ken smith wrote on 10/14/2020 9:54 PM:
On Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 8:58:36 PM UTC-7, wrote:
Not to start the usual argument, but why? There are many great first generation fiberglass gliders available for the same price, much better condition, and much better performance. Everywhere you fly in Norcal your first thermal is a perilous glide away from the airport in a 1-26. I love the old 1-26, but around here I can't see it practical if you want to stay up.
John Cochrane.

Understand your point.. I will be moving to either southern CA or Nevada if that makes a diff.
Just looking for a no worries minimal set up ship. Also, just fly for fun and don't need to
accomplish anything. I don't see any glass ships, that don't have a non hinging canopy,
in the $10-12K range.

The $8000 Russia has a hinging canopy. I've flown one in a contest: decent performance, very
easy ground handling. The $12000 Std Cirrus has a hinging canopy: I owned one for 3 years, flew
nicely. If you want to tie out the ship instead of rigging, the L33 Solo (also hinging canopy)
would be a good choice, I think. The drawbacks for this particular one is the open trailer, and
added difficulty of importing one from Canada.

I've owned glider with/without hinging canopies, and I would not make that a deal breaker.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1