On Aug 15, 3:55 pm, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:
Let me get this strait, youth is very underrepresented and pilot numbers are
crashing globally and you want to be choosy? Any kid that wants to fly
gliders needs to be encouraged as much as possible, bling or no bling.

Spot on.

Kids, even more than adults, will know the difference between a 2-33 and
anything else. They will want to impress their friends that they are flying
a 'cool' glider. 2-33's are VERY uncool.

One point of reference.

My daughter's first experience was an aerotow in a DG500 on a
cloudless
windless November morning. She enjoyed it.

That afternoon we went to the neighbouring club (only 10 km away
just to
see what that was like. To our pleasant surprise (no bookings, arrived
at 3pm)
they winched her up in a K13. That experience hooked her.

Last weekend she told me she rather likes the K13s because she can
see
their innards - there's no "hidden magic".

The coolness is that she is flying an aircraft; some classmates
still have difficulty believing it! Her friends wouldn't know (or
care
about) the difference between a DG1000 and a T21.


Another point of reference.

The K13s benefits do have to be "explained" to adult trial flighters
and potential
members; the DG505 doesn't have that image problem. The club is
solving
that by ordering a couple of PW-6Us to replace a couple of the K13s.

Make of that what you will.


The runway is 1500m, the record winch launch is 2800', a K13 gets
1500'
in still air and 2000' with a "decent" headwind. Crosswinds reduce the
launch
height of course, but 1500' is still normal.

tom gardner