What a fun adventure....

I have around 40 hours in the shorter winged version of this ship, the
Virus, in taildragger form. It is a really amazing machine. Although
registered as a glider, I wouldn't really go as far as calling it one (the
gliding performance just isn't there), but it's one heck of a capable light
sport airplane. Excellent STOL capability, even at max gross weight.
Long range, pretty fast, great fuel consumption, responsive and stable in
the air. I wouldn't recommend it for novice pilots, glider, or especially
in the LSA class, it's just too complex, and the long wings cause adverse
yaw issues that your typical LSA pilot just shouldn't be subjected to. It
definitely isn't easy to land consistently. The nosewheel version is
probably much better for that, but I would still have some reservations.
The tailwheel version is pretty squirrley if you're used to flying Citabrias
(which aren't exactly the paragon of stability themselves). Now that I'm
getting used to it (after 40 hours and about 100 landings), I realize it is
quite capable, and enjoy it greatly, but I won't be soloing any novice
pilots in it, that is for sure. The capability of this aircraft
definitely puts it in a class by itself. I am sure there will be plenty of
people with all kinds of interesting stories about what they did in these
things, I'm hoping to write a few of them myself.


Mark Lenox, CFIG
Chilhowee, TN



"USER" wrote in message
...
http://www.mcp.com.au/sinus/newslett...letter-36.html

Greetings all.... i have just uploaded the latest newsletter detailing a
trip from Australia to New Zealand in a Pipistrel Motorglider...

1600 miles of open ocean, enjoy. Michael Coates