Unfortunately, some builders DO burn their ships instead of allowing
someone else to fly them. There have been few, if any, succesful
lawsuits but the fear weighs heavily on some and theoretically a
builder could get screwed. Fortunately many homebuilt aircraft
outlive their builders for one reason or another. I've had some great
flights in a Woodstock that was entrusted to me. Search this group for
Cherokee sailplane and you'll find another guy who is having a ton of
fun with an old wood homebuilt.

The "guy" who got all his diamonds in the Duster is, if I remember
correctly, the over modest JJ Sinclair

If you have your heart set on a BG I may have one for sale in the next
few months. I'm currently evaluating a very nice one that may go to
one of my local pilots. If he doesn't fit the BG I might be willing
to part with it.

Are you familier with the Yahoo Group for BG-12s?

Matt Michae
Ames, Iowa


On Apr 6, 2:00*am, cursingcomputers wrote:
Well, however it may be, if a seller decides they don't want a
liability, that sort of thing should be decided before you advertise
publicly something for sale, make a deal, and take somebody's money.
After the sale is definitely the wrong time to make that decision. If,
however, both persons I dealt with had come up with the same story
after the deal fell through I would have had to accept that this was
what happened. Two widely differing stories though. This plane also
had an AP claiming it was perfectly airworthy, had logs, and would be
freshly inspected. I don't think after a plane has been flown without
problem for many hours and has been inspected by a professional that
one could easily claim manufacturers defect either. If you can't trust
an experienced inspector's opinion how can you trust any plane ever.
It was just bad business anyway you look at it. I would point out to
anyone selling any kind of vehicle that if you honestly fear liability
that's what "hold harmless" type documents were created for. I don't
know that either of these persons I dealt with were the actual builder
in any case, and the more steps of ownership you have between the
original builder and the present owner, the more tenuous liability
issues become. *With today's lawsuit paranoia (and of course its not
completely unjustified) it is hard to imagine that any second hand
market exists. I guess organizations like the Vintage Sailplane
Association may as well get ready to fold up shop and go home because
the old guys that own old planes can't fly them forever. When they die
they may as well put the guy in his plane and set it on fire.

I guess the other thing I would mention about the plane is that it was
supposed to be a BG-12BD which had a lighter two piece wing. Probably
still not light enough for most guys, but I'm just not most guys. I
drive a W123 bodied Mercedes 240d which is one of the heaviest cars
for its horsepower you'll find. Heavy doesn't have to equal bad and
can in fact (but not always) equal durable.

As to the Duster, I have seen a few of those and while its performance
and looks can't match the BG-12's (and of course 20lb. less payload-
I'm about 200lb. with a parachute- and 7ft. wing center section), it
is a very respectable home-built and I like them a lot. Would be
interested to know where the guy flying for Diamonds was and how many
attempts were made. *There's a story in the July 1973 Soaring by Jim
Hayes about his Diamond altitude and distance in a BG-12 landing at El
Mirage. He'd been flying his BG-12 about 46 hours before that attempt
(otherwise a very experienced commercial pilot). I wouldn't mind
owning a Duster if the price was right, but I'm not 100% sure I'm
ready to try another plane purchase right now. Where is the one to
which you refer advertised?

Thanks for the response. It does me good to talk about it I think.
Hopefully I don't come off sounding like a bitter know it all.
Everyone gets a bad deal from time to time, but I often wish it didn't
start out with "you can trust me" or "I wouldn't do a guy that way;
I've got a reputation."