US Air Force buys 19 DG-1000 trainiers

Seems like a very good purchase. The DG1000 is a much more
modern design with many already produced so the faults are pretty
well known. The ASK 21 is a 30 year old design in need of an
upgrade. The GRP honeycomb fuselage is probably heavier than
several layers of glass and carbon would be and, I think, much
more expensive to repair. The wing spars are still fiberglass, not
carbon fiber and there is still a lot of wood in the wing spars and
fuselage. Tail ballast weights mount on the outside of the tail and
are for spin training but with two heavy pilots the K21 could still
use some kind of aerodynamic tail ballast to move the cg more aft.
A nose hook would be easier to hook up on the line, you have to
crawl under it to hook up for aerotow and on a hot asphalt tarmac
you can burn your knees and hand.