Bill Daniels wrote:

Eric, I've read them all. I even test flew a 3 pound wing loading glider
at El Mirage - in 1968.

The Lighthawk is supposed to have an L/D of 35 - but at what speed? 35
Knots? A min sink of 60FPM at 25Kts? What can it do against a 20 knot
headwind? 18:1? What's the L/D at 100Kts?

The Nimbus 2C (a 1980 20M glider) has a min sink of .5 M/S (98FPM) at 40
knots, 49:1 at 62Kts and 35:1 at 100 Kts. Against a 20 knot headwind,
flying at 100Kts. IAS, it can do 27:1 while making 80 Kts ground speed. The
2C's touchdown speed, in ground effect, is 30 knots and it stops darn fast.

The Nimbus 2C is a quarter century older than the Lighthawk. Is this
progress?

When I get beat by a Lighthawk flying in the conditions I like to fly in,
I'll be less skeptical.

Maybe, if you flew a LightHawk in the conditions it was designed for,
you'd also be less skeptical. I'd like to give it a try.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA