Chris Rollings wrote:
How many gliders with a wingspan of 13.5 metres or less have enjoyed a
production run of over 1000? ...over 500? Ask yourself why?

That's a hard question to answer, but there are several factors.

An important one is the used market. A new glider must compete with used
ones. If the number of pilots is not increasing, the price of used,
higher performance gliders will be close enough to reduce the market for
the new but lower performance glider. If the sport were growing well,
there would be plenty of room for the new, lower span, cheaper glider in
the market.

Another factor is the competition classes. Once instituted, they
encourage (even force) the manufacturers to build to that standard,
which has been a wing span limit for many decades. I am pleased to see
the Apis and Silent deviate from these "class conscious" wing spans, but
competition classes still drive a large portion of the market.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
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