On Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 11:08:01 AM UTC-7, Papa3 wrote:

There's a difference between price and value. Not everything that comes at a low price is a good value. At least think about that before you make the move.

Erik Mann (P3).

This is the dilemma I see so often with new glider pilots: finding an affordable first glass ship. It seems the recommendations are always to steer away from the cheaper first generation glass under $10k because they are "tricky to fly", and to leave them for more experienced pilots. The trouble is that flying club ships often limits your hours, as you have to share them with other club members, which takes longer to build up experience. Also, there are many clubs in the US that are on life-support financially, and club ships are often limited to the "venerable" 2-33 or other such low-performance aircraft, and really don't give any valuable experience in preparing towards transitioning to better glass ships. People often have to go out of their way to get experience even in ships like a G103. In today's economy, many new pilots can't cough up $15k to $25k for the "better" glass ships that would be more suitable as a first glass ship, so are forced to look at less expensive options, if they want to continue in the sport/hobby. I really wish more clubs had the resources to adequately transition folks from the low-performance trainers to the higher performance glass ships. Sure there are well-established clubs in locations that have the inventory and resources to do this, but these are getting fewer and farther between (at least in the US). My own experience has reflected this and has been very frustrating at times. I found a Bolkow Phoebus A1 at a very affordable price, and have managed to get it back in flying condition after a long time in a hanger attic. However, I've also been counselled that it is not suitable for a low-time pilot for many of the same reasons mentioned above for the Nimbus 2. The one club I was a member of refused to tow me in my Phoebus until I got checked out in it by an instructor, but the club instructors refused to help me with that, because they didn't have the experience themselves, and the club didn't have any appropriate club gliders that could be used for that. And there are no private members at the club who have private two-seaters that will provide adequate experience to transition into my Phoebus. I have to travel 4hrs or more just to find a club or glider operation in the first place. And then there is only a 2-33 or IS 28B Lark to rent, and am only able to fly for 1hr at the most. Landing out is strongly discouraged, so getting XC experience is basically not available there. The other place is almost 5hr drive. There I have access to a G103, but instructor and tow fees are significantly higher, and I can spent $1500 in 2 days easily. If I'm going to continue in this sport I need to be able to fly more frequently, and for much cheaper. It is difficult to build experience when you can only fly 3-4 times a year for 2-3 hrs at a time. And I know I'm not alone in this. If I were to follow the advise people are giving me about buying a "more suitable" first glass ship, I'd need to step away from soaring for probably 5-10 yrs while I save money to be able to afford one of the "more suitable" gliders.

You may ask "what about a more affordable low-performance glider like a 1-26 or K6 or K8?" The answer is, I want something I can fly cross country in.. Yes, these can be flown cross country, but you will get good at landing out due to their low glide ratio and poor wind penetration. Where I live, there are not a lot of good places to land out, due to small fenced farm fields, and LOTS of forests/mountains. So I would be mostly stuck flying around within gliding range of the airport. I'd get bored with that pretty quickly, wouldn't you?

So, in summary, I feel the OP's and other posters pain. Higher performance gliders under $10,000 are usually unsuitable for low-time glider pilots because they are too much to handle, and lower performance options typically don't have the XC potential of the higher performance options (at least when flying over "tiger country", or in my case, grizzly bear country), and don't offer much in transitioning to higher performance more appropriate options. And unless you have a well-established club with a large fleet/selection of training/transitional gliders, or one flush with capital that can purchase more appropriate XC training gliders, you are SOL (unless you can plop down $15k-$25k) on a more "appropriate" first glass ship. Sorry for the long-winded reply. Just venting some of my frustrations.