Welcome to the New Dealer E-News format
We’ve combined the HG and PG Dealer News so you can see the latest information on both product lines. You can go directly to the HG or PG products and information by clicking the appropriate link. We’ll put the items that are of interest to both types of dealers right up front. The fact that you can see the dealer prices for both does not necessarily mean you are authorized to sell both, though many of our dealers are. Please let us know what you think of the new Dealer E-News format.
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2001 – A Difficult Year
This past year has been difficult in a lot of ways for everyone. The general recession combined with the tragic events of September 11th, have made this business even more difficult than it was, and it was already hard enough!
For us, our sales in Europe were way down this past year from what they used to be years ago. On the other hand, our domestic sales were up over ten percent! We’ve made some important changes to our distribution network in Europe to recover some of our lost sales there. We’ve cut back a bit on advertising and competition support to direct more resources to product development and product quality and customer support. We’re continuing to invest in the future – the biggest recent example being our new sail-cutting machine. If you haven’t seen it, checkit out here.
We’d like to thank you for all of your support this past year, and let you know that we’re looking forward to a great year in 2002!
USHGA Convention in Ontario, California
February 7th – 9th there will be an Air Sports Expo product show in the Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, California (about 40 minutes northeast of us). The show will feature hang gliders, paragliders, sail planes and ultralights. It is being held in conjunction with the USHGA spring board meeting. Come see the show, and while you are there get involved in membership and development, safety and training or any other committees that interest you. It is sometimes boring, often humorous, and always worth attending these meetings to have your say in how our organization is run!
We can arrange demo gliders for you to fly if you give us a bit of notice. It can rain for a week straight at that time of year, but sometimes the flying is great!
Brauniger Varios
More Features – Lower Dealer Prices – Higher Margins!
Did you know that the only two hang glider flights over 400 miles in history were flown with the Brauniger IQ Competition GPS vario? Both Davis Straub, and two-time World Champion Manfred Ruhmer fly the Brauniger instrument.
We have increased the retail prices (except IQ Sonic) and reduced the dealer prices to increase your margins. The Brauniger varios come with a two year warranty, we do most repairs right here, and we have instruments in stock. Compare the features and your margins, and you’ll see why you should recommend Brauniger over all others when you sell your next flight instrument!
| Part # | Description | New Retail | Dealer Each | Cat 1 Dealer Or Dealer@3 | Cat 1 Dealer@3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70K-4100 | IQ SONIC BRAUNIGER VARIO | $189.00 | $113.40 | $103.40 | $93.40 |
| 70K-4150 | IQ COMFORT BRAUNIGER VARIO | $450.00 | $270.00 | $230.00 | $190.00 |
| 70K-4130 | IQ COMP BRAUNIGER VARIO | $750.00 | $450.00 | $410.00 | $370.00 |
| 70K-4140 | IQ COMP GPS BRAUNIGER VARIO | $975.00 | $585.00 | $545.00 | $505.00 |
New Suunto Prices
Sorry to say that our cost went up. See new prices below.
| Part # | Description | Dealer Price | Retail (Unchanged) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70K-1030 | SUUNTO VECTOR WATCH ALTIMETER | $141.87 | $199.00 |
| 70K-1040 | SUUNTO ALTIMAX WATCH ALTIMETER | $136.31 | $179.00 |
| 70K-1045 | SUUNTO XLANDER WATCH ALTIMETER | $231.83 | $299.00 |
HANG GLIDING NEWS
Wallaby Demo Days – WW 29th!
Mark your calendar: April 4th – 7th we will be celebrating TWENTY-NINE YEARS in business. For the fifth year in a row, Wallaby will roll out the red carpet, (along with 6 tugs) so we can all have a great time flying. Everyone should go to the Sun ‘n Fun fly-in at least once, and it’s happening at the same time just a few miles away. Sun ‘n Fun is the world’s second largest air show, and the largest gathering of ultralight aircraft on the planet. We’ll have demos of all models and sizes, so bring your customers and we’ll help you sell them just the right glider! You’ll get more details in February’s Dealer news.
Airwave Distributes Wills Wing In Europe
Wills Wing has appointed Airwave gliders as our new distributor of hang gliders for Europe. Airwave is now owned by Markus Villinger, who used to be our European distributor before leaving hang gliding for a few years. We welcome him back and look forward to our future relationship. Wills Wing is also distributing Airwave paragliders in the United States, and we manufacture a number of Airwave hang glider models on behalf of Airwave.
Glider Sale
We will shortly be announcing a sale on inventory gliders. The offer will be $300 off the retail price of any hang glider ordered from Wills Wing factory inventory between January 21st and February 21st. The reduction in dealer price on these sale gliders will be $200 off of your normal price. As we always are at the end of the winter, we’re overstocked in inventory and need to move some out. Please help us sell as many of these gliders as you can.
Inventory List
Click here for a current list of all current inventory and for sale demo gliders.
