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Old April 18th 12, 08:40 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jim Pengelly
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Posts: 22
Default Ventus bT/cT comparison

At 03:36 18 April 2012, Bob Gibbons wrote:
On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:46:24 +0000, Jim Pengelly
wrote:

Hi everyone,

I fly a Discus bT at the moment and absolutely love it.

However, I
am thinking of upgrading to a flapped turbo in the next one or

two
seasons and the Ventus bT/cT would seem to be the natural
choice.

I have heard conflicting opinions about the various models:

i) The bT has handling issues and the cT was designed to
overcome these issues, with a bigger rudder and some other
changes. The cT is the model to go for.

ii) The cT has handling issues, can be difficult to bleed

approach
energy due to the brake configuration and was not a popular
model, which is why there are so few of them around. The bT

is
the model to go for.

iii) The bT and cT perform relatively poorly in 15m mode rather
than their 16.6m (bT) and 17.6m (cT) modes, so competing in
15m mode is not recommended.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers,
Jim


I'll offer a few comments. My Ventus cT is a 1987 model and I've

got
about 1500 hrs on the ship over the past 13 years.

-- One possible reason for the apparently small number of C

models in
the US is that at least the early C's were brought into the US as

B
models, and then re-placarded as a C model. My '87 cT has the

original
B placard still in place, but X'd out with the new C placard

mounted
below it. I notice that a number of Ventus B models in the FAA
database are in fact C models whose owners never updated the

FAA
records.

-- I've got no complaints regarding the handling of the Ventus C,
thought I fly almost exclusively with the 17.6m tips. I've noticed

no
issues with handling with the 15m winglets, however.

-- Unfortunately I have never had to opportunity to fly a Ventus

B.