Ian, I thought your "aux vaches" was the M in Nimbus4DM......

Robert

Ian Strachan wrote:

In article , Bob Johnson
writes

Just to keep stuff straight, while Mr. Moffat has certainly expessed
from time to time his fondness for span, I believe "there is no
substitute for span" quote comes from Michael Bird ("Platypus")


I do not think that Plat would claim credit for this saying which,
regarding straight performance, has been extant in gliding since I
started in the 1950s.

It refers to the "easiest way to increase performance" (max L/D I
suppose), contrasting the relative simplicity of adding span compared to
the complexities of adding flaps, new airfoil sections, new
configurations, etc.

In my own case I remember the Grunau (about 13m I think), good in a
thermal but not in a glide, a sort of ancient PW-5. After the Grunau, I
progressed through the 15m Meise (well the UK Olympia version anyway) to
the Skylark 2 (laminar 15m) to the Skylark 3 & 4 (18m) and finally
through various syndicates from 15 to 18m to the Nimbus series, starting
at 22m and now 26 in the Nimbus 4DM, twice the span of the dear old Grunau.

As far as I am concerned, "there is no substitute for span". In UK
soaring conditions, anyway, if you wish to avoid landing "aux vaches".
Our vaches may not be very vicious but our roads (for retrieving) are
.......