Originally Posted by
A and C
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As you might guess with the airframe recovery costs about the same as the Viking plus the £60K bill for the engine you could well be better off buying new gliders ( not motor gliders ) on a one for one basis and taking the advantage of lower maintenance costs.
You might be if they were available off the shelf. The lead time for a new K21 is 6-9 months, and the difference in maintenance costs between a new pure glider and a well-used one is trivial.