First glider Nimbus 2 ?

Hi Mate,

I have owned my N2 for 18 months now, I guess I have put about 100hrs on it and flown two comps. The sailplane I owned before this one was a Phoebus C. I did a huge amount of research before I bought mine and the most important advice I got from one of our gliding gods was.

It's a gentleman's conveyance , don't fly stupid speeds and you will catch the gaggle at half climb and leave before them.

My recommendation is to go out and buy it ASAP.

Cheap 18m performance for 20k
Schempp hirth quality
It will fly with a ASW20 LS8 all day as long as you don't go too fast
It will go like a scalded cat if you fill the water tanks. It's a little bit intimidating if you fly it way over gross weight ""I have heard"
The cockpit is huge and comfortable
It's easy to rig by yourself if you have a good single man rigger
You can fit and carry the tips easily by yourself
It's LD will get you home most days
it has a all flying tail plane for less maintenance
You have to think about the launch if you haven't flown flaps before
1 make sure it's lined up properly
2 start off in full negative flap
3 as soon as you have roll control move to positive flap
4 the tail will fly when ready, the book says start with full forward or back but I tend to trim it so that its neutral.
People will run off if they see you starting to rig but I can do it on my own in about an hour if left alone.
The all flying tail plane is a non event, I can fly mine hands off for enough time to get a uridome on, it does get twitchy at 120kts but how often do you really fly at those speeds. I have flown the asw15/Phoebus and the nimbus is easier to fly.
Thermaling is a breeze, I have head all these stories about its hard to turn, yes sometimes you have full rudder and notice it but these are sailplanes not Pitts specials.
The hoteliers are a little painful if it doesn't have the access hatch, if it doesn't the secret is to put your head in the hole and put the safety's in by putting your arm through the steel structure area.

I haven't outlandend mine yet but whilst the airbrakes aren't super powerful you can always hit your touch down point with ease.

My advice is to buy it and only take advice from those who have flown one and have opinions other than ones borne from the web.

I am an instructor and would happily send a pilot out in it as Lang as the had the correct mindset and a good cross country ability. As a rough guess 50-70 hrs with good single seat time. I think sometimes people forget that the legends of our sport flee these things 40 years ago and whilst they will never be as nice as a JS1 or ASG29 you aren't paying $200 k either.

My email is justinjsinclair the usual symbol hotmail.com if you want pics or furrier info

Justin

Originally Posted by Surge

A Nimbus 2 is on the market which I'm interested in as my first glider and I'd like some feedback from those who've owned or flown one.

I do realize that a flapped, long winged glider is not the best choice for a low time pilot which is why I will keep the glider in a hangar while I first build up some experience on Grob G102's. My motivation for purchase is because I think the glider matches my checklist for the type of flying I've always wished to do and also because of the opportunity presented which may not come around again. Due to the fact that gliders take ages to sell where I live (slow market), I'd rather purchase something I want to fly for the next 20 years than purchase an intermediate "first glider" that I battle to sell later. There is enough G102 stock available to hire in the transition phase.

My aim in soaring has always been to do medium distance (300-500km), relaxed, cross country flying (armchair ride) so with regards to performance and bang-for-buck it ticks the boxes. I am not interested in competition flying.. I'd much rather cruise around at 160km/h with an L/D of ~40:1 than blast around at 200+ km/h trying to shave precious seconds off a task.
I'd like to know more about the glider's vices or problem areas I need to be aware of.

1. Stall/spin characteristics. How much warning does it give before stalling and does it have any tendency to suddenly drop a wing and spin or can it be considered as one of the docile gliders in the stall/spin category? If it constantly wants to kill me (a pilot issue) I'd rather stay with an Astir and just limit my cross country range.

2. Pitch sensitivity. The glider has an all flying tail (not a 2B or 2C model). How pitch sensitive is it once trimmed in cruise? Is it twitchy/unstable and need constant attention or is it fairly stable and one doesn't have to constantly fight to keep attitude constant?

3. Approach control. How effective are the airbrakes? Are outlandings a challenge with the tail chute? Where I fly there are usually plenty of plowed fields at least 300m long and fairly wide (apparently guarded by farmers with shotguns).

Areas I'm aware of:
- Pitch is sensitive which evidently makes tugging a bit trickier.
- Long wings and cross winds don't play nicely together on takeoff.
- Don't go full positive flap on takeoff as the wing may fly before the tail! :-O
- Roll rate is not snappy and the glider is a bit under ruddered which makes entering thermals a bit more challenging than most 15m ships.
- Long wings and mediocre airbrakes (compared to Astirs) make out landings more challenging/dangerous.
- Heavy wings are not an issue as the glider will be hangared and flown conservatively cross country. The odd retrieve shouldn't be a reason to not fly such an awesome old lady.
- The glider comes with a decent trailer and accessories before someone brings that up.
- All AD's including tail AD applied.