World Class Nationals (US)

I seems to be a sad reflection on our sport, or the rules that govern
it, that a contest with only 7 contestants can be called a
"Nationals".

I'm used to flying local club contests with 3 times more contestants
than that!

Andy

What is sad is that they call the PW-5 a "World Class Sailplane."

What I think would be cool would be a very strict one design class
like in sailing. Start with a Discus and have very strict class rules.
Only have a GPS for logging the flight, give them a basic and standard
set of instruments, audio variometers and the same cockpit layout.
Ballast them to the same weight and CG and then have everyone fly a
different ship from day to day. Would truly be a pilots contest. And a
Discus would ensure a level of performance that would make for
interesting tasking in a variety of weather conditions.

-Kevin

On Jun 9, 7:26*pm, KevinFinke wrote:
What is sad is that they call the PW-5 a "World Class Sailplane."

What I think would be cool would be a very strict one design class
like in sailing. Start with a Discus and have very strict class rules.
Only have a GPS for logging the flight, give them a basic and standard
set of instruments, audio variometers and the same cockpit layout.
Ballast them to the same weight and CG and then have everyone fly a
different ship from day to day. Would truly be a pilots contest. And a
Discus would ensure a level of performance that would make for
interesting tasking in a variety of weather conditions.

-Kevin

While not perfectly identical, the current std and 15m classes are
close enough that no one wins on sailplane performance. And yeah,
that's pretty cool :-).

Looking at the FAA registry, I am surprised to see 70 PW-5s in the
US. Apparently, most were not bought to race.

-Evan Ludeman / T8

Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? Were they drunk???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. When it does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. That glider just doesn't have legs
to run with. I like the Discus idea, or maybe an ASW-20 type ship. I
would love to compete in a one design class, it would helps reduce the
"money" aspect of winning a race. If you have an ASW-20 and compete
against an ASG-29 in 15M.....good luck!

Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? What were they
drinking!!???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. When it
does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. That glider just doesn't have long
enough legs
to run with. I like the Discus idea above, or maybe an ASW-20 type
ship. I
would love to compete in a one design class, it would surely reduce
the
"$$$$$" aspect of winning a race. If you have an ASW-20 and compete
against an ASG-29 in 15M.....good luck! With a one design class, the
pilots skill would shine rather than the aerodynamic engineers skill
shining.

On Jun 9, 7:51*pm, Scott Alexander
wrote:
Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? *What were they
drinking!!???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. *When it
does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. *That glider just doesn't have long
enough legs
to run with. *I like the Discus idea above, or maybe an ASW-20 type
ship. *I
would love to compete in a one design class, it would surely reduce
the
"$$$$$" aspect of winning a race. *If you have an ASW-20 and compete
against an ASG-29 in 15M.....good luck! *With a one design class, the
pilots skill would shine rather than the aerodynamic engineers skill
shining.

we've got a PW-5 in our club and the owner has been really active
after getting his Private last summer and has done some cross country
flying. The idea that the PW-5 doesnt have long enough legs to go
cross country is laughable. I was thermalling with him over memorial
day and when we left the thermal he said goodbye. And I have better
performance than the 1-26! by the way the 1-26 association just
happens to be winning the OLC in the US at the moment...

On Jun 9, 7:54*pm, Tony wrote:
On Jun 9, 7:51*pm, Scott Alexander
wrote:



Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? *What were they
drinking!!???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. *When it
does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. *That glider just doesn't have long
enough legs
to run with. *I like the Discus idea above, or maybe an ASW-20 type
ship. *I
would love to compete in a one design class, it would surely reduce
the
"$$$$$" aspect of winning a race. *If you have an ASW-20 and compete
against an ASG-29 in 15M.....good luck! *With a one design class, the
pilots skill would shine rather than the aerodynamic engineers skill
shining.

we've got a PW-5 in our club and the owner has been really active
after getting his Private last summer and has done some cross country
flying. *The idea that the PW-5 doesnt have long enough legs to go
cross country is laughable. *I was thermalling with him over memorial
day and when we left the thermal he said goodbye. *And I have better
performance than the 1-26! *by the way the 1-26 association just
happens to be winning the OLC in the US at the moment...

duh, what was i thinking. 1-26 association has been floating in the
top 10 in the club ranking, but Ron Schwartz is winning the individual
competetion, in the US.

On 6/9/2010 6:54 PM, Tony wrote:
On Jun 9, 7:51 pm, Scott
wrote:
Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? What were they
drinking!!???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. When it
does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. That glider just doesn't have long
enough legs
to run with.
Snip...

we've got a PW-5 in our club and the owner has been really active
after getting his Private last summer and has done some cross country
flying. The idea that the PW-5 doesnt have long enough legs to go
cross country is laughable. I was thermalling with him over memorial
day and when we left the thermal he said goodbye. And I have better
performance than the 1-26! by the way the 1-26 association just
happens to be winning the OLC in the US at the moment...

Hey! No sense letting a guy named Osama hog religious extremism in the
cause of 'good.' Hating PW-5s seems an acceptable substitute for some!

Now...who wants to be the first in this thread to bring up Hitler?

Extremely Yours,
Bob W.

P.S. Scott A. - you'll need to raise your level quite a bit to count as
a religious extremist in the PW-5 wars!

On Jun 9, 7:51*pm, Scott Alexander
wrote:
Who got to pick the PW-5 for world class? *What were they
drinking!!???

We have a PW-5 in my club and it hardly ever gets flown. *When it
does
fly, it tends to stay locally even though our club promotes and
encourages cross country soaring. *That glider just doesn't have long
enough legs
to run with. *I like the Discus idea above, or maybe an ASW-20 type
ship. *I
would love to compete in a one design class, it would surely reduce
the
"$$$$$" aspect of winning a race. *If you have an ASW-20 and compete
against an ASG-29 in 15M.....good luck! *With a one design class, the
pilots skill would shine rather than the aerodynamic engineers skill
shining.

It's not the "legs" of a PW 5 that is a problem. It is the fact that
some pilots who have the opportunity to fly them don't have the skills
or the courage to get out there without a long "final glide" to ease
their fears. It's the pilots not the ship that keeps some PW 5s at
home. It is an especially great ship for Parawan but is also great for
weak Gulf Coast conditions.

No need for anyone to respond to this message unless you have done a
few 300+Ks in one or had a great time flying one close to home.
Otherwise, it will be like the numerous PW5 bashings that seem only to
be an attempt to limit soaring rather than help it grow.

Why is there always so much PW5 bashing? It´s nice to fly and safe for
new pilots. My club has three and they fly all the time and everybody
does their first cross country seasons in them. With area tasks and a
good handicap system you can have a lot of fun and sometimes beat the
higher performance ships on a good day. I still enjoy racing the PW5
on the rare occasions that one is available.
I know they cost about the same as an old Cirrus or Jantar but I wouldn
´t feel so comfortable putting a brand new pilot in one of these. I
think this friendliness to new pilots has been a major factor in
getting more people involved in the sport.
Owners of high performance ships will always sneer at the PW5 but for
a club they are great and one design racing is a lot of fun. Who cares
if the performance is not so good? The challenge is to beat the other
guy with the same machine. 1-26 racing is still popular and a PW5 can
fly rings around a 1-26..

Regards,

Juan Carlos