I flew Pik 20bs for 10 years,both as a syndicated machine and later as a
sole owner in East Yorkshire.
I agree with all the above,but suggest you read the flight report by Dick
Johnson.It was in Sailplane and Gliding in either 1975 0r 77.The issue had
a photo of an IS28 impersonating a submarine on the cover.
One word of warning,when it comes to resale they are a bit like Marmite:
love them or hate them.
I have fond memories of mine.At 08:58 07 September 2016, Graham Stanford
wrote:
At 23:37 06 September 2016, Don Johnstone wrote:
At 18:40 06 September 2016, wrote:
On Saturday, January 3, 1998 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-6, Alex Ferrer
wrote:
I've owned a Pik20B (20PE) for the last 3 years (about 200
hours in
N-Te=
xas
weather) ...
This is what I have to say for my experience on it :
=20
The Pik is a very nice plane. It thermals beatifully with a little
flap
a=
nd
about 50mph, I have climbed at the same rate with glass &
canvas planes.
=
I have
thermaled in as little as 260 fpm (min sink is about 220) and on
1000+fpm=
during
the summer seasons. It flies great and is very well manered,
stalls are
=
mild
and with plenty of warning, the cockpit is quiet and very roomy.
=20
About the L/D The book says 38:1 but think 36 is more like it.. I
guess
t=
he
wings are not in optimum shape and I could do a better job
with the tape.
=20
About the landings.. if you have not flown a flapped glider (with
no
spoi=
lers)
the landing is quite a workout at least until you get used to
point the
n=
ose
directly down to the field.
=20
You can crank 5 turns on the flap lever, I use the first 3 as flaps
and
t=
he last
2 are pretty much a spoiler.
whith full flaps the plane is pretty much going straight down
(important:=
watch
your speed)
=20
I have landed it on pretty short fields, and I got to say the
wheel
brake=
s are
worthless.. (at least mine are) & I heard that most Pik's are like
that..
=20
My Pik has no tail wheel, so I if I got to stop in a hurry I usually
put
positive flaps as soon as the wheel touches the ground and
quickly dig
th=
e tail
in the ground. it should stop in less than 200 ft
=20
Other negative point for the Pik, is that you need at least 2
people to
t=
ake it
apart and definetly 3 to put it back together!
=20
So far I love it.
alx.
=20
=20
Moto12345 wrote:
=20
Does anyone have experience with the PIK 20? How does it
thermal in
lig=
ht
conditions. does it climb well. I like the l/d but I don't know
what
it=
's
airfoil does for climbing. Does the aircraft have any bad
habits? I
lik=
e the
idea of no gel coat. I haven't flown a flapped glider yet but I
hear
it=
s a
slower approach and steeper. I would appreciate any
comments.

I am wanting to buy my first glider and considering a pik 20-B. I
live
in=
the dfw area and would like to talk with a local pik owner
regarding what
=
to look out for when purchasing a pik, or really any glider of the
same
vin=
tage. Also, would love to assist in rigging / de-rigging one to get
a
fee=
l for what to expect. Would you be available for a call?

Yes to all the above, only one problem, if the wings get wet it has all
the qualities of a housebrick. If you fly somewhere where it never
rains that will not bother you at all.




I have a Pik 20B and it really is the best value for money glider.

I soar it usually at 4 degrees of positive flap which gives me goo
climbing
results and nice handling.

I find 8 degrees doesn't really add much to its performance but i am no
doubt a ham fisted individual without the finess of a more experience
pilot
(I have about 400 hours total gliding).

However, got to say it makes me smile, it goes well (I have done a bit of

XC in it including a 300k and it does land well in small fields).

However, when I first started to fly it I tended to fly it too fast whe
coming
in to land resulting in far longer landing runs than I now achieve.

There is a website called Pik 20B Kilo Golf which is a guy who owns
bright
yellow Pik 20B which has some good tips on how to fly it.

Probably not for a low hours pilot used to air brakes but even then if yo

get well briefed and take a lot of time to think about what you are doin
it
behaves very well. Shame people are put off by the lack of airbrakes.

I also agree with Don about the wet wings comment...it doesn't like rain
very much as it doesn't shed that too easily although funnily enough ther

has been some work done on creating very fine sanding diagonally across
the wings to assist with spanward flow but i haven't done this on mine an
i
keep away from rain as much as possible because I prefer the sun (And
wouldn't it be nice to see some here in the UK for gliding purposes.

Cheers

Graham