At 02:14 PM 6/04/05 +0930, you wrote:
>Thank you for the information Mike Sir.
>"But what do the little people do" says me pulling my forelock if I had one.
>
>Chris mc Donnell
As I said, the "club" class is a suitable world class. These
LS1/Cirrus/Libelle/LS3/Mosquito/Mini Nimbus/PIk20 etc gliders all have
performance far greater than the PW5 and at the time when PW5's were
selling at all they were no more expensive and maybe substantially less so.
In view of the greater performance they won't land out as often(outlandings
are expensive), might be cheaper or no more expensive to insure and can fly
cross country when the PW5 won't go anywhere due to the wind.
Flying gliders(even their own reasonable glass glider) might be possible
for the average wage earner but competing at World level probably isn't.
What is cheaper about going os with a PW5 than going with a Std Cirrus or a
D2? Very little I think. Fares, living expenses, entry fees, tows etc will
cost the same. These are the major expenses. Add in the time off(and note
the self employed do not get time off with pay while "representing
Australia") and the time and expense to do the necessary practice.
To compete at this level you need to REALLY REALLY want to do it and it is
going to involve some compromises in the rest of your life.
My point about the ASH25 is that there ARE lots of them despite the expense
and complication of operating them. The pilots have voted with their wallets.
I forget who said it but it has been pointed out that to have a viable
contest scene involves a strong local and regional contest scene. How many
gliding sites see a weekend or day contest where a formal task is set and
flown and scored? This is where your "average wage earner" might have a
chnace to compete. How to fund competing at higher levels for pilots who
show they can win (not just be judged as "promising") who might not have
the financial means is for the regional and national bodies to decide.
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
_______________________________________________
Aus-soaring mailing list
Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net
To check or change subscription details, visit:
http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
