rlovinggood wrote:
last, BUT NOT
LEAST, is condition of the trailer. Homebuilts are fine, if rigged
properly. But either a factory trailer or a homebuilt can be knuckle-
busting, glider-rash-giving monsters if not properly set up. Yea,
I've got experience with that :-)

I'd almost put the condition of the trailer first! Some years ago I
bought into a Grob Astir CS (Grob 102 in the US I think) which had a
very poor trailer. For the first year or so I could not use the glider
properly because of fear of landing out.

Once the trailer was replaced I had some great flights. So, either make
sure you have a working trailer (fittings etc can be modified, but a
barely roadworthy trailer is a deal breaker) or budget to replace the
trailer. In the UK, $1,500 equivalent can buy you a working trailer
which you can make pretty good with some effort - it might help the
original poster if US pilots gave him the likely cost of a s/h trailer.

Don't forget the price is for the complete outfit - glider + instruments
+ trailer. At this price level the aircraft itself must be no more than
$12k of the total $15k, if that helps when negotiating.