Concept 70 opinions

[Gus Rasch]

Group,

Anybody have experience with a Berkshire Concept 70? Its a 15M glass
ship with flaps and I am considering one thats available. Thanks for
your input.

GR

[tango4]

No airbrakes but 90 degree flaps. 21 built, moulds destroyed ( parts etc few
and far between!)

see http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=62

Apologies to its current owner but the words 'bargepole', 'would not' and
'touch' spring to mind!

Ian


"Gus Rasch" > wrote in message
m...
> Group,
>
> Anybody have experience with a Berkshire Concept 70? Its a 15M glass
> ship with flaps and I am considering one thats available. Thanks for
> your input.
>
> GR

[Ben Jeffrey]

I have had a Concept 70 for several years. My experience with the Concept has been very positive and feedback from other owners has been as well. It performs at the level of a Standard Cirrus and is honest in it's flying characteristics. The cockpit is large and comfortable. In fact the tooling is not destroyed, although not readily accessible. I had the canopy damaged on mine a few years ago and replacements are available now from Thermotec.

I would be glad to talk with you - send me your phone number vial email if you do.

Ben Jeffrey
N914RJ
(remove xyz)

[Wallace Berry]

In article >,
(Gus Rasch) wrote:

> Group,
>
> Anybody have experience with a Berkshire Concept 70? Its a 15M glass
> ship with flaps and I am considering one thats available. Thanks for
> your input.
>
> GR

One of our local guys (Atlanta, GA area), Ron Roberts had a Concept 70
for a long time. He liked it. Seemed to be a well built ship. Had a
pretty large cockpit. It was capable of landing very short with it's
landing flaps. I helped assemble it many times. I seem to remember that
it went together easily. Maybe Ron will chime in if he reads this
newsgroup.

[WNockles]

I owned a C-70 for several years and watched over their construction for a few
years as well. Aside from weight, they are delightful ships; very forgiving and
extremely strong. The flaps slow the stall speed to about 35 mph which make for
easy approaches, however the ship will float and you may have to dump some flap
to touch down. An easy solution is to come in with partial flaps. The steel
cage

[WNockles]

around the pilot is superb protection. All in all the C-70 is an excellent
sailplane.

Best wishes,
Bill Nockles

[Ron Roberts]

(Gus Rasch) wrote in message >...
> Group,
>
> Anybody have experience with a Berkshire Concept 70? Its a 15M glass
> ship with flaps and I am considering one thats available. Thanks for
> your input.
>
> GR

I owned serial number 11 for 15 years. As stated in another reply it
is very stable. One hand on the stick at 122kts. redline. The 90
degree flaps take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang
you can spot land on a dime. The steel cage from nose to trailing edge
of wing gives a lot of crash protection. I refinished mine with
prestec in 92. The original 16 were built in NJ with epoxy over
gelcoat. I will be glad to answer any questions you have.

Ron