. A model at, say, Euro 85,000 cost around $70,000
a couple of years ago, is now around $110,000 and may soon be at
$120,000.

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?

http://www.scaled.com/projects/globalflyer.html

Well if anyone out there in ras world is a buddy of
Rutan...I suspect he might make some terrific sailplanes
if he set his mind to it. For some reason I suspect
the very limited market would not be of much interest
to him


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?