Re : Do it youself!

Hi Flash,

I would definitely concur will Bill, in that rather than trying to start
building a wooden glider from scratch I would consider
buying one of the older glass ships and either refinish the surfaces
yourself, as a project, or even pay to get it done as the whole exercise
would not be overly expensive.

A contact of mine at another club recently bought an old 1970's flapped
Vega 17 metre glider at something like £6k (However, this particular model
is an advanced glider to fly!). He sent me an email saying that he is so
'over the moon' with it's handling and performance that for his
personal style of flying he will never need anything else. sSo he is
driving it to Poland for a gel coat re-finishing (which is the cheapest
way to get it done in Europe!)

Another 1970's glider (not so advanced but I understand has been very
popular in the USA) is the'Libelle'. This is a delightful little 15
metre glider that is about the easiest of all to rig. A man and his son or
wife alone could rig it quite easily! It's only downside is limited power
airbrakes, which means a pilot needs to be fairly experienced to ensure
landing it safely in a small field in the event of an outlanding. In the
UK a good Libelle, including trailer, can be bought for under £6k.

Even though 1970's design and manufacture, these gliders have the
advantage over a wooden glider in that they are 'slippery' and have a
good penetration ability - so you can 'go places'. A home build or
vintage 'wooden' ship would almost certainy not have much penetration,
and although they climb well, it's difficult to go anywhere one you're
up at cloudbase. Isn't it better to spend your spare time learing how to
fly a glider and the skills of soaring, rather than spending hundreds of
hours in your workshop!

Additionally, although GRP 'glass' ships should not be kept out in the
sun for more hours than are necessary, they are arguebly far more
resilient than wooden aircraft regarding, rain, humidity, heat, etc. and
normally require not much maintenance (apart from a gel coat re-finishing
every couple of decades or so).

The best of luck whatever road you decide to take!