On Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 4:24:46 AM UTC-4, wrote:
I think a new "low budget two seater" is not really existing. At the "low end" of the production two-seat gliders, you have:

PW-6U (http://www.szdjezow.com.pl/) - not sure it is still in production, relatively low performance, good for spin training.

Perkoz (http://szd.com.pl/fr/products/szd-54-2-perkoz) - in production, good performance, good for spin training, adaptable for uncertifed hand controls.

ASK-21 (https://www.alexander-schleicher.de/...gzeuge/ask-21/) - in production, relatively low performance, spin training only with special mod, adaptable for certified hand controls.

DG-1001 Club (https://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/en/air...01/dg-1001club) - in production, good performance, good for spin training.

At ~$80kEURO (plus trailer, shipping and instruments) the Perkoz is the closest thing there is to a "low budget two-seater" these days. The next best option IMHO is the DG-1001 Club Nuo with a fixed gear and similarly the K-21. While non of these are cheap, a handful of clubs have looked at their aging fleet and ponied up to buy one or two new ships while the dollar is relatively strong. Plan for the future. Consider who your new customers will be and what they're looking for in a fleet. So far, anecdotally at least, clubs who recently purchased K-21's have no regrets and are seeing high utilization rates. The next major challenge to growth and retention is the lack of instructors, especially instructors qualified to instruct advanced concepts such as dual XC.

- Chris Schrader