Standard Cirrus

Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? Good, bad indifferent? Flying tail, pros and cons? I am new to gliding, Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34. Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

Delightful glider.

All flying tail - not really any pros or cons just different. You have a
lot of elevator authority and low loads so if you waggle the stick you'll
waggle the glider. Personally I liked the fact that I didn't have to
continually adjust the trimmer.

Airbrakes - without the double paddle mod they're pretty poor. With the
mod they're similar to other glass gliders from the same era (Libelle,
ASW15). Need to get your circuits & speed control sorted, less forgiving
than the barn-door airbrakes on a Discus or LS4.

Transition from 1-34 - No comment 'cos I haven't flown a 1-34, but
probably no different to the transition to any other glass single seat.

Find someone who's flown one a lot & talk to them. Try to avoid the
opinions of people who haven't!

Kevin

At 01:55 17 March 2011, Walt Connelly wrote:

Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? Good, bad
indifferent? Flying tail, pros and cons? I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt




--
Walt Connelly

On Mar 16, 9:55*pm, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? *Good, bad
indifferent? *Flying tail, pros and cons? *I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

This would be a reasonable step given some intermediate glider
experience. Get a good check out from a knowledgable
instructor and ideally, a pilot that is skilled in type.
Good Luck
UH

On Mar 16, 6:55*pm, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? *Good, bad
indifferent? *Flying tail, pros and cons? *I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Yes, but so is pretty much any 15 meter glass ship. If you're looking
at a Standard Cirrus, I'm guessing money IS an object. In near the
same price range don't rule out Libelles or Jantars. You've read it
here many times - the trailer makes a big difference.

Or ASW 15s but watch max gross.

Mike

G-102 would be excellent.

On a side note: Grider Pirate should really be Grider Pirot. Makes me
wany to sing "Put a feather in his cap and called it Macalloni." (Sorry
for the bad linguistic joke; if you don't get it, look up "macaronic"
-- and I know it is still bad.)

At 13:57 17 March 2011, Grider Pirate wrote:
On Mar 16, 6:55=A0pm, Walt Connelly wrote:
Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? =A0Good, bad
indifferent? =A0Flying tail, pros and cons? =A0I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Yes, but so is pretty much any 15 meter glass ship. If you're looking
at a Standard Cirrus, I'm guessing money IS an object. In near the
same price range don't rule out Libelles or Jantars. You've read it
here many times - the trailer makes a big difference.

The Cirrus is a very nice ship and transition should not be a problem.
Resting your arm on your leg to keep a steady hand is not a bad idea
until you get used to the low stick forces. When you raise the gear
you might waggle a bit. A regular tail would be better but the all
flying tail is not really an issue.
I find it more pleasant to fly than the Jantar. The handling is nice
and the cockpit is comfortable. Visibility is also very good.
If you get one be sure to check the C.G., in particular if you plan to
winch launch.
I don´t like the L´Hotellier connectors and the little pins but you
get used to them. If it´s a pre ´75 model that has a sort of hook that
connects elevator control pay close attention during assembly as it´s
possible to connect improperly. The newer ones have a different system
that´s more foolproof but with a slight amount of wear in the fittings
the tail can get quite wobbly.
For assembly it really helps to make the little arm with a stub pin to
hold one wing in while inserting the other. I think there is an
article in the Standard Cirrus website on this as well as the tail
assembly issue.
As Grider Pirate says, a good trailer is really important. Another
option in almost the same price range is the Pegase and it´s a more
modern design.
Good luck!

Juan Carlos







On Mar 17, 10:57*am, Grider Pirate wrote:
On Mar 16, 6:55*pm, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.

wrote:
Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? *Good, bad
indifferent? *Flying tail, pros and cons? *I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Yes, but so is pretty much any 15 meter glass ship. *If you're looking
at a Standard Cirrus, I'm guessing money IS an object. *In near the
same price range don't rule out Libelles or Jantars. You've read it
here many times - the trailer makes a big difference.

On Mar 16, 6:55*pm, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
Okay folks, your thoughts on the Standard Cirrus? *Good, bad
indifferent? *Flying tail, pros and cons? *I am new to gliding,
Commercial Add on, 140 flights and approx 100 hours, mostly in 1-34.
Would this be a reasonable next step?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

The combination of CG hook and a tail skid or small tail wheel can
make takeoffs more demanding in a cross wind than for gliders with
nose hooks and decent size tail wheels. It that respect it's probably
no different from the ASW 19 that I have many hours in.

I have not yet flown either of my club's standard Cirri but I have
towed them and been quite alarmed by the lateral excursions seen in my
mirrors on takeoff roll.

Before attempting a cross wind takeoff suggest you talk to someone
that actually knows how position the glider on the runway and how to
use the controls. Hint - the glider should be positioned towards the
upwind side of the runway and pointed downwind. Full downwind rudder
should be applied before moving and held until it becomes effective.
The angle to head the glider downwind, and the offset upwind of center
line, depend on the magnitude of the crosswind, the width of the
runway and the tendency of the glider to weather-vane.

This technique allows the full width of the runway to be used twice
and the glider glider should be under control and tracking straight
before returning to the upwind side of the runway. If it isn't a
release is called and the next attempt is made with a bigger lateral
offset and/or larger heading downwind.

It's not nearly as difficult as the description may make it sound.
Some people seem to have a problem holding full downwind rudder when
the glider is already heading downwind at the start of takeoff roll
but it is essential to maintaining control.

Andy

Very nice glider.
I have had years of fun with mine.

Somehow everything else feels heavy on the controls.
She will teach you circuit planning and speed control...

Lots to love.
Early models are a little hot on landing because of low washout.
Built like a little tank - hard to damage.
The Tost lilliput wheel is a bad joke - zero brakes and tends to get
fatigue. There is a disk brake mod.

Real performance about 1:35 I have never made 400km, but #57 has 8
flights greater than 500km in the logbook, and there are 1400 hrs on
the log...

The Kestrel is much more "ladylike", but less fun to fly. It DOES have
1:44 which takes some getting used to.


As has been gone over repeatedly - in this class - the trailer is most
important, then the airframe condition. Expect to spend money on
improving the instruments.

Then - Fly the paint off the wings and build some happy memories for
when/if you graduate to more performance...
--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771 & Std Cirrus #57

The all-moving tailplane, a feature of many designs of that period due to
its theoretically higher efficiency, caused less than desirable high-speed
stability characteristics, and so modifications were made to the early
design. Even so, the glider is still very sensitive in pitch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schempp...tandard_Cirrus