Be aware that if you buy an older DG or sadly LS you will find
maintenance very expensive due to the attitude of the present
owner of the factory. See other threads and/or DG website.


At 20:04 02 December 2010, Liam wrote:
You should definitely buy a [ insert name of random older
glider] -
they're cheap now, they don't give up much to the newer ships
below 80
knots, and I was able to outclimb anything in mine. Some
people say
their handling is twitchy or their airbrakes are ineffective or
they're prone to death spirals, but those people are just
incompetent
pilots. The wings are a bit heavy to rig but that's what dolly's
are
for. Some people say the cockpit is too small, but I'm seven
feet
tall and I fit just fine. Make sure it comes with a decent trailer.


On Dec 2, 11:05=A0am, Sparkorama
wrote:
I'm getting back into the sport after a long hiatus and flying
in the
Boston area. I'll be putting some winter flying time in and
I'm
considering buying my first glider once I'm back to
comfortable solos
and my private license. (Naturally, I won't fly anything until I
am
competent and ready). Any suggestions on a first glider?
Because of my
price range, I realize I'll be looking at some older birds. I
would say
my preferences are as follows. Under 20k, easy to fly, easy
to maintain
and safe. Naturally, I'd like to see some decent glide
performance, just
thinking that some future performance would be good for
keeping the
plane for some time. =A0(currently I'm considering an
IS29D2 Lark)
My club has competent instructors and the following fleet
(winter flying
in only the 2-33):
1 Puchacz (two place, 30/1 performance; advanced trainer,
aerobatic)
3 Blanik L-23 (two place, 30/1 performance; advanced
trainer,
sightseeing)
1 Blanik L-33 solo (single place, 30/1 performance; cross-
country,
sightseeing)
1 Schweitzer 1-34 (single place, 34/1 performance)
1 Pilatus B-4 (single place, 35/1 performance; cross-country,
aerobatic)
1 Schweizer 2-33A (two place, 23/1 performance; trainer)
1 Schweizer 1-26E (single place, 23/1 performance;
aerobatic)
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

--
Sparkorama