Winglets for SZD55

On Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 2:57:13 PM UTC-6, Tom & Jane Gilbert wrote:
Probably about the same but I don't remember actually calculating that. I
installed a brass tail wheel (great mod) and always put an extra litre in
the tail tank when ballasted.

Empty thermalling 48 to 50 knots... down to 45 in very smooth thermals.

Tom


"Paul B" wrote in message
...

Thanks Tom

Where did you put your CofG, mine is at 75%. Also what thermalling speed you
used when empty(if ever ).


Cheers

Paul

I only have a small number of hours in my ship (seeing as though I only just bought it), but I am thoroughly happy with the way it flies. Thermals great, I would say 45 is the slowest she will happily thermal... 49-50 seems to be the most effective. She keeps up very well with the LS8 in our club. I have not flown with water yet, but thus far have not had an issue with the wing-drop. Dick Johnson said that the spoiler cracking seemed to have a negligible impact, so I just drop the additional distraction and leave them closed. I have winglets that sweep back considerably, and though the wing was originally designed for use without them... I find that control effectiveness on ground roll seems to be positively impacted by the tips. Also, it seems to help with slow speed handling (plus they look good in my opinion). All-in-all I am very happy with the ship and get comparable performance with gliders costing over double.

https://goo.gl/photos/QBjDbHSH9YTupkAA8