On Jul 20, 10:37*am, "K Smith" wrote:
O.K. now that I am getting back into gliding, I will want to purchase a
glider of my own in the not so distant future. *I had a lot of fun flying a
1-26 when I was doing my solo training, and am thinking seriously about
getting one as the money flow allows. *But there is that part inside me that
thinks of a nice glass ship. *Are there any glass ships that can be had for
under say 15, and if so which ones would they be. * would probably already
bought a 1-26, but as luck would have it, I injured my shoulder at work in
April and had to have surgery. *So here I sit all summer in beautifull
Tennessee and can't fly.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Consider a better glider. The "cost" of a glider is not its purchase
price, since it will be worth about the same when you sell it. Gliders
pretty much keep their value, so the annual cost is the lost interest.
Gliders depreciate a lot less than cars.

A $15,000 glider is thus a cost of about $750 per year (5%
interest).Insurance will be over $1,000 per year. 50 tows at $30 is
$1,500. Gas to the airport or trips is going to be on the order of
$1,000 per year. Annuals, BFRs, club member ship, and so forth are all
the same no matter what glider you have. Beer and mexican food
add....well you can see where this is going.

All of this is pretty cheap, compared to golf, skiing or anything else
you could do, and the glider is actually not that big a part of the
cost. Doubling the "glider" part of the cost to $1,500 per year
($30,000 glider) really doesn't do that much to the overall cost of
the sport. But it gets you out of antique maintenance into ASW20 / LS4
land which is a big jump in performance and functionality.

But old gliders mean old instruments, old trailers, more maintenance,
and old gelcoat constantly on your mind. And you'll sell it sooner.
Newer gliders are easier to fly, and safer especially if you can get
to the "safety cockpit" era.

(You can see I have lots of practice justifying outrageous gliding
expenses!)

John Cochrane BB