50+:1 15m sailplanes

"Ian Strachan" wrote in message
...
In article u, Swiftel

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It is interesting that when Gerhard Weibal lectured at the BGA weekend
about 5 years ago, he naturally concentrated on huge-span sailplanes. I
therefore asked him in the question period what he considered the most
"cost-effective span". I expected him to say about 20 or 22 metres but
his reply was 17. Pretty close to the 16m I mentioned above, and
fortunately also to 18m which is now a separate IGC class and is
particularly suited to bearing the extra weight of a motor (whereas 15m
is a tad small for a self-launcher in a weak-thermal country).

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Ian Strachan

Bentworth Hall West
Tel: +44 1420 564 195 Bentworth, Alton
Fax: +44 1420 563 140 Hampshire GU34 5LA, ENGLAND


Interesting.

I recall a technical discussion a long time ago asking whether there was a
"natural best wingspan" imposed by the nature of soaring weather. The
question was this: "Ignoring competition classes, is there a single best
wingspan that is suited for the widest range of soaring conditions? The
answers converged around 18 meters. Larger spans were considered too slow
in strong conditions and smaller spans suffered in weak conditions. It's
interesting that the "most cost effective wingspan" is about the same.

This makes me wonder if eventually the 18 meter class will become dominant.
It also makes me wonder if the selection of 15 meters for the two most
popular classes was an error.

Bill Daniels