L33 Solo

[Jeff Runciman]

Hi Fellow Pilots,

My name is Jeff Runciman and I am a new sailplane pilot.
I probably have a couple of more hours left before
I get my licence. I currently have 135 hours powered,
35 hours ultralite, and about 450 hours of hang gliding
time. I am current in all except the ultralight. I
am looking at purchasing an L33 Solo. I am looking
for advise good and bad about the glider. I am also
looking for input on a first glider. I have about 24,000
to spend but need a trailer and one/two man rigging
gear. I don't need big time glide or performance but
would like a decent glide polar.

Any help would be apprciated.

Jeff

[Bruce]

Jeff Runciman wrote:
> Hi Fellow Pilots,
>
> My name is Jeff Runciman and I am a new sailplane pilot.
> I probably have a couple of more hours left before
> I get my licence. I currently have 135 hours powered,
> 35 hours ultralite, and about 450 hours of hang gliding
> time. I am current in all except the ultralight. I
> am looking at purchasing an L33 Solo. I am looking
> for advise good and bad about the glider. I am also
> looking for input on a first glider. I have about 24,000
> to spend but need a trailer and one/two man rigging
> gear. I don't need big time glide or performance but
> would like a decent glide polar.
>
> Any help would be apprciated.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
>
OK I'll bite.
I went through the same exercise a couple of years ago. Given that I enjoy
tinkering and had no great ambitions as a XC pilot, having never been exposed to
it, I was keen on an "interesting" low performance glider.

Many people advised me - and there were a few contradictions, and some
mis-information in the advice.

What I have learned is only really appropriate to the 42 year old curmudgeon
here, but I will share it in the hope that it is useful in making your decision.

First - for a first glider it is a really good idea to buy from someone you
know, and a glider you know. There are so many things that can and will cause
you problems, and you really do need experience owning one before you go
thinking of buying one long distance...

Second - and allied to the above, the best first glider is one that is shared in
a syndicate with someone who is already intimate with it. That way you will have
a much quicker learning curve. (and you can afford to have better performance)
If the person who sold you 50% of the glider still owns the other share, your
chances of getting burned are low.

Third - buy the highest performance you can afford. You can (and will)
accumulate your own collection of GPS, and radio and ELT etc. If the instruments
are shabby, that is OK because you will probably want to upgrade at some point
anyway. The lower the value of what you discard, the better.

Fourth - keep some cash in reserve , there are few things worse than owning a
shiny toy you can't afford to fly. Make the cash reserve proportional to the
expected maintenance requirements. (Hint - glass is REALLY low maintenance)

Fifth - make sure it has a good trailer, and is reasonable to rig. Then -
Go fly XC - as you will have seen in your hang glider days, there is nothing
like it for developing your skills.

Basically, the best advice all came back to the same principles.
It is expensive in time as well as money buying into a glider. Rather buy one
you will own for a while. This implies that the glider itself should have the
highest potential for what you plan to do. Maybe you want to join the skid row
bunch and be hyper competitive in a 1-26. I wanted to develop my capabilities -
so I invested in a better XC machine than I am a XC pilot. Three years on - I
have used the tinkering bent to upgrade the instruments and the bits that were
showing 30 years of use, but there is little one can do about the performance or
rigging.

Lastly - take what you hear with a pinch of salt. If I had listened to the
numerous people who told me how dangerous and difficult to fly the Cirrus is, I
would never have discovered what a wonderful toy my Cirrus is. There are a lot
of people out there who will vociferously give advice on things they are not
qualified to comment on. Which brings me to the L33. I have never flown or owned
one so can't comment, talk to someone who owns one and doesn't want to sell...
(The L13 is hugely fun to fly, so I assume the L33 is too)


Have fun, fly safe.
--
Bruce Greeff
Std Cirrus #57
I'm no-T at the address above.