DG303 Acro

[Ron Gleason]

I am looking at a DG 303 Acro. I would appreciate any comments about
the plane. It will be my first plane, 50+ hours in Grob 103, 1500+
hours soaring in hang glider, 5000+ miles XC in hang gliders.

I plan on flying this plane XC in UT and to start competing in sports
class.

Thanks in advance

[BTIZ]

Go for it.. I've flown the DG303, non acro version. I'm 5-10 and 200# and
broad of shoulder. I enjoyed flying the 303, solid feel, easy assembly. With
50+ hours in the Grob 103, I think the transition should be easy.

BT

"Ron Gleason" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I am looking at a DG 303 Acro. I would appreciate any comments about
> the plane. It will be my first plane, 50+ hours in Grob 103, 1500+
> hours soaring in hang glider, 5000+ miles XC in hang gliders.
>
> I plan on flying this plane XC in UT and to start competing in sports
> class.
>
> Thanks in advance
>

[Mal]

I have flown the DG 303 Acro perfect for sports class here in OZ.

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/tm-300-e.html

Mal

[[email protected]]

If you are looking at N303MR it's a sweet ship...

[Marc Ramsey]

wrote:
> If you are looking at N303MR it's a sweet ship...

I can attest to that 8^)

Marc

[Bob C]

There was a DG-303 Acro at our field for a couple of
years. I got a chance to wring it out a couple of
times. Very nice control harmony. Not quite the roll
rate of my Salto or Silent, but certainly acceptable.
Retains energy really well. Deep seating position
keeps the belts low on the hips with very secure feel.
Inverted flight with that long canopy is a real kick.

I spun it several times. Spins to the right were fairly
normal. The spin would begin to oscillate and would
recover after about 4 revolutions. Spins to the left
were a bit more interesting. After the first 3/4 revolution,
the nose would come way up, followed by a violent pitch
down, this was accompanied by a fairly significant
yaw oscillation. I was not able to continue the spin
after this event. Really got my attention the first
time, but subsequent tries were a kick. Would make
a good airshow maneuver. I suspect this spin anomaly
has something to do with turbulent air at the blowhole
inlet.

Should thermal well inverted! All-in-all a very nice
multi-purpose aircraft.

Bob C.