Talon Improvements
We’ve made a lot of improvements to the Talon over these last seven months of production. The battens are easier to install, the handling is improved and the carbon tip wands have been replaced with S-glass wands which are much more resistant to breaking. We are offering one set of S-glass wands free to any Talon owner whose glider was delivered with the original carbon wands. If you have a Talon customer that has not received replacement S glass tip wands, please click here for details.
New Aluminum Slipstream Base Tube
The aluminum streamlined basetube that goes with the Slipstream downtubes is now available. It features a deeper bend and better durability than the carbon base tube. If you are planning to substitute the aluminum basetube for a carbon basetube, you will need to purchase the new basetube complete with brackets. The aluminum basetube cannot be used except in conjunction with the slipstream downtubes – it does not fit on the regular streamlined control bar.
Eagle 145 With (smaller) AT 60 Control Frame
We flight tested the AT 60 bar on the 145 Eagle and it flies just fine. As expected the roll is a little bit slower, but still very acceptable. If you have a vertically challenged pilot looking for a new wing, this might be just the ticket.
Rotor Harness
The Rotor “Kick Ass” is now available with a side mount parachute container. We generally recommend this configuration because it is easier to deploy the parachute with your left hand. The “internal” (behind the legs) parachute container is deployable with both hands, providing the pilot is of “normal” build. Pilots with large chests (or stomachs), or shorter than normal arms should not buy the Rotor with the “internal” parachute container.
We are overstocked on size 2 (skinny guy) Rotors, and also have some demos we’d like to sell. Some prices have been reduced dramatically. Click here to see the Rotor inventory list and special pricing.
A new custom color Rotor order takes four to seven weeks.
Dealer Price $725 – – Retail Price $995
PARAGLIDING NEWS
Swing Certifies the New Astral 3-26, DHV 2
The Astral 3 looks really nice to us, and we expect our first gliders in February.
From Swing’s Distributor News:
“The ASTRAL 3 is a completely new design, which was influenced heavily by the experiences made during the development of the high performance glider STRATUS by Michael Hartmann. Through the use of a unique design & simulation software developed by Stefan Müller, the canopy of the ASTRAL 3 has become very harmonic and of very high aerodynamic quality, which does support the performance characteristics of this new SWING product.
SWING is introducing a new Nylon Paraglider fabric with the launch of the ASTRAL 3. This Silicon Coated Nylon 6.6 is manufactured by Perseverance, the world market leader for parachute fabric. Together with Perseverance, we have been developing and testing for the last two years a Silicon / Polyurethane coated nylon fabric which does weigh just 46 gram/sqm! Biggest advantage of this fabric, which we use only in the top sail of the glider is its ageing behaviour. Long-term field-tests where carried out in sun prone areas with very satisfying results.
The ASTRAL 3 will not disappoint you in thermals, which is supported by a very fine and responsive handling, what is a joy to use. The wide ranged speed known from the ASTRAL 2 was incorporated as well.
Naturally, we have given lots of emphasis on the safety characteristics of the ASTRAL 3! The ASTRAL 3 is definitely a product, which can be handed out to an experienced pilot without getting a headache whether your customer can manage it.
We are a 100% convinced to offer with the all new ASTRAL 3 the best and most balanced SWING Intermediate glider with DHV class 2 certification ever!”
Astral 3 Specifications
- Cells: 66
- Wing Area Projected (sqm): 25.6
- Wing Span Projected (m): 10.6
- Wing Span (m): 12.5
- Aspect Ratio: 5.5
- Take Off Weight (kg): 85-105
- Homologation : DHV 2 GH
Swing Mistral 2
Swing’s DHV 1-2 is a great glider at an affordable price, and it’s available in four sizes. It is a perfect move up glider for pilots flying the Arcus, and a good choice for pilots wanting to take a step back from DHV 2 or 2-3 gliders. Check out the Mistral 2 specs here.
Airwave Certifies The Sport L and XL, DHV 1-2
The first shipment of Sport M’s sold out quickly. Not to worry, the next shipment is due here soon, and we’ll have our first chance to fly the new Sport L. We’ll be getting our first Sport XL’s in February.
Special Demo / School Deals Continue
You can purchase any size Mistral 2, Logic, or Sport for only $1600 dollars, or the Arcus in any size for $1500, provided it’s intended to be used in your school or for a demo. There is no better way to sell these gliders than to let pilots fly them!
Inventory Clearance Sale
We still have a few very specially priced paragliders for sale. Go to the inventory list on the web site and select “ALL” in the glider model drop down box, then click “get list”. This is the fastest way to view our entire inventory of paragliders.
Demo Scheduling
If you would like to schedule a demo give Mitch a call, or e-mail him at: mitch@www.willswing.com
For a description of the new service and inspection procedures, have a look here.
Parafly Carabiner Airworthiness Directive
This DOES NOT APPLY to any of the Parafly click lock carabiners we have sold. In short, they have found a problem with chromed carabiners, which look similar to the polished carabiners. The polished ones are bright dip anodized, while the problem units are very shiny, like chromed wheels. For more detailed information see www.austrialpin.com
Please let us know what you think of the new format!
Fly safe,
The Wills Wing Crew