On Sep 15, 10:14*am, "Surfer!" wrote:

But since the Schweizer seems to be the training ship of choice in most US
clubs that shouldn't be a surprise. *It's certainly not (IMHO) an
endorsement of them.

I couldn't agree more! As a "younger" glider pilot myself (29 when I
started), let me make a few assertions:

1) Do you think you can get *ANY* young person interested in soaring
if what they see is a 2-33? After playing any modern computer game?
After watching movies like "The Fast and the Furious"? The 2-33 looks
like a dog and flies slowly. Those of you who talk about being "happy
just to be in the air" have to realize what a tiny minority you are -
and that your numbers are dwindling. People these days are often
flying hundreds of miles per hour in jetliners before they're 10.
They're mixing it up in 60 - 80mph traffic by the time they're 15 or
16 (and even their economy cars have power windows, power door locks,
keyless remote, and a dock for their Phone/MP3-player). They're
playing with Google Maps and Google Earth - seeing the world from that
vantage point is not new to them. Being in the air is not new to
them. They don't know what they're missing; but they *are* going to
have a whole lot of preconceived notions about it, and their
experiences are going to bias them towards wanting something that's
fast, sleek, exciting, modern, high-tech, etc. NONE of those things
apply to the 2-33. If you want to turn a young person OFF, show then
a 2-33! They'll either stick to Flight Simulators or they'll walk
over to fly powered airplanes - you know, "the exciting and fast kind
of flying". Oh, and how many young (under 40), energetic instructors
are there in the USA? Right. So from the perspective of a young
person (under 35, let's say), their introduction to soaring is a 50 or
60 year old guy standing next to a glider that's of equal age. Yeah,
really enticing! :-P Good luck with that, folks. At least an L-13 or
L-23 looks sleeker (by comparison) and flies a whole lot better.

2) One more thing: the 2-33 is a favorite because it is cheap, and it
is easy to fix/maintain (especially for FBOs/commercial operators).
Notice that neither of these has ANYTHING to do with flying qualities
or its value in training good pilot skills! I started in an L-13,
made the jump to a 1-36 quite easily, and then had to go drop back to
a 2-33 for my license. The 2-33 was HELL. Sloppy controls, TITANIC
throw required to get a good response, and my big legs (I'm 6'1" and
215 lbs) meant that I had to lift my leg and tuck the stick under the
back of my knee to get full aileron deflection - NOT the safest way to
fly! The 2-33 is nothing like the advanced metal & glass I have flown
since. Its usefulness (if it has any) is restricted to very early
primary training, since you can't use it to develop advanced skills
(such as flying XC or good thermal-centering in anything representing
the same manner you work thermals in a more modern/capable ship).

--Noel