Dan G wrote:
A DG1000 is around $170,000, or $200,000 for one with a sustainer.
They're amazing gliders though. Can be used for basic training, full
aerobatics, or for beating Duo Discuses on cross-countries while the
front pilot has somewhere to put his stuff.

Which is roughly 10 to 15 times the cost of the typical club glider here
in the US. There are tradeoffs, many clubs have a lot of members who
rarely fly but are willing to pay the dues. If a club significantly
raises the dues to cover a new glider, they usually lose members in the
short term. If a club sells off a number of tired old gliders to raise
capital for a new one, they also run the risk of losing members due to
fewer available gliders to fly. Maybe the membership will rise to
higher levels later due to nice gliders, maybe it won't.

These PW6s look quite good value and make far more sense than the PW5
ever did. They're much cheaper than anything else in their class and
they make a good impression - a good, strong, modern ship. It might
take 10 years for a club to pay for one, but think of the benefits -
impresses visitors (=more members), can be used for XC training (=more
membership progression), generally a damn sight nicer to fly than a
tired old glider...

Bank loans to clubs are rarely a viable option in the US, so in many
cases pulling this off is dependent on having members with deep pockets
willing to make long term low interest loans. I've seen this work in a
few cases, I've also seen cases where the "nice" glider ends up being an
expensive white elephant that drives members out of the club. Years ago
I left a club and formed a syndicate with other departing members to buy
a Duo, as we couldn't make the finances work inside the club.

Bay Area Soaring Associates here in the SF Bay area has managed to get
on DG-1000 in their fleet, and has a second one on order. Any members
care to comment on how you all managed to handle the finances?

Marc