On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 3:19:57 PM UTC-6, ND wrote:
On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 9:11:42 PM UTC-5, Tony wrote:
On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 8:03:44 PM UTC-6, wrote:
"Maybe you didn't understand my post. Â*I'm willing to pay a fair price to have it hauled out here. Â*I'm not asking for a hand out. Â*I thought the soaring community was about helping each other & supporting the sport? Â*Santa must have passed by your house on Christmas. Â*Cheers!"

Actually, you are the one that doesn't understand the problem. Hauling a trailer with a glider across the country in wintertime conditions is by no means an insignificant endeavor. It requires an adequate towing vehicle, a competent driver and at least four days of travel. So, 2,800 miles at about 16 MPG for a decent full-size truck to manage a big enclosed trailer, with no guarantee of the trailer condition. That's a minimum of 175 gallons of gas or diesel at (say) $2.25 per gallon. Three or four nights in a motel at (say) $100 per night. (Winter hotel rates go up with the anticipation of inclement weather and resulting forced stops.)Pick up the glider and trailer in Sarasota Springs, NY (which is probably not where the driver lives. Deliver it to Walla Walla, WA, where the driver probably isn't going.

And you "would like it to be delivered right after January 1." Well, good luck with that. "Helping with expenses" does not even approach the costs and hazards of towing an unknown trailer and glider across the country. Even If I was planning a trip from NY to WA with a big-ass pickup in the time frame you envision, I would at least expect $0.75 per mile. If I had to travel to get the glider and then deliver it to a location that is not my intended destination, that mileage and inconvenience would have to be factored in.

Soaring pilots are generally more than willing to support the gliding community, but you are not asking for that kind of help. You are describing a job more suited for a commercial long haul trucker. They have to maintain, insure and professionally operate their vehicles.

I hired professionals to deliver the glider trailers I used to build when the customer could not pick them up. The cost was at least $1.25 per mile, and that was for a small, empty trailer.

I still recommend Santa Claus, as you apparently still believe in him.. I don't, but he made it to my house anyway.

Cheers.

for another sanity check data point on bids...i typically bid jobs around $1.00/mile for the round trip from my house to where the glider is to where the glider is going and back to my house. Maybe a little less for a nice new cobra trailer and a little more for something odd/old/heavy/big etc. An L-23 would definitely fall into the "little more" category. I live in wichita, ks so you can get on google maps and do the math.

too bad i couldn't tow it to you, and then you finish it off westward, eh?

i don't mind relays. plus you'd get the first leg to test out the trailer