On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 8:55:55 AM UTC-5, ND wrote:
i don't know for sure, but they haven't really sold that many sparrowhawks or duckhawks have they? if i were him i would be inclined to try something different. something like a light airplane/motorglider concept makes sense. the market is larger for that. It seems like they also offer moldmaking services, prototyping, and layup stuff. I think they are going for diversification in order to offer their services in their areas of competence, and try to get a hit with a different general aviation segment. its actually a really smart move. look at HPH. there was an article about HPH in gliding international where they are doing a similar thing.

I'd like to make a few comments that maybe he'll see, and hopefully he won't hold them against me. maybe i should preface it by saying i think it's awesome that he is (or was) manufacturing gliders in the US despite intense german competition. he also developed a glider with a unique concept, and differentiated looks. also, his duckhawk apparently flies very well. i've raced against one in a discus and it seemed to be pretty good. having said that, it's lines aren't super sexy, and its interior seems spartan, almost cheap looking. that's probably what he was going for, simple, low cost production for a low cost composite sailplane. so my "cheap" comment shouldnt be taken in offense. meanwhile, high cost gliders are being sold with fancier interiors, more interior detail, and better external aesthetics. function over form, i get it. if a sexy glider gets whooped on by an "ugly" one because the ugly one is aerodynamically better, the top guys will fly the better one.

On Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 12:29:30 PM UTC-4, J. Nieuwenhuize wrote:
Windward has revamped their website (http://windward-performance.com/) and all sailplanes have disappeared from their website. Anybody in the know as to whether they've ceased any production, or sold off the molds etc?

I'm perplexed by what's going on. I was interested in buying a Motorglider and could never get any information on the Goshawk. About a year ago, I got an e-mail saying that more info would be coming within a week or so. Never got any more info, even after a couple of additional inquiries.

They seem to be very distracted with more lucrative work. I ended up buying a Phoenix Motorglider, which is an incredible plane.