wrote:

That said, my personal feeling is that the most pilots will take
notice if the ship is able to achieve 5-10+ kts faster cruise speeds
at moderate-to-high McCready setting versus current designs. That's
what moves the market for a new high-performance glider. Performance
that you can only take advantage of in Class A airspace is
interesting, but not many of us want to go to the trouble to fly our
gliders regularly under IFR rules - not to mention the other
challenges of high-altitude flight.

I assume you are talking about wave flying in Class A airspace. Class A
is not necessary to take advantage of a high Vne. Class A's advantage
is altitude, making it easier to traverse gaps in the wave. High speed
flight comes from strong lift, which can be very strong at 18,000'.

I hope they beef the structure up a bit. I was a bit disturbed that
the canopy on the Sparrow Hawk had the apparent stiffness of a 1-liter
soda bottle.

The material is a polycarbonate (like Lexan), quite tough, lighter, and
relatively easy to form compared to the thicker acrylic used on larger,
heavier, and faster gliders. It's a good choice for the SparrowHawk.

Maybe it's a false sense of security but I'd feel better
under the illusion that I can't push my fist through the side of my
glider. I'd like for the structure to be able to absorb a decent
amount of energy in a pinch.

I doubt that any glider depends on the strength of the canopy plastic to
absorb energy in a pinch! Energy absorption comes from the design and
materials of the cockpit. I'm sure the canopy material will have to be
more substantial due to the DuckHawk's 200 knot Vne than the material
used on the 120 kt Vne SparrowHawk.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org