SSA will be exhibiting gliders, with an info booth, at Oskosh this
year. That's great! But their choice is a bit surprising: "The
current plan is to exhibit two sailplanes, a Ximango to represent motor
gliders, and a Sparrowhawk for the purists." (quoted from the SSA
website).

Now, the Ximango is fine for a touring motorglider, but the Sparrowhawk
is hardly the glider of choice for purists - it's a nice niche glider
(ultralight, medium performance), but not really in the mainstream,
IMHO. I consider myself a bit of a purist (my friends would say
elitist glasshole, ahem) and when I think of a glider to show off to
the great unwashed masses I think ASW-27 , Nimbus 4, or LS-8, not
Sparrowhawk.

It would be nice to see a modern self launch (Apis?) and a state of the
art Std or 15 meter ship, and a modern 2-seat trainer (PW-6/ASK-21).

Or wow the motorheads with an ASH-25 or Nimbus 4dm with all the wing
bits on!

If someone asked me, and I had the time off, I'd be happy to drag my
old LS6 up there - but I don't think that's going to happen!

Oh well, now for the retribution of the Sparrowhawk fans...

Seriously, I really think that this is a good thing - regardless of the
actual gliders involved - The EAA crowd could be a great source of
glider pilots. Good on you, SSA! And good luck!

Kirk
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