How to buy a glider affordably - redux

Tony wrote:
ive never understood the logic of having a partner in a glider. seems
to me both partners are going to want to be flying on the same days.

That's one of the challenges of finding a good partner. It's not as hard
as you might think, especially with a motorglider, because you aren't
constrained to flying only on weekends at the glider club, as you
usually are with a towed glider. If at least one of the partners can fly
during the week, both partners can have plenty of access to the glider.

You may also be able to base the glider close to where you live and/or
work, so it's easy go flying without a 2 or 3 hour drive to the
gliderport and rounding up a tow pilot in addition. And finally, you are
able to fly days you normally wouldn't use because the weather is
unpredictable, and you're worried you'll need a retrieve if you go cross
country.

maybe if you find someone with the cash to buy half a glider but not
the time to fly one then it would work out.

This is not an unusual partnership, in my observation! Some people do
enjoy being around gliders, tinkering with them, flying occasionally,
and hanging out with other glider pilots. Doing it at half price seems
like a bargain to them, even though those of us that fly many more hours
a year think it looks awfully expensive. Generally, I found pilots like
that are interesting people and a real asset to the sport, even though
they may only fly 5 or 10 times a year.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org