DG Flugzeugbau GmbH / Passion, Power + Performance

Reasons and Details for the Service Agreement

Content of the Article:

When DG Flugzeugbau was founded in 1996, we agreed, without question, to continue complete type support for all DG aircraft built to that date.

Since then, the Internet has evolved into a mass-communication medium, enabling pilots from all over the world to post their support questions directly to the original manufacturer and type supporter. This has presented us with a steadily increasing flood of support questions, and as you know, we haveanswered them all.

Channeling the many inquiries and the creation of the technical support forum brought some temporary relief, but this capacity was quickly eaten-up by the exponentially increasing flood of support questions.

The acquisition of the LS types from Rolladen-Schneider aggravated the situation. A transfer of the responsibility for LS-4 and LS-6 technical support to Slovenia unfortunately didn’t work out. AMS turned silent after a short while, and pilots begun calling us again.

Political pressure put on the EASA to balance their budget from 2004 onwards has caused extra bureaucracy and soaring costs for us.

Continued support of the older aircraft types has developed into a substantial financial loss for the company. We performed a detailed cost-analysis early in 2009 which revealed an annual net loss of hundreds of thousands Euros, which had to be absorbed and subsidized by other departments within the company.

This situation could not continue as is, it would have endangered the health of whole company!

There is no question that selling a very expensive new aircraft creates a substantial after-sale support responsibility. We take this for granted; therefore nothing will change for aircraft manufactured by DG Flugzeugbau GmbH since 1996, about 700 in total. (an this support is transferrable, if one of these gliders is subsequently sold!)

Therefore, nothing will change for existing and future aircraft manufactured by DG Flugzeugbau GmbH, after-sales support remains free of charge.

However, how should we deal with the older aircraft constructed by Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen-Schneider? DG-Flugzeugbau GmbH  may have inherited the lineage but never sold or was compensated for these older aircraft. We therefore have no legal obligation to provide continuing free service. These older Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen-Schneider aircraft are therefore subject  to the following:

We are regrettably unable to continue providing free service for aircraft manufactured by Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider.

However, to assist you to keep your aircraft airworthy and in good condition, we offer you a service agreement for an annual fee. Starting with the year 2010, any support services for Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen-Schneider aircraft are only available through this service agreement existing since 2010.

We are pleased to announce that in the recent months we have updated all of our manuals to provide you the customer with the latest information concerning the safe and efficient operation of your aircraft. This was a huge work! Especially the manuals of LS gliders were in terrible condition, faulty and uncomplete! But unfortunately these manuals cannot longer be provided free of charge. The manuals are available exclusivly through a service agreement for the year 2010. Customers with a service agreement beginning not before 2011 will have to purchase the manual later. That means that those customers - if they need any services - have to pay the outstanding fees since 2010 later.

A service bulletin states the new regulations concerning these service manuals:
Actual service manuals - after they are approved by the authorities - are necessary for each pilot especially for the next annual check. Service manuals are mandatory for the operation of the aircraft according to "Part M" (Standard Maintenance Program) of the EASA rules.

We can imagine that most affected pilots were startled reading this news. We agree that it is not so easy to accept paying for something that was free for so long time.

However, we think it only fair to ask aircraft owners to contribute their share for covering the service cost of older aircraft, which we support but never earned any revenue on. In our hearts we have strong ties to all glider pilots in the world. But in the interest of these pilots, we cannot continue subsidizing the community out of our own pockets, as we have done for 15 years, and risk the ruin of yet another manufacturer….

The only other alternative to paid service contracts would have been to abandon all type support and service for the aircraft built by Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen-Schneider.

Obviously we believe that this would be in no one’s interest.

Here you will find the

Form for the Service Agreement.

Please read it carefully, complete all fields and sign it. Send it to us via letter, FAX or e-mail (as PDF document), and please transfer the first premium. This will help us to provide you with continued service without interruption.


DG SUPPORT CONTRACT - SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS

Who does it affect? 

All Individuals, Syndicates or Clubs owning DG gliders manufactured before 1996 [with certain exceptions – see list for serial numbers above]

 

What does it mean?

As from January 2010, DG Flugzeugbau Gmbh will no longer provide ‘free of charge’ technical support to owners of DG gliders manufactured by the Glaser Dirks company prior to the establishment of the present company [DG Flugzeugbau] and manufactured by Rolladen-Schneider company.

 

What is the background?

