Standard Cirrus 1973 (Grob) no water ballast

Hi all

I am now the owner of a lovely 1973 Grob built Standard Cirrus - a thing of beauty.

What intrigues me is that the the glider has no water ballast in the wings and looks as if it came straight from the factory like this. No connector in the wing root and nothing in the cockpit to indicate there was ever water ballast functionality.

I always assumed that a run of manufactured gliders such as Std Cirrus would have water ballast in the wings across the whole range, but obviously not.

Has anyone else come across this?

Very curious.

Thanks for any info.

All the best
Ian

Wikipedia says water ballast came to standard class in '72. Maybe this one was commissioned before the rule was adopted. Alternatively a previous owner may have removed it.

DT

According to my copy of "Segelflugzeuge vom Wolf zum Discus" by Peter Selinger, water ballast tanks were offered as an option by Schempp-Hirth since July 4th 1971. I suppose Grob followed the same policy.

On Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 5:34:08 PM UTC+2, wrote:
According to my copy of "Segelflugzeuge vom Wolf zum Discus" by Peter Selinger, water ballast tanks were offered as an option by Schempp-Hirth since July 4th 1971. I suppose Grob followed the same policy.

My father used to own Std Cirrus #11 - 1969. It was fitted with water ballast.

Clinton

The earli Cirri did not come from the factory with ballast. Many were retrofitted in the field with bags.

On Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:43:16 -0700, Tony wrote:

The earli Cirri did not come from the factory with ballast. Many were
retrofitted in the field with bags.

Yep. Initial Standard class rules said no water ballast and no
retractable landing gear. I don't know whether the rule changes to allow
water ballast and retractable gear were simultaneous or not.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Monday, September 30, 2019 at 5:19:18 PM UTC+1, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:43:16 -0700, Tony wrote:

The earli Cirri did not come from the factory with ballast. Many were
retrofitted in the field with bags.

Yep. Initial Standard class rules said no water ballast and no
retractable landing gear. I don't know whether the rule changes to allow
water ballast and retractable gear were simultaneous or not.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Many thanks for all your replies.

I have contacted Schemp Hirth as well to see if they can shed any information on it.

I will post here if I find out any more nuggets of information.

All the best
Ian

On Mon, 30 Sep 2019 13:37:34 -0700, Ian Simmonds wrote:

I have contacted Schemp Hirth as well to see if they can shed any
information on it.

According to Wikipedia, so this MUST be right!, the Standard Class
started in the late '50s, so think of a Ka6 as the archetypical original
spec Standard Class glider.

The rules changed to allow retracts in 1970 and water ballast in 1972.

My 201 Libelle was built in late '69 so must have been one of the first
to have retracts fitted as standard and was not fitted for water ballast,
which is just as well since my wing skins are glass/balsa/glass laminates.

However, it is a little odd that your '73 Std Cirrus didn't originally
carry water. After all, it was built after water ballast became legal for
the class in 1972. Maybe, as somebody said, it was an optional extra?


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Schempp-Hirth TN 278-3 indicates that from serial numbers 1-134 water ballast was optional, and standard equipment from 135 onwards.

Nick.

Having said this, yours is likely later serial number than 135 & doesn't have water ballast. Presumably if a customer ordering a brand new Cirrus stated that they didn't want water, Schempp would comply.

Cheers,
Nick.



On Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 10:17:51 AM UTC+9:30, Nick Gilbert wrote:
Schempp-Hirth TN 278-3 indicates that from serial numbers 1-134 water ballast was optional, and standard equipment from 135 onwards.

Nick.