There is no denying the LS4 was/is an excellent sailplane....in fact, well
thought of at it's introduction as the 'best" standard class design of the
time. The LS4 as a used glider is still very popular as a club or entry
level high performance ship among first time glass buyers since it offers
good performance, simplicity being an "unflapped" 15 meter ship, easy to fly
without some of the 'quirkiness' of some of the preceding standard class
gliders. The LS4 has been around long enough that prices reflect it's age as
a used glider yet still giving near current standard class performance.
There was little doubt that the new owners of the LS4 design rights had
(have) some consideration to trying to offer this to the public as a new
"world class design", somewhat in line with "Club Class" in the place of the
PW5 that has been controversial since it's introduction. The LS4 is still
even new cheaper than the LS8, D2 or 28 as it should be, being a less than
current "state of the art" and might be a good choice as opposed to buying a
20 year old glider that will undoubtedly soon require 15K-20K in refinishing
and then updates to equipment.
I would also like to add that as well as the LS4 the HpH Glasflugel 304C is
still being offered and new 304C's are being sold and delivered even with
the current EU/$ rates. The 304 can certainly be an outstanding choice at an
even slightly lower price than the LS4 with newer airfoil design, more
"creature" comforts, equal if not (IMHO) better handling and better
performance and unquestioned quality.
before becoming too vulcanized on the LS4 as the only "option" I think you
would be well served to look at the website pages from HpH at
http://www.hph.cz/ and also my pages
http://www.wingsandwheels.com/304CZ202.htm and read owner comments and
feedback. I hope you will..
Best Regards
Tim
www.wingsandwheels.com


"Waduino" wrote in message
.. .
We're getting totally buried in the old thread...

So, as a newbie I have a few questions...

There seems to be almost consensus (!!) that the LS4 is a great ship. Good
performance. Very kind behaviour for low time pilots. Is someone actually
producing new LS-4s? Where and what is the price? Is the price really just
a little less than a LS-8? How dependent are the costs on the Euro?

Why is it that the 4, and to some degree the 3a get rave reviews but I've
hardly heard anything about a LS-6, 8, etc. Are they not as "good" or are
they just a lot more expensive, since they are newer?

And for the really knowledgeable... assuming new 4s are being produced,
what other new ship compares most closely in terms of performance and
behaviour... and at what price?

I'll sit back and learn from the responses...

Wad