When DG Flugzeugbau was founded in 1996, the new company undertook to provide complete type support for any DG glider built up to that date, even though the new company had not benefited financially from the sale of those gliders. For the last 13 years DG Flugzeugbau has continued to provide full support to all DG und LS owners irrespective of the year of manufacture of their glider.

 

Why has this been introduced now?

Providing free technical support to DG gliders manufactured before 1996 has become an increasingly expensive burden on the present company and these costs represent a real threat to its continuing financial health. Some of this burden is a result of the requirements imposed by EASA since 2004 and the rest has resulted form the increasing demands for direct support from the factory by individual owners. As a result, DG Flugzeugbau is unable to continue to financially support the provision of this level of service for these gliders at its own expense.

 

What does DG propose?

DG Flugzeugbau will continue to provide full support for DG gliders manufactured by Glaser Dirks provided that owners of these gliders enter into a ‘Service/Support Agreement’ with the company and agree to pay an annual fee to DG Flugzeugbau to cover the costs of providing and maintaining the same level of customer support that DG has provided on an F.O.C. basis for the last 14 years.

 

What are the costs involved?

An Annual fee of 245 Euros payable to DG Flugzeugbau or its appointed representative [plus VAT where legally required]. Owner with several affected gliders have to pay 150,00 Euros for the second all all following ones.

From 2011 a "basic-version" for 180,00 Euros/year is available too - with some restrictions.

 

What does ‘Technical Support’ include?

 

UK: How does McLean Aviation fit into the new arrangement?

As the appointed representative for DG Flugzeugbau in the UK and Eire McLean Aviation, in co-operation with DG, offers all owners of DG gliders affected by the new arrangements the option of participating in the scheme by returning their signed agreements to McLean Aviation. On payment of the fee, McLean Aviation will register the glider and its owner[s] with DG Flugzeugbau and will administer the annual renewal of the agreement on behalf of the owner[s].

 

What about DG gliders manufactured since 1996?

All DG gliders manufactured by DG Flugzeugbau since 1996 are, and will continue to be fully supported on a ‘free of charge’ basis. The ‘Support Agreement’ applies only to DG gliders manufactured or sold by the former company ‘Glaser Dirks’ and "Rolladen-Schneider"

 

When do the new conditions come into effect?

January 1st 2010

 

How long does the Agreement last?

The Agreement is valid until the end of the next year and is renewable annually on the 1st of January of each year against payment of the Annual Fee

 

How is the new scheme activated?

By signing a Support Agreement and either returning it directly to DG Flugzeugbau or (in UK) to McLean Aviation together with the Annual Fee.

 

What happens if the glider is sold or withdrawn from operation? 

In these cases the agreement may be cancelled to the end of the year, when the new customers also signs a contract.

 

What changes will occur in January 2010? 

A service bulletin will define the new regulations for service manuals:

 

What are the consequences of not signing the Support Agreement?

 

What options are really available to DG to solve the problem?


"Type Support" - What does it mean?

Out of the flood of comments received on this topic, I learned that a large number of pilots apparently do not know what ”type support” or “type responsibility” really mean. For us is providing type support part of our daily business, but for you?

Maybe I should have explained you more about “type support” from the very beginning, told you more about the very aviation-specific nature of this process. It is not a service contract, and you won’t find it for normal technical good, not even for cars. So what is it all about?

If someone designs and builds an aircraft, with the intent to mass-produce and sell this aircraft, then that aircraft must be type-certified. The certification document will list the manufacturer as responsible to provide (ongoing) type support. In a nutshell, this means the manufacturer must ensure the continued airworthiness and safety of that aircraft type. Existing aircraft are not necessarily grounded if the type-maintaining organization disappears for any reason. However, if an incident happens due to a design flaw and no type supporter organization exists to develop a remedy to that flaw, all existing aircraft of that type might become grounded permanently.

This means: Active type support is a prerequisite to ensure continued aircraft operation under an existing type certificate.

The EASA provides in its regulations a clear definition of a type supporter’s responsibilities. They can be viewed on the EASA home page (Regulation EU-VO 1702, Part 21).

However, EASA did not define the rights of a type supporter, the "T/C Holder" in particular the right to charge for the type support effort (in contrast to their own well defined fee structure…). But economic aspects of type support is out of scope for EASA, their charter is to ensure aviation safety. And their way of thinking is heavily influenced by the aspects of large-scale commercial aviation. Nobody would be surprised if companies like Airbus cover their type support expenses in the sales price they charge their airline customers.

But back to a T/C holders responsibilities:
Main responsibility is to be present and available to answer questions regarding safety and airworthiness of a particular aircraft type (not individual aircraft, that is the domain of service operations).

