Never flown a 27 or a V2. But Gerhard Waibel's "designed for crashworthiness" cockpit was a factor when I bought my ASW 24 and would be if I were shopping for a glider now.

I think Gerhard's strategy (and OSTIV award) inspired the other factories to pay more attention to this but Schleicher got there first--and continued using the same technology with the 27/29.

Chip Bearden
JB