snip)
my experience this far has been that it is at
least a two man and 30 minute or more operation. *I timed one particular
assembly which ran into a few snags and it seems this is the norm. *I
appreciate your response.


Ahh, the classic wing is 'almost on' Marks Bros routine where the
final 1/2" of travel of wing #2 pushes wing #1 out after getting the
ship 'almost together' in 5 minutes, but then taking another sweaty
1/2 hr or more to get the main pin(s) in, with 3 unhappy helpers
trading turns at the tip... "give it about 20lbs up... now wiggle NO
NO NO, up and down, not for and aft what are you doing... up, up,
back- NO the other back come on man, there wait, no... OK, how about
30lbs..." and so the cycle goes.

Although the wings on my SZD-59 are heavy (160lbs each) there is a 2'
long cinching lever that engages lugs on the top of the spars to pull
them together that last inch or two which might as well be a mile on
most ships. Get'm close and cinch'em from the center. No shear load on
the mainpin, so it goes right in. It's easy, and with a 1 man rigger
would be quite easy to assemble. (same for the Jantar 3 from which
it's derived). There have been other ships with this feature (LIbelle,
Diamont, etc) but most of them recommend it as a last ditch effort and
not the primary means of drawing them together like my ship and it's
ilk. It makes a huge difference to me anyways... Takes me a 1/2 hr
till it's all taped up and preflighted, but only need 1 other person
for 5-10 minutes of that, and only cause don't have a solo rigger.
Finicky horizontal tails add their share of hassle too, but luckily
not all gliders are created equal. I watched a SparrowHawk get solo
rigged by an old dude with nothing but a couple cheapo plastic
sawhorses in around 20 minutes...

-Paul

ps. your facing one of life's most wonderful dilemmas; choosing which
sailplane to buy for yourself... happy shopping!