He has to collaborate with and support all aeronautical authorities all over the world, wherever aircraft of this type are registered. This collaboration becomes particular labor-intensive when incidents or accidents occur. Particular the American FAA keeps us busy with questions and even requested whole expert reports after accidents. Of course we cannot charge the authorities for this.

EASA has even requirements on the organizational structure of a T/C holder. It has to have at least three independent engineers, which forces small organizations to utilize external contractors. EASA requires certification of the organization itself, together with recurring (expensive) audits. And it require a documented quality management. These are all regulations common to large commercial aircraft manufacturers, but these regulations put a severe burden on small and medium enterprises.

For the pilot is the type supporter the natural contact for all kind of technical questions. The volume of this communication grew exponential, as we reported earlier. Some companies handled this very cool:
They appeared deaf and nobody got any answer. But this is certainly not our style. However, answering all the questions we receive keeps several senior employees pretty busy.

Certainly we cannot write invoices for that. Or should we first listen to a problem description, then tell the customer how much the answer would cost? Even the thought about this is ridiculous!

In addition to pilots we support service companies all over the world with drawings, service instructions and detailed assistance for complex repairs. We have done this free of charge all the time.

Finally, the type supporter has the full responsibility for maintaining the technical soundness and safety of the aircraft type design. This means that worldwide any incident with structural failure has to be reported to the certification authority - EASA in our case - which will request the type supporter to conduct an investigation. If a design flaw caused the structural failure, a solution must be developed to prevent reoccurrence of that failure on any existing aircraft of this type. The type supporter has to create the according service bulletins and airworthiness directives, and has even to pay for their certification.

There is no comparable process in the frequently quoted automotive industry. If a control rod breaks on a 30 years old car, then it is just broken, and nobody cares. A control linkage problem on a 30 years old DG-100 caused the design of a reinforced joint, which had to be installed into any existing aircraft of this 30 years old type. And the type supporter is in charge to organize this global upgrade.

Another responsibility is the creation, maintenance and distribution of all required manuals. Creation is part of the type certification process. But continuous maintenance is equally important. There are always new considerations for the safe operation, which must be passed on to pilots.

In this respect has the EASA regulation a flaw:
Wilhelm Dirks told me several years ago that there is an urged need to revise the old DG and LS manuals, because of many contained errors. You know my engagement for safer glider flying, but at that moment I thought who might fund that work. I couldn’t find someone, so I deferred that work. The lack of an EASA sanctioned type maintenance fee structure had a negative safety impact in that case.

After we decided in August to introduce service contracts with the beginning of 2010, we started to revise these old manuals. Currently the pilot’s operations handbook (POH, Flight Manual) for DG-100 and LS-1 are finished, as well as the service manuals for all other DG and LS aircraft. Five persons worked on these manuals from August to December, scanning thousands of pages, revising text and layout. The new manuals not only look better, they are – hopefully – error-free. This was only possible since the service contracts are funding this kind of activities, and possibly even more.

There are more tasks to be handled by the type supporter, but I will skip here.

If an owner registers his aircraft, then he or she accepts the prevailing regulations of the registering authority and the type certification authority, the EASA in our case. Implicit is the acceptance of the type supporter. It should be obvious that he or she then also accept the respective fraction of type support cost, or?

The question is, can individual cost for a particular aircraft be identified so that one pilot only pays the cost he caused? And how much can we allow a pilot to select what service he or she likes to use?

I hope you guessed the right answer already: none of the above!

The primary cost factor of type support is already in the need of its existence. It is composed from authority fees, calls and mails from pilots, altogether important but non-chargeable services.

One option would be to charge for Service Bulletins by requiring a release certificate.

We tried this with two service bulletins for the DG-100, and we took the liberty to charge some money for it. It spawned massive protests, including verbal assaults. “Street robbery” was even one of the milder expressions…

But let me ask, do we deserve this?
Should we endure the same for each and every future service bulletin?

You can imagine how much we “enjoyed” this….

At this point we recognized there is only one path into the future:

When:

Then:

Complete cost of type support, divided through the number of aircraft, and the resulting fraction charged for every aircraft, with no exception.

And the idea of the Service contract was born….

One Comment only

Among all the comments which came to us - negative as well as positive ones - I like to publish only one, because John Fodermaier made a very good summary of the problem.
It was published in the Yahoo User Group:

Dear All

It continues to amaze me that folks keep writing in with such a negative attitude about this subject.  This reminds me of the old adage about seeing the glass either half empty or half full.  Let's look at the full side for a minute.  Owners of sailplanes built before the current DG Flugzeugbau came into existence should be overjoyed that there is ANY avenue for legal, certified service and technical support available for the Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider models built by companies that no longer exist.
 
