Hello Tim,

As an instructor I have about 2000 launches in the Puch, as a technician I
serviced four of them for 10+ years. A delight to fly, if proper spin
training is done in the club environment and the aircraft's flight envelope
is respected. As an ab-initio it is perhaps not ideal due to is spinning
ability (the reason we sold ours and converted to ASK-21s). Dick Johnson
wrote a good article on its pros and cons in spinning. Your questions:

How do they hold up to daily use/abuse?
Very well. We do 7-days a week flying, on an often wet airfield, with about
2000 flights a year per glider. A strong glider, that stands up to a lot of
abuse and has a very well sprung undercarriage that is an instructor's
delight. Spacious back cockpit. Getting the airbrakes extended from the
front cockpit is a bit awkward, but you get used to it. Aerobatics are not
really advisable, given low VNe, small margins for error, etc. Replace the
canopy cable (which stops the canopy from opening further than needed) with
a different design: they snap and it'll cost you a canopy. Don t buy one
with a skid but go for a tailwheel (less change of damage). The wheelbrake
sucks, but there's a mod for Tost brakes which we had and works wonderful.
Puchs (like e.g. ASK-13s) suffer from relatively low max. cockpit loads.
Check yours before buying. Respect airspeeds (we overstressed one in
repeated highspeed winch launches, with structural wing damage that needed
repair). Teach people to be careful with the tail in hangars. They are
ceconite covered control surfaces and prone to hangar rash. Airbrake caps
raise themselves at airspeeds in excess of 180 km/h or a bit lower with
high G. No issue, but scares the living daylight out of you if you do not
know this ;-)

Maintenance issues?
See the factory SB-overview for weak points (if you buy one make sure it
has the new design front wing attachments: this'll save a lot of hassle and
costs due to hairline cracking). Mainwheel bungees deteriorate with age.
Have a spare set available at all times. Easy to replace by technician.
Tailwheel tyres sometimes go off the rim with traversed landings. All
control cables have to be replaced every 12 years/1500 hours according to
SB 007/94 (lots of work). Canopy closing levers sometimes work loose when
lock rings are worn. Play on elevator after ca. 1500 hours is normal
(replace t-lever in the tail), play on stabilizer occurs as well (the
limits for play are enormous compared to German gliders, so that'll easy
your mind). We had one jammed bevel gear in the airbrake system due to
dirt, they are not an ideal design. Wear in the gears will cause asymmetric
opening and play. Trim tab actuator rods snap if lubrication is not carried
out regularly. Also, the lower rudder attachment ply and its vertical
support are prone to damage. This really should be an AD imho, but is not.
Check the horizontal ply for cracks, and the joint between vertical and
horizontal for disbonding at every DI to be sure.
All in all the Puch is a bit more work on maintenance than say an ASK-21,
but not too bad/costly if you have club technicians available for the brunt
of the work. Inspection schedule is every 50 flying hours, with a bigger
one every 250 (equal to an annual, which it has as well). A major
inspection/servicing every 1000 hours. Airframe lifetime is 6000 hours, but
may now be extended to 6750 and is expected to be more in some years time
as design life is 11000 hours. Parts supply and service is excellent from
Allstar.

How are they for ab-initio?
OK, provided you have a good spintraining programme that is mandatory for
all instructors who fly on it, to pass the information/skills on to their
students.

Truth to the spin-eager rep?
See the Johnson article. Aircraft has tendency to flatten out in a spin
rather quickly if back pressure is applied with low cockpit loads. Also:
with asymmetric stall from a turn with relatively little nose-up (but low
speed) wing will drop and with little warming go into spin. Other than this
it is very predictable, and gives ample warning.

Any bad habits?
I don't have any I am aware of.

No info on the Perkoz, sorry, only did one flight in it.

Eric