At 06:00 07 April 2006, wrote:
>Ron
>
>I brought a DG-303 Acro and flew it last year. I had
>less than a
>hundred hours total time in gliders and no XC experience
>at time of
>purchase. I flew over 10,000km in it last year, including
>some great
>flights out of Parowan. My decision was based on wanting
>something
>somewhat aerobatic as well as having OK XC performance.
>In reality I do
>very little aerobatics, but I still enjoy the doing
>the few acros I do.
>Also I know people locally (Hollister, CA) with DG-300s
>so there was
>some good local knowledge on the glider. Control layout/simularity
>> with
>a club DG-1000 was also a factor.
>
>It is an extremely comfortable glider and nothing beats
>having your
>feet sitting in the sun nice and warm during wave flights
>while other
>pilots are freezing their feet off. It flies well with
>water. However
>it is not the highest performance glider around, especially
>without
>water I've been in situations where you can definitely
>see the
>differnece on final glide against higher performance
>gliders like a
>Disucs 2 I fly with occasionally. It it is still more
>glider than I'm a
>pilot so I don't regret the purchase. In good conditions
>you will
>definitely want to water up and enjoy the benefit.
>
>I would look for one with the forward tow hook. A forward
>hook can be
>retrofitted but it involves fiberglass work so check
>the costs of that.
>The forward hook is not all the way in the nose but
>under your legs.
>But it will make takeoffs with a cross wind easier
>and safer. I've aero
>retrieved out of places in pretty demanding cross
>winds that I would
>not attempt with the CG hook.
>
>I am around 185lb in a parachute. I had a brass tail
>wheel installed to
>get the CG back to around 85-90% for aerobatics. For
>XC I normally fly
>with one or two weights in the front. The seat is very
>reclined, get a
>long softie or similar parachute and you will be in
>comfort heaven.
>Take out the silly factory air bladder behind the seat
>and hurl it as
>far as you can - if you need to inflate it the seat
>wobbles from side
>to side. If you need lots of padding behind the seat
>make a custom shim
>out of semiflexible foam. I'm 5'8' and I usually just
>pack my
>parachute bag and a polartec jacket (in case of outlandings)
>behind the
>seat back.
>
>DG gliders often have beautiful gel coats. But they
>are thicker that
>more and more prone to cracking. Many DG 300/303's
>and other models,
>especialy those flown in cold wave conditions, will
>have fine cracks in
>the upper wing spreading out from the corner of the
>spoiler box bakc to
>the trailing edge. Wether it is worth having these
>repaired or not is a
>long conversation. There are used DG-303's kicking
>around for sale at
>the moment that the owners describe as in perfect condition
>but that
>have these cracks. Just make sure you know what you
>are getting. If
>it's not cracked now it probably will if you fly it
>a lot. I've
>managed to get a fine crack the gelcoat on one wing,
>it happened on a
>wave flight, most people can't even see it is there.
>
>Spend some time and look over all the technical notes
>on DGs web site.
>You will find information that covers all the following
>in good detail.
>But here is a summary...Check the glider has the rudder
>lower bearing
>mods (stops the rudder potentially falling off) - subject
>of several
>disucssions on RAS recently. Any 303 built in the last
>few of years
>should also come with the canopy Roeger hook installed
>and the mod that
>adds a sping that holds the undercarriage handle more
>firmly in the
>locked position. Both are available as kits if the
>glider does not have
>these intalled. I'd not want to fly without these.
>When I was looking
>at 303's I was suprised how few owners were aware of
>these - and I
>talked to people who have had the handle pop out of
>the detent and the
>U/C collapse and they were still unwaware of the U/C
>handle mod. If the
>glider is older make also make sure the U/C gas strut
>is well inspected
>and maybe replaced during your annual.
>
>DG-300/303's are probably more likely than most to
>have gear collapses
>if they don't have the U/C handle mod. Therefore check
>carefully for
>signs of damage or repair. My glider with ony 15 hours
>time on it with
>the previous owner showed signs of minor damage from
>a gear up landing
>or collapse on a grass runway. The seller somehow forgot
>to mention
>this :-)
>
>I found on very long flights my ankles where hurting
>from having my
>legs so bowed around the instument console. The rudder
>pedals bars
>camber outwards pretty significantly to get your legs
>around the
>console. I brought angled rudder pedal plates with
>from DG that just
>clip on on in place of the factory plates and help
>reduce much of this
>angle and straighten my legs out and these worked great.
>It's very
>personal however, I fly with somebody in a DG-300 who
>has long legs and
>he put in pedal plates that go the other way (also
>available from DG)
>to bend his legs out even more.
>
>Instument panel space is tight, and there are issues
>with fitting long
>case instuments like Becker radios or transponders
>into the panel. I'm
>very happy with how I've laid out my panel and mounted
>two PDAs on
>gooseneck off the panel. I can provide more details
>if you want.
>
>Pay particular attention during tailplane assembly,
>as with other DG
>gliders, it is possible to not have the elevator control
>linkage end
>correcectly enter into the elevator control 'funnel'.
>Instead the
>linkage sits outside of the funnel but with enough
>friction against the
>side of the funnel that the elevator will appear to
>work during a
>visual check. A positive control check should discover
>the problem. I
>know somebody who managed to fly and safely land a
>DG-300 with the
>elevator 'partially' connected like this - no he did
>not do a positive
>check.
>
>Remember you are not really buying a DG glider, they
>are made and
>supported by AMS-Flight not DG. Some parts and support
>are available
>through DG, mostly the parts that are common ith other
>G gliders. For
>others you'll need to work with AMS-Flight reps or
>the factory
>directly. I've found DG easier to deal with and more
>responsive to deal
>with if it's a part they can supply.
>
>Regards
>
>
>Darryl Ramm
>DG-303 6DX
>
>
>Ron Gleason wrote:
>> I am looking at a DG 303 Acro. I would appreciate
>>any comments about
>> the plane. It will be my first plane, 50+ hours in
>>Grob 103, 1500+
>> hours soaring in hang glider, 5000+ miles XC in hang
>>gliders.
>>
>> I plan on flying this plane XC in UT and to start
>>competing in sports
>> class.
>>
>> Thanks in advance
>
>

