Which raises another issue in my head............. Why we keep this 'relatively' cheap kit for such a long time. In industry many businesses replace their kit on a 3 - 5 year cycle to accommodate new technology, realise the maximum value of asset resale and to avoid issues around major services and fatigue life. The Air Cadet operation would really be a good candidate for this. One of the few PFI initiatives that might work - if kit replacement & servicing contracts were bundled together..............
Had there been a bit more competition in the training glider market, this would have been a great idea. Modern two seaters tend to hold their value, and if by buying a job lot a significant discount had been possible, then the high resale value would have meant minimal depreciation.
As it turned out, if Schleicher didn't want to play, so Grob were the only contender and probably knew it, so why would they discount?
Had the original purchase of these gliders not been largely driven by having to spend a 'use it or lose it' tranche of money, things may have been so different.