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Old January 6th 21, 05:37 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default First glider Nimbus 2 ?

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at 11:56:48 AM UTC+13, kenward1000 wrote:
On Monday, January 4, 2021 at 11:34:50 PM UTC-8, Surge wrote:

I chose the Nimbus 2 for various reasons:
1. There was nothing available with a 40+:1 L/D within my budget. ASW20's were selling for 3 to 4 times the price and club single seaters were not always available and often had a waiting queue which meant long cross country flights on nice days were not possible.
2. I wanted to have 100% ownership in a glider which I know no one else has broken, mis-rigged, etc. without my knowledge. I saw club gliders being abused or landed hard and then hangared for the next person to fly so safety became a motivating factor.

Bingo. I'd been flying a club Pegasus 101A for 7 years. Nobody in the club took care of the ship like it deserved. Had a scary flight because previous pilot, post flight, used white electrical tape on the upper aileron gaps, instead of real tape. On tow, had zero roll control as the tape detached, fluttering in the middle but not on the ends, blanketing the ailerons in turbulent airflow. Wanted something better but only had Pegasus money. Bought my LAK-12 for $26K and believed it to be the best bang for the buck, especially now as they're only bringing $15K. Roomy cockpit.


If you have belly dolly and a remote controlled power rigger a Nimbus 2 is a breeze to rig, I can rig my ship in my backyard (not smooth ground) on my own, the hardest part is the last 10mm as the metal fittings are very tight tolerances, takes about an hour, a tail dolly fitting that makes the glider like a trailer sorts most handling issues on the airfield .
I know someone who had a kestrel 19m who was often near last to derig who fitted a remote controlled boat winch to haul the major sections into his trailer .
With a little thought and basic engineering most issues can be sorted.
Gary