At 18:26 01 January 2015, kirk.stant wrote:
Hate? None so far, thank goodness! But dislike? Schweizer 2-
33 is the
obv=
ious answer (for US and Canadian pilots, at least) due to it's
atrocious
er=
gonomics, lethargic control response, and general ugliness. But
I don't so
=
much dislike it (first glider solo in one, have a lot of time in it
giving
=
rides, and still occasionally fly our club's example, just to
remind
myself=
how much nicer the other gliders are) as think that its time
has past and
=
that it was a poor effort by Schweizer, when you think that the
classic
Bla=
nik L-13 and Schleicher K-7/13s are contemporaries...

But picking on the 2-33 is too easy, so here are two mo

Schweizer 1-34. Looks like it should be a lot of fun, but it's
really
pret=
ty pedestrian to fly, with almost the worst ailerons in any Std
Class
glide=
r. I much prefer the older 1-23 - that's a fun little glider!

Peterson J-4 Javelin. Spoilers for roll control - or lack of it.
Identical=
spoilers for glidepath control, or lack of it. Ugly as sin (but a
big
comf=
ortable cockpit). A truly imaginative attempt at an inexpensive
glider,
bu=
t the cost cutting really shows. I flew one of the first ones
built, and
w=
as unimpressed - and the following day another demo flight in
it ended in
a=
pattern stall-spin fatal crash - due I believe directly to the
weak
ailero=
ns and spoilers, combined with a too high pattern, leading to
an attempted
=
low 360...

That being said, if any of these were all I had to fly and the
day looked
g=
ood, I wouldn't hesitate to jump in any of them and go fly!

Kirk
66

If Gliders are like Beer, it might go like this: After another
cracking soaring day, during the 1969 Nationals at Marfa, the
Glasflugel test pilot and I stood together on the old airbase
ramp, drinking our cans of Coors beer. The lousy capture of
each other's language led mostly to staring at the waning cu's of
the deep blue, West Texas sky. Yet savoring the watery taste of
these versions of German staple, I had to ask...but carefully:
"Herr Muller...How Do You Like Coors Beer?" He responded with
slow and diplomatic word: "Any Beer Is Better Than No Beer."
Smiling, we starred at the sky some more.
Rob RB