leading edge templates

There's a lot to be said for profiles that are forgiving of
manufacturing tolerance.

And of aging, both of the wing itself and the molds. Some gliders are
great right out of newish molds. Then after a few years, the molds
aren't the same. Nor are the wings. Nor is the performance. Some are
more susceptible than others. Of course, left and right wings/molds
SHOULD age/distort similarly but don't apparently.

I'd say distortion caused by aging was more a problem in the past than
now but some recent models have been notorius, too. Conversely, other
models (my own glider being a good example, to my immense relief),
appear to be "timeless" when holding their contours. Is it hard tanks
vs. bags? Spar/spar cap design? Glass vs. carbon vs. aramid? Layers
and weaves and orientation? Epoxies? Manufacturing methods?

All this stuff can be fixed in a specific glider, but for what a new
glider costs, it seems like the manufacturers should get it right
every time.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA