At 03:05 PM 31/12/03 +1100, you wrote:
>Its always fun when people go to sell a glider. The price never seems to
>reflect its worth. Try coming up with realistic prices for the older ones
>like I do. In some cases I ask them what the trailer is worth as the glider
>needs too much work to economically put back in the air. In my case there
>are never enough thermals OR trailers.
>Keep looking, something will come up with the appropriate price tag.
> Just as a benchmark, I wouldn't pay more than 15 for the first generation
>GRP and 25 for the 2nd.
I guess you are right as you chose instead to spend $9K on some scrap
spruce and plywood held together by ancient casien glue.
Sure that sounds stingy
Imagine the ignominy of a tombstone that reads "he bought a cheap glider"
but it seems to me that the
>prices being asked today by some people match what people paid for them
>originally and that seems odd to me. I wish I could get the same value on my
>car!
Try inflation/exchange rate adjusted dollars/Deutschmarks/Euros then and
it will make sense. Cars get far more utilisation and wear out. Glass
gliders that aren't crashed and are kept in private hands don't deteriorate
quickly(once you solve the gel coat problem)and are restorable with minimal
spare parts and effort.
Even a first generation glass glider will allow you to learn and practise
the techniques of modern cross country soaring and there is a sports class
national contest to go to. Check the handicaps and you will see that the
performance improvement in cross country speed is only 10% or so compared
to the latest gliders in the class. There has been no great performance
improvement in over 20 years now.
When the price of new gliders is looked at (A$100,000 to 300,000+) the
current used prices are only the result of a collapsing user base.
Anyone thinking of buying a used glider now in this country should look
very carefully as you might be keeping it a long time.
Mind you I heard of a pretty ordinary vintage K13 that changed hands
recently for
A$25,000. I guess there are always anomalies.
Mike
Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments
phone Int'l + 61 746 355784
fax Int'l + 61 746 358796
cellphone Int'l + 61 428 355784
Int'l + 61 429 355784
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: www.borgeltinstruments.com
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