Before the rudder damper was fitted a number of Open Cirrus
suffered 'soft' rear fuselage twisting flutter. I believe none had
structural damage, but it was unacceptable so the hydraulic
damper was fitted in the centre section.

I found it noticeable on the ground, but not when flying (and I
had one of the extended tip ones, just under 19 metres).

I had some good flying and competition success in it, but it
really needed more wing loading on the good days.

Comfortable cockpit, decent brakes for glass ships of that era
plus the tail-chute for small fields.

Wings not exactly lightweight, but with two trestles I used to rig
with just me and my 11 year old son, and when he was at school
it didn't drive people away at rigging time like the Kestrel 19 did.


The rudder damper is a pain - before mine was replaced as
worn out, the
g=
lider was much nicer to fly. Unfortunately, back in 1967/68
when the
Cirrus=
was the hot racing ship one suffered rudder flutter (probably
exceeding
Vn=
e by quite some amount) so the damper was added. You get
used to it, and
it=
seems less stiff in flight.

Can you tell me how the rudder damper works? Is it at all
adjustable? I
wou=
ld probably be buying this Open Cirrus if I was sure the rudder
pressure
wo=
uldn't be unpleasant. thanx