Dealing with EASA, LBA, FAA, etc. and keeping current with the regulatory requirements is a HUGE expense.  Thank goodness DG took responsibility for the Type Certificates.  Thank goodness they took on archiving the records, stocking the replacement parts, and doing the continuing engineering and research necessary to keep the TCDS up to date and provide the data for TN's and AD's so that you can keep flying and extending the life of the aircraft.  Thank goodness there is a real person on the end of the phone line when you call for parts or information.
 
None of this are they under any obligation to provide for aircraft that they (DG) did not produce.   All DG is suggesting is a mechanism whereby they break even on the expense to provide the service.  For all the complaining on this forum, I have yet to see anyone post a practical alternative.  Everyone seems to think that continuing service should be provided free to the owner.  How do you suggest that the labor, personnel, equipment, office space, engineering, testing, documentation, etc. be paid for????
 
IMHO, DG and LS sailplanes are the best in the world.  There is another old adage that you only get what you are willing to pay for.  If you want the best, then lets support the folks who are making it possible for us to fly the best.  DG simply cannot loose money on aircraft no longer in production because it will impact their ability to continue current serial production, stay up with new technology and to evolve the current product line.
 
Let's thank Herr Weber for his continuing support.  If there are positive ways to help him support us, let's hear them.  But, let's get over the thought that this is somehow "owed" to us or an "entitlement" that comes with ownership.  It is not...
 
Thanks,
 
John Fodermaier
San Antonio, TX

Whether it be Operation or Maintenance Manuals, TN's, AD's, Service Bulletins, regulation changes, or changes in continuing certification requirements, there is a never ending overhead (cost) to keeping these out-of-production gliders airworthy.  Retrofitting safety improvements to older models (like the Roeger Hook, Piggot Hook, NOAH, etc.) takes engineering (cost) whether you take advantage of them or not.
 
A continuing service agreement is like hull insurance - you can't wait until after you have an accident to take it out.  You can't wait until after you need tech support to take out an agreement because the background work (cost) has already been done.  A continuing service agreement is also like hull insurance in that you don't have to "use it" to get your money's worth out of your investment.  Just the fact that hull insurance and service are there should you bend a wing allows you to fly.  It's nice to know they are there should you need them.  Do the people without accidents (service needs) subsidize those who crash (need service)??  Yes, but none of us can fly without it.
 
I would hope that there is no need for future AD's or TN's, but it is nice to know that DG is working in the background keeping track of service, maintenance, regulatory, and operational problems so that a TN can be issued if necessary and that I can keep flying safely as quilckly as possible.  It is nice to know that they are continually working to improve parts (like the fork for the extension motor) so that they are better, stronger, and safer, or comply with new standards.
 
You can't provide this service for one or two here and there.  For statistical norms and economy of scale, you have to deal with the fleet as a whole.  Anything else is not practical.  We have been spoiled in the past by having a lot of things provided to us.  I see the time coming where you will even have to pay to download AD's for your aircraft, duplicate certificates, etc.  This is the "new normal".  And again, just be thankful that DG is willing to take it on at any price, much less at a "break even" basis.  This service agreement is not designed to make them money, only keep them from going "in the hole" to support products they did not build.  Taking over the Type Certificates does not imply any obligation to support out of production aircraft, MORAL or otherwise...
 
Thank you DG for building the best gliders.  Thank you for continuing to retrofit safety developments (this is at best a "break even" area too).  Thank you for continuing to improve the designs.  Thank you for stocking the parts and being there every time I've needed you.  Thank you for taking on the support of the Glaser-Dirks and LS fleets.  But, most of all, thanks for suffering the slings and arrows of your commitment.
 
Thanks again,
 
John Fodermaier
San Antonio, TX

Mr. Weber,
 
Yes, please use these postings whatever you think will help in what ever way you wish.  I read the rantings going on an on and every so often am compelled to jump in and reply.  You are, of course, correct that it is an answer that they refuse to understand because they refuse to accept it.  They have to blame somebody instead of understanding.
 
I would like to personally thank you again for all that you have done for the Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider out-of-production sailplanes.  I previously owned both an LS-3 and a DG-400.  I would be first in line for a support agreement for either of those aircraft if I still owned an maintained them.  In fact, there may come a time where the economy may force support agreements for current serial production aircraft.  People just don't understand the huge overhead required to support aircraft in today's economy and regulatory environment - especially when you try to do it in a "first class" manner.  There is no more "free" anything...
 