[[email protected]]

Bob

Where was your CG position for these spins? I don't spin mine much but
with the CG at around 85% back I don't see exactly what you are
describing. I have seen some spin asymmetry before. For example with
the CG around 50% mine would do maybe one rotation to the right and
pop itself out, it would not want to rotate to the left at all. With
the CG back at 85% I see nice spin behavior to the left and right. I
have seen the strong pitch down, but not really noticed that being
asymetric. Now you've got me interested I'll play with spinning it more
(it's in the shop for work for a while)..

The only other glider I acro is a DG-1000/17m. A nice glider otherwise,
but what a pig,...both hands on joystick, big aileron push, c'mon roll,
please roll, roll you !@#$. I'd use a different word than harmonized
to describe the control forces. Stepping out of that into my DG-303 is
fantastic. The 303 Acro is a little more aerobatic than some people
seem to believe, for example tail slides as well as snap rolls and all
the usual stuff. Lots more capability than where I'm at.

I heard from Ron he has purchased a DG-303 Acro, now Ron you need to
find a good aerobatic instructor (with a two place ship) to go with
your new glider...

Cheers


Darryl

[Bob C]

I don't recall where the CG was. It was a borrowed
glider, and I was within a few pounds of the owner's
weight. I think the asymmetry may have something to
do with slightly different positions of the blowhole
inlets. Or maybe I just have a heavy foot. Whatever,
the pitchover was a real attention-getter. I was surprised
how reliably I could duplicate it. I'll bet with wingtip
smoke, that would be a real crowd pleaser at airshows.

If I hadn't built the jet Silent, I'd be very interested
in a DG-303 Acro for airshow work. Too bad they don't
make a motor version of it...



At 15:00 11 April 2006, wrote:
>Bob
>
>Where was your CG position for these spins? I don't
>spin mine much but
>with the CG at around 85% back I don't see exactly
>what you are
>describing. I have seen some spin asymmetry before.
>For example with
>the CG around 50% mine would do maybe one rotation
>to the right and
>pop itself out, it would not want to rotate to the
>left at all. With
>the CG back at 85% I see nice spin behavior to the
>left and right. I
>have seen the strong pitch down, but not really noticed
>that being
>asymetric. Now you've got me interested I'll play with
>spinning it more
>(it's in the shop for work for a while)..
>
>The only other glider I acro is a DG-1000/17m. A nice
>glider otherwise,
>but what a pig,...both hands on joystick, big aileron
>push, c'mon roll,
>please roll, roll you !@#$. I'd use a different word
>than harmonized
>to describe the control forces. Stepping out of that
>into my DG-303 is
>fantastic. The 303 Acro is a little more aerobatic
>than some people
>seem to believe, for example tail slides as well as
>snap rolls and all
>the usual stuff. Lots more capability than where I'm
>at.
>
>I heard from Ron he has purchased a DG-303 Acro, now
>Ron you need to
>find a good aerobatic instructor (with a two place
>ship) to go with
>your new glider...
>
>Cheers
>
>
>Darryl
>
>

[[email protected]]

Mmm a DG-400 Acro, fueslage from a DG-400, wings from a 303 Acro, some
duct tape, a fresh parachute repack, ...

I agree on the pitch down, stomach in mouth stuff. The manual does warn
that "the DG-300 shows a very large nose down pitch after leaving [the]
spin".

Darryl