All very pertinent observations Mark, but I couldn't let this one go :) Although gliders are expensive, the recent climb of the Australian Peso vs the Euro have made gliders affordable again: We have bought 2 gliders recently, and neither was within cooee of the price of a house (Where do you live????) Although gliders are probably relatively more expensive in Australia than many European countries, at the moment, in Australia, they cost around the same as an upmarket car (which , in many cases are also paid for in Euros)
Let's face it, when you can pay around $80k for a Holden or Ford, gliders seem cheap -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Newton Sent: Tuesday, 6 December 2005 11:23 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] The Future of Gliding Part 2 Big snip In Australia we earn aussie dollars, but we have to buy gliders with Euros then import them, which means a new glider costs about as much as a new house, whereas in Europe it's more like the cost of a luxury car or a boat. That sets either the baseline cost or the baseline quality of facilities: We can either have new gliders which are too expensive for most people to fly (which is why commercial operations fail), or old cheap gliders which commercial ops wouldn't want to buy but which clubs are perfectly happy with. Those who are financially well-endowed can buy new gliders, but nobody except them will fly them 'til then sell them 20 years from now. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
