Read My Lips

The CISS board of directors met earlier tonight and, among other things, raised all the glider rental fees for club gliders (the Grob, the PW-5, and both Blaniks) by .03 per minute, or $1.80 per hour. The Grob now rents for .29 a minute, the PW-5 for .25 per minute, and the Blaniks for .23 per minute. This winter we've had substantially larger repair bills for the Blaniks than in the past, thanks in part to a recent airworthiness directive on the tailfeathers and partly due to the hard use they get each morning.
The board decided not to raise the tow fees at this time, although the price of avgas has gone up substantially in the past year and if it continues to climb we may have to impose a small surcharge at some point during the season.
Just a few seasons ago, the Grob rented for $12 an hour, the PW-5 for $10 an hour, and the Blaniks for $9. None of the gliders came close to paying for themselves at those rates; now, they do come close to paying for themselves.
Translation: flying with CISS remains a bargain.