Gary Evans wrote:

While other manufactures have been content with building
what looks strong enough DG has actually participated
in crash testing.

This is not correct. Gerhard Waibel won an OSTIV prize for his work in
cockpit safety about 20 years ago. Gerhard's ideas, and the ASW 24
cockpit (the first of the really crashworthy cockpits) was based on
extensive testing by a group at MIT, and others. In the years since
then, Schleicher continues to monitor the performance of their designs
by examining their gliders that are involved in crashes, either when
they are brought to their shop for repair, or using pictures sent to
them by the mechanics repairing the glider elsewhere. An advantage of
this approach is it shows what happens in an actual crash.

As a result of this testing they
offer the consummate safety cockpit as an option on
the 800 series and as standard on the 1000.

I have been impressed with DG's improvements in safety over the years,
but their single seaters cockpits still do not match what Schleicher has
done. This page on the DG website shows that this view is shared by
others (go to the "Safety Cockpit" row):

http://www.dgflugzeugbau.de/ash-dg-ventus-e.html

These differences are not surprising. The low sides and open nose of the
DG single seater cockpit pose a difficult engineering problem for the
designer, compared to the greater enclosure of the Schleicher cockpits.

I'm not suggesting that the DG cockpit is unsafe or inadequate, but only
that it does not match what Schleicher has done. A prospective owner
should consider the value of that protection along with the other
features of the gliders he is considering; for example, the lower sides
of the DG cockpit (particularly if the NOAH option is selected) should
make baling out easier than from a Schleicher cockpit.


If you counting on higher frame rails for protection
you may also want to read this.
http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/index-e.html

I was unable to find this reference, but I would like to read it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org