Thank you also for suffering the insults and innuendos of the ignorant.  You are a better man than I.  Thank you for your patience and calm rhetoric.  And thanks again for building great sailplanes and being the one manufacturer who is truely concerned about safety - even for the sailplanes you did not build...
 
Best regards,
 
John Fodermaier

I cannot believe that people who are smart enough to learn to fly a high performance glider can be so ignorant of what it takes to design, engineer, and support one.

I cannot believe that people who earn enough to purchase and fly a glider can be so obtuse regarding the economics of the production of one in the business sense.

I cannot believe that people who participate in soaring, which I always considered a sport of gentlemen (and ladies), can level personal attacks instead of keeping this discussion on a professional level.

Here are some points that are continually disregarded or misrepresented:

The DG-100, 200, 400, 600 and all LS products were built by companies other than DG-Flugzeugbau (Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider). The liability and support costs for these legacy gliders built by other companies are huge. DG received no money from the sale of these gliders to offset their continuing support. It is not possible, especially in this economy, to absorb this overhead without an adverse effect on the company.

No matter what country the aircraft is operated in or whether it is in the Standard or Experimental Category an aircraft for which a Type Certificate exists must be operated in accordance with the Type Certificate. To maintain the Type Certificates for all the aforementioned legacy aircraft is an enormous, continuing engineering task for TN’s, AD’s, and Operating, Maintenance, and Repair Manuals. The costs for design, drafting, technical writing, etc. are continuous especially if done correctly, in a “first class” manner as DG approaches it.

The fees for support of these legacy aircraft are not “taxes”. That implies that you have some right to ownership of the data in the TN. Any “rights” to support data for these aircraft died with Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider. The fees for the Support Agreement are simply a fair compensation to a company producing a product. They cannot do it for free. Like the “propeller hub” example, most aircraft parts (including manuals and paperwork) carry a high cost due to the liability and regulatory costs attached. That is not the fault of DG, it is the world in which we live.

Contrary to the statement about DG driving down the value of these legacy gliders by charging for a Service Agreement, in actuality the fact that there is Service available for out-of-production gliders keeps their value UP. If anything is driving down the value of the gliders - it is the continuing harangue, misinformation, and unprofessional, personal attacks in this User Group. DG is not under any moral or legal requirement to provide support for anything other than current serial production gliders produced by THEIR company. Let’s have some appreciation for a good job done of a difficult task.

Almost every aircraft manufacturer has had to enter into some kind of fee structure for support. In the old days we got used to a relaxed support structure, especially in the glider business. Unfortunately, that has gone the way of $1.00 per gallon gasoline. Unless we want DG to go the way of LS and Glaser Dirks, we need to support them and stop the “beer and sausage” personal attacks. I’ve owned an LS-3 and a DG-400 and they were both wonderful sailplanes that deserved quality maintenance and support. I now own a DG-808C and all three gliders were simply the best quality in their respective classes. I’m grateful that Herr Weber is managing his business in such a way that I’m confident that I will be able get support for any of those three gliders in 10 or even 20 years.

Thanks,

John Fodermaier

San Antonio, TX

Validity of the Manuals

the legal situation

 

In some comments - even on the website of the German Aero Club and other foreign clubs - one could read some doubts regarding the validity and the mandatory status of the manuals.

Of course we have clarified this question already last year, but in spite of this we had a special discussion with EASA in Cologne at March 4th, 2010. The members of this meeting were four people af EASA - among these an expert for "rule making" and another one for "Part M", additionally two people of the German "Luftfahrt-Bundesamt" and two of DG Flugzeugbau.

The discussion showed a very pragmatic athmosphere and immediately we could find out that EASA has one single rule only for all its decisions:
All decisions must remain in accordance to the valid laws and the rules of the authority! Nobody has any chance to influence EASA for making anything outside these rules!

Wilhelm Dirks wrote a summary of this discussion. Everybody is invited to read it when there are any doubts.

Validity of Manuals.pdf

So:

There is the necessity always to have the valid manuals available.
This necessity does not need an A/D (Airworthiness Directive),
but it is defined in the rules of  "Part M".

And there it is expressed absolutely clear.

 

 

Here is a list of all manuals valid for DG Gliders
and here the same of all LS Gliders

 

Top | Home | Contact | Newsletter | Manuals | Order Information | Spare Parts | Techn. Questions | other Questions