My next ship...

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 12:37:06 PM UTC-7, krasw wrote:
On Wednesday, 25 October 2017 05:46:02 UTC+3, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I am looking for my next glider, and wanted a little advice from my friends on RAS. First a little background;

I have about 500 hrs on a Ventus C. I fly mostly in CA and NV in the Sierras. I am interested in 500K+ XC and some regional contests. I like to compete, but will never take the risks necessary to be really competitive.

My list of wants (not requirements) include; Flaps, auto hook-up, roomy safety cockpit, easy to rig and trailer, water in the wings and tail?, 15m and possibly 18m for fun, high performance, price around $70K +/- $10K

Current candidates in no particular order include:

Lak 17a
ASW 27/27b
Ventus 2CX
DG 800 or 808s
HPH 304 CZ
LS-10?

Recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

Matt H

Most glider pilots fly for fun so forget 15m gliders and go for 18m V2CX or LS10 if budget allows. They perform noticeably better than rest of the group in every possible weather scenario. Others are step down or sideways performance-wise, though probably nicer to fly than old Ventus. (304 seriously?)

I heard there were very few LS-10s around, but I would put that on my list for sure. Not sure about price though.

Choose the one that offers FES as a retrofit.

--Bob K.

Where Matt flies, a '27 is definitely the best choice. With a '27 you get high wing loading and great performance for the money. You get absolute competitiveness in 15 class. Most importantly, you can land a 15m ship on many desert strips where you cannot safely land an 18m ship. 18 meter and open class ships are for places where farm fields are the most common landout -- not the case in northern NV.

On Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 10:46:02 PM UTC-4, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I am looking for my next glider, and wanted a little advice from my friends on RAS. First a little background;

I have about 500 hrs on a Ventus C. I fly mostly in CA and NV in the Sierras. I am interested in 500K+ XC and some regional contests. I like to compete, but will never take the risks necessary to be really competitive.

My list of wants (not requirements) include; Flaps, auto hook-up, roomy safety cockpit, easy to rig and trailer, water in the wings and tail?, 15m and possibly 18m for fun, high performance, price around $70K +/- $10K

Current candidates in no particular order include:

Lak 17a
ASW 27/27b
Ventus 2CX
DG 800 or 808s
HPH 304 CZ
LS-10?

Recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

Matt H

I have a DG808C--motorized. I have 15/18m tips. I flew it this season with 15m tips. Don't believe the published data. The cockpit is a bit narrower than a '27, Not as narrow as a Ventus A. The 18m version goes with a '27 up to fairly high speeds, then falls behind at similar wing loading. I owned a '27b before the DG. I'd say the '27 meets your requirements very well.
Hartley Falbaum

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 1:52:02 PM UTC-7, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
Choose the one that offers FES as a retrofit.

--Bob K.

Hi Bob, how would I tell?

Would that be a fireproof one? (Preparing to duck and cover....)

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 4:26:00 PM UTC-7, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 1:52:02 PM UTC-7, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
Choose the one that offers FES as a retrofit.

--Bob K.

Hi Bob, how would I tell?

It will say "experimental" somewhere in the cockpit. ;-)
Craig

Matt: Like Darryl I missed the budgetary thing, perhaps because I just do it and figure those financial things out later. My investment portfolio is weighted heavily on "German Plastic" commodities. (That'll get Uys going)
I know others who changed from V2C to ASW27, one who changed from HpH 304 to ASW27, and one who changed from ASH26E to ASW27 (wait a minute, I did that too). They seem to be happy with their new flying machines.
Apparently "Mike Mike" sold, thought that was the best one recently listed on W+W.
Have a chat with Rex.
Jim

On Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 8:46:02 PM UTC-6, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I am looking for my next glider, and wanted a little advice from my friends on RAS. First a little background;

I have about 500 hrs on a Ventus C. I fly mostly in CA and NV in the Sierras. I am interested in 500K+ XC and some regional contests. I like to compete, but will never take the risks necessary to be really competitive.

My list of wants (not requirements) include; Flaps, auto hook-up, roomy safety cockpit, easy to rig and trailer, water in the wings and tail?, 15m and possibly 18m for fun, high performance, price around $70K +/- $10K

Current candidates in no particular order include:

Lak 17a
ASW 27/27b
Ventus 2CX
DG 800 or 808s
HPH 304 CZ
LS-10?

Recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

Matt H

Not that I have one, but I would get a ASW 27, you can't go wrong with it. And the market is flooded with them so I'm sure you can get one for a great price... Have fun!

Collin Shea W5

At 10:29 25 October 2017, Pete wrote:
Jim,
If you dump ballast early in the flight do you just deal with an aft CG
and
less stability or is it not noticeable?

I like the CofG quite aft so if I have to drop ballast during the flight it
gets a bit more lively but I do not mind that. If I intend to fly empty I
reduce the tail ballast 250g to make it optimum for that weight. I never
allow the CofG to go beyond the rear stop.

Jim