(Michel Talon) wrote in message ...

It is here that i disagree with Lennie. Having a good performing glider
40:1 allows to easily show what is really the beauty of gliding, in
particular going XC.

Tsk,Tsk. Michel, the last part of that statement is not a universal
truth, only your personal opinion


Hence, contrary to what he states and thinks, the real
elitism is in his position, thinking that one can have a lot of fun
with 30:1 gliders.

Here is what we call, in metalworking, "blaming the machine."
Meaning, blame the machine for the shortcomings of the man. If you
cannot find a way to have fun in any glider, it's a tunnel vision of
what you personally perceive as "fun". To suggest that because you
can't, nobody else can, is only an attempt to hide the fact that you
have only a single interest.

Except excellent pilots, most of those who use such
gliders spend their time circling around the airport, and, as Lennie
has observed himself, this doesn't remain fun for very long.

MIchel, nothing will make me angry any faster than someone twisting my
words to mean something I did not say. I plainly stated from the
beginning, that flying local in a 1-26 was the total extent of what I
intended to do. That NEVER changed. There was a short time that I
considered using the glider to save myself a little footwork, but a
few minutes with the "State sized maps" showed me that it would have
been foolhardy on most days, even though possible. I do not like
people that manipulate my words to seemingly support a position that,
in this case, I do not agree with.

Higher performance and lower cost do not go together, one forbids the
other unless you want to sacrifice something like structural integrity
to reach it. In which case, you shouldn't be building airplanes,
maybe lawn chairs.