Oz Report

Tin Cup

(This topic is in: <-- Apr.11 Apr.10 Apr.9 Apr.8 Apr.7 Apr.4 Apr.3 --> )

Glider prices around the world (LA, CA, USA)

Where else are you going to get a publication with enough guts to publish the prices of hang gliders around the world?  Have you ever seen it?

Not only did we do a comparison across manufacturers (most of whom advertise here), but across dealers and across countries - raising some real questions about who is charging what to whom.

Today we look at Switzerland, at least the Wills Wing dealer there.  They have a different take on how to price gliders (but of course given the dollar exchange rate it works well for them).

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Discuss Tin Cup at the Oz Report forum   link»

Swiss Wills Wing Prices

Just use the US price. (Wills Wing Factory, California)

Roberto Nichele <nirosoft> writes:

Due to the always changing and very interesting US dollar, Wills Wing prices in Switzerland these days are quoted daily this way:

(The suggested US$ retail price plus approximately 500 US$ for packing and transport) times 1.076 (The Swiss VAT is 7.6%) times current US$/CHF exchange rate.  This is quite easy and explainable to our customers.  They can find the Wills Wing prices here: http://www.willswing.com/dbase/inventory_hgs.asp

So the all basic cost for a T2 without any options is ~7400.- CHF (~4700.- €'s) The T2C with all options included today would be ~9500.- CHF (~6000.- €'s)

To fix a given price we need 2/3 of the price in advance.

Aeros prices are also not too far away from this amount.

Nirosoft (Nirosoft GmbH) is my own company for the last ten years.  The name is build by Nichele Roberto SOFTware :-) My main business is offering IT resources for mainframe development and analysis (IBM-MVS, DB2, PL1, IMS, etc), so that's what I work usually, programming old systems on black screens with green characters.

For the last six or seven years Kilian and I have been the official Wills Wing dealer for Switzerland.  I run the hang gliding business over my Nirosoft company, with Kilian as partner, as he does most of the test flying and repairs.  Last year we sold twenty five gliders!

The basic Aeros Combat L in Switzerland is 5950 € including the Swiss VAT and shipping.  This would be 1200 € higher than the basic Wills Wing T2 as seen above.

Roberto spoke with Markus Eggimann <cloudbase>, the Swiss Aeros dealer, and found that a "fully equipped" Combat L goes for 6965 €, while a Wills Wing T2C costs 6000 €.  These prices include Swiss VAT at 7.6% and shipping to Switzerland.

Have I got this right?  Please send in any corrections.  I would especially love to hear from any manufacturers or dealers/distributors.  More soon.

Discuss Swiss prices at the Oz Report forum   link»

Italian Open Hang Gliding Championships

At the end of April (Palazzago, Bergamo, Italy)

Gustavo - Volo Libero Bergamo <<gustavo>> writes:

Italian Open Hang Gliding Championship 2008 Palazzago, Bergamo, 30th April - 4th May

This year the usual Bergamo Hang gliding Trophy (Trofeo Internazionale dell'Isola) has become the Italian Open Hang Gliding Championship.  The Championship is open to foreign pilots.

The event will take place on 30th April through 4th May in Palazzago, near Bergamo.  Launch points will be Monte Linzone (1400 mt) and Monte Farno (1250 m) in Val Gandino.  The landing place will be the usual landing field in Palazzago, near Bergamo.

Pilots who have never had the chance to fly over the Orobic Prealps should try this nice flying area.  Landscape varies from plains to mountains, from alpine valleys to milder hills.  You can easily fly over Lecco Lake to the West and try to reach Brescia towards east.

In summer 2007 our pilots Fabrizio Giustranti and Marco Cereda took off from Monte Farno, flew 210 and 180 kms and reached Austria.

At last, the competition will be an occasion to share five pleasant days with pilots and friends.  We hope you'll join us at the Italian Open Hang Gliding Championship 2008!!

Gustavo Vitali: http://www.vololiberobergamo.it

contacts: http://www.vololiberobergamo.it/pagine/campitaldelta08/contattiuk.php

Francesca Amendola +39 328 8372553

Discuss Italy at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sail planes at Lake Keepit

Jenny Ganderton (Lake Keepit, NSW, Aaustralia)

Scott Barrett <ScottB> writes:

Great flying at Manilla and a great sailplane club with good attitude.  Did you ever wonder what happened to Jenny Ganderton?  Now an enthusiastic sailplane instructor who is very welcoming of hang glider pilots.  Jenny was my back seater and patiently allowed me to do the flying.  Thanks to training on "Condor" with Australian hang glider pilots racing together online weekly, I was relatively at ease with the flying, although a beginner at procedures and the peculiar flight computer.  Lake Keepit soaring club http://www.keepitsoaring.com/cms/.  Jenny's Blog http://lksc.blogspot.com/.

Discuss Lake KeepIt at the Oz Report forum   link»