Briegleb 12B - Opinions?

JB,

What is the reason for so few hours?

Low time may not be a good thing. My experience with homebuilt sailplanes
indicates that a low number of logged hours my indeed be an indicator of
poor construction (not necessarily unsafe) or poor handling characteristics.

I purchase a low time HP-14 with about 150 hours for a very reasonable price
and have spent almost four years replacing items that I consider necessary
to make it airworthy. Only after this process has been completed will I
know if it will live up to the performance standards of other HP-14s.

The 800hr + HP-16 I use to own
(http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/N16VP.html) was the real bargain
even though it cost twice as much as the HP-14.

Be very careful!

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder

"JB" wrote in message
om...
I am a beliver in affordable soaring and six friends and i are in the
process of buying a BG-12A, it sounds a little crazy to buy a wood
glider built over 20 years ago but it will only cost us 625 apiece and
will make flying cheap for us. The condition is a real factor and this
one has been stored inside and has a woping 165 hours so why not? It
is a cheap way to go.

(Mark James Boyd) wrote in message
news:3fcfa962$1@darkstar...
unfortunately, I'm afraid that most potential buyers for BG12's or
similar
typically "cheap" gliders are there because they are new to gliding
and
looking for a cheap glider...

Well, blush, that's me.

From a financial point of view, I think one is better off
with a "popular" glider. If a glider costs 25-50% less
than a popular Grob 102, 1-34, 1-35, PW-5, Russia, 1-26,
PIK-20, etc, then it seems likely you're not only going
to have a tough time finding parts, insurance, inspections,
but you'd also have a hard time finding someone to buy the
darn thing in the future.

Buying and selling gliders which trade briskly seems a much
better bet. Assuming you sell the glider for the same
money you buy it, the expense is the interest on invested
capital and the higher cost of insurance. There is a
real cost here ($500-1500 yearly). On the other hand you
may have to keep a weirdo glider on the market for a year
to sell it where the higher priced, popular glider sells
in a month.

I know a fine competition pilot who wants to sell his 2-22
and his Duster, but is having trouble finding anyone with
such exotic taste within reasonable towing distance.
Boy I bet he'd like that half of his garage back...

If price is the problem, I'd say get a "popular" glider
in a partnership, syndicate, or club. If you've ever
seen a bunch of women clucking over a newborn, you
know what it'd feel like to be a newly purchased
"popular" glider...

From: (JJ Sinclair)

six friends and i are in the
process of buying a BG-12A, it sounds a little crazy

I would ask, what is the experience level of each member of your group?
Flying
a flap-only ship can be a real exciting experience, especially in unskilled
hands.

I basically agree with this. But I would add that with proper preparation
and coaching it can be a very safe transition. In my case I flew my RS-15
after only 22 hours total flying anything. I had the excellent advice of
what to expect and how to approach the flaps-only glide path control from
the HP newsgroup and the HP website http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/ .
Might be worthwhile for this person to look at the same.

-Doug

On 30 Dec 2003 17:55:26 GMT, wrote:

JJ wrote: " Flying a flap-only ship can be a real exciting experience, especially in unskilled hands."

On this one, JJ is absolutely right!!

Dale (With 20 years of 1-35 experience)


Rosemary

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