My next ship...

JS1 for 70K? Good luck...
For the price range you looking at, it is a no brainer - ASW27. There are few of them for sale.

Ramy

At 04:32 25 October 2017, JS wrote:
On Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 7:46:02 PM UTC-7, 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 quite liked the Ventus C/17.6. Other than getting rid of the pesky and
fragile side-hinge canopy, not sure you'd be doing much better with some
on
your list.
The V2Cx and CxA (serial # 82 and higher), ASW27 and 27B would be the
best
step up in performance.
You didn't list JS1. The A and B models are not as expensive (or refined)
as a C with just 18m tips, but they're just as nice to fly.
Note that the tail tank was an option not everyone took in the ASW27B,
and
unavailable in the "A".
Jim

No tail tank in my 27. Don't feel the need for it. I have the glider set up
for optimum CofG when empty and drop an extra 250g in the tail battery box
if I fill up. No problem!

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?

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

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

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

Matt I think my forward opening canopy is a safer configuration. Also, aft ballast can be added to the tail battery compartment.
Wes (J3)

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
Matt, There is a ASW 27B that has been refinished in PU at SLGP ( see ad on W&W). An ASW 27 is a very nice flying glider with great performance.

I've been thinking about the same thing. The question I've been thinking about a

Is there a newer spread sheet available to compare the polars of these gliders over the speed range? Here's an older link to one with some of these gliders
https://www.gliding.com.au/assets/docs/Polar10.xls

I'm a bit uncomfortable with the dynamics of the skinny tail boom. They don't always seem to stay attached. How careful do you have to be with them?

Which of these gliders are competitive at 18M? I have a glider with 15 and 17.6M tips. The big tips seem like reverse water ballast. They let you go slower (less sink) which is great for just hanging out in lite conditions.. In strong conditions, the wing structures to not permit enough water to make them faster than 15M. On the other hand, the lighter wings are really easy to assemble.

On good weather weekdays when there isn't a tow pilot, the idea of a motor is on the table. Is the permanent ballast and maintenance story worth it?

Good luck with your quest.

I have no skin in the game but I owned a Lak 17 for a few seasons . Great handling and decent performance. Not a 29 but a lot of glider for the money . Also poly finish and forward hinging canopy. I needed a motor or I would still have it .

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 8:15:01 AM UTC-4, wrote:
I've been thinking about the same thing. The question I've been thinking about a

Is there a newer spread sheet available to compare the polars of these gliders over the speed range? Here's an older link to one with some of these gliders
https://www.gliding.com.au/assets/docs/Polar10.xls

I'm a bit uncomfortable with the dynamics of the skinny tail boom. They don't always seem to stay attached. How careful do you have to be with them?

Which of these gliders are competitive at 18M? I have a glider with 15 and 17.6M tips. The big tips seem like reverse water ballast. They let you go slower (less sink) which is great for just hanging out in lite conditions. In strong conditions, the wing structures to not permit enough water to make them faster than 15M. On the other hand, the lighter wings are really easy to assemble.

On good weather weekdays when there isn't a tow pilot, the idea of a motor is on the table. Is the permanent ballast and maintenance story worth it?

Good luck with your quest.

I'm curious about which glider has a skinny tail boom you are concerned about.
FWIW a 15/18 glider adds expense(if you have both sets of tips) that doesn't yield much benefit, unless you want to compete in 2 classes. I've never even taken my 15 tips out for my '29.
One opinion- the '27 is a great ship and will do everything most pilots will ever want to do. Assembly is light and easy. It will hold value well as it is another classic, like the '20.
UH

Any DG drivers want to chime in?

I was impressed with the polar in that with 15m config, it achieves 45:1 at a very high speed; 110kph, and with 18m tips, 50:1 at 116kph. Fast! But does that mean the polar hurts the sink rate thermaling?