6'7" and looking for a glider

I did not know that about Open Cirrus. I thought it was the same cockpit.

It was interesting that a number of ships I tried that everyone was certain I could fit in, I did fit just fine legroom-wise, but could not close the canopy.

I'm in the Houston area, and I have an airplane, so any excuse to go fly is very welcome. If anyone's got an Open Cirrus or Genesis 2 or maybe Discus 2b or Nimbus, or prety much anything for a tall guy in area, I'd love to check it out. What's for sale in the area?

Rob,

You're welcome to sit in my LS-4 this weekend to see how it fits if you'd like. I know Erik Saxon posted his LS-4a for sale here the other day and they're a fantastic first ship and are quite comfortable also. If you fit, that might be a very good consideration.

I really enjoyed my Standard Cirrus and am surprised you didn't fit. I'd second Tony's recommendation that we try it again just to be sure. We'll find a good bird that'll fit your shape and budget!

On Friday, January 10, 2020 at 10:08:25 AM UTC-8, Rob wrote:

It was interesting that a number of ships I tried that everyone was certain I could fit in, I did fit just fine legroom-wise, but could not close the canopy.

I studied anthropometry in my Human Factors courses, and I've had the opportunity to observe how a wide variety of people fit into sailplanes. It is kind of amazing how much variability there is in the relative sizes of arms, legs, and torsos, and how much difference it makes in cockpit fit.

Unfortunately, your height places you up around the 99.9 percentile, which is a sparsely accommodated corner case.

If for whatever reason you wanted to build your own glider, we could adapt our cockpit to fit you.

If there's a glider you really like, but don't fit into, you might consider having the cockpit modified to suit. From what you describe, it's your torso length that's critical, and moving the control stick and bolster forward could give you the room you need. There are a couple shops around the US that could do this kind of modification work, though it would really help if the glider carried an experimental airworthiness certificate. As you might expect, resale value will likely take a hit, so you'll want to factor that into your calculations.

--Bob K.

On Friday, January 10, 2020 at 12:26:17 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Rob,

You're welcome to sit in my LS-4 this weekend to see how it fits if you'd like. I know Erik Saxon posted his LS-4a for sale here the other day and they're a fantastic first ship and are quite comfortable also. If you fit, that might be a very good consideration.

I really enjoyed my Standard Cirrus and am surprised you didn't fit. I'd second Tony's recommendation that we try it again just to be sure. We'll find a good bird that'll fit your shape and budget!

I'm in Norman Oklahoma, I have a standard cirrus and a mosquito, both at Hinton Oklahoma, If you want to sit in them, I fly the Standard with a 3 inch back Strong chute and a 2 inch pad, I'm 6 2, 130.
Scott

The best cockpit for tall people is I believe the Slingsby Vega? So might
be worth a try?

On Friday, January 10, 2020 at 2:35:48 PM UTC-5, Bob Kuykendall wrote:


I studied anthropometry in my Human Factors courses, and I've had the opportunity to observe how a wide variety of people fit into sailplanes. It is kind of amazing how much variability there is in the relative sizes of arms, legs, and torsos, and how much difference it makes in cockpit fit.

...

Yup. I'm thin, and only 5'10" or so, but have long legs relative to torso. I need a large frame bicycle, but then the handlebars are too far forward.. I bought a "Russia" glider, the first model (AC4a), one of the early specimens (before they lengthened the cockpit), and was surprised that my legs wouldn't fit. Moving the seat-back back to the bulkhead, and adding a bunch of padding under thighs, I've managed to get it to work for me while wearing a parachute (many 5+ hour flights). That cockpit is wider than I need, though. It's nice to have room for all the junk I carry with me, but performance suffers a bit. (It still has plenty of XC capability, and so would the L33 and PW5.)

At 18:08 10 January 2020, Rob wrote:
I did not know that about Open Cirrus. I thought it was the same
cockpit.=
=20

It was interesting that a number of ships I tried that everyone was
certain=
I could fit in, I did fit just fine legroom-wise, but could not close
the
=
canopy.=20

I'm in the Houston area, and I have an airplane, so any excuse to
go fly
is=
very welcome. If anyone's got an Open Cirrus or Genesis 2 or
maybe Discus
=
2b or Nimbus, or prety much anything for a tall guy in area, I'd
love to
ch=
eck it out. What's for sale in the area?=20


I am 6'2" with a long torso (39" sitting height). I have had my
Discus-2b for 20 years now. I can sit in it - the rudder pedals pulled
back 2 notches with my legs still flat on the floor, a regular Strong
Paracushion-seat/back chute with the seat-back still installed and
have plenty of room. After having been crammed into various other
top line racing gliders (and at a competitive disadvantage due to
comfort factors), I have been extremely happy with my D-2b. Mike
Westbrook has one for sale in the DFW area. The only issue is that
it is way above your desired price point. V-2b has the same cockpit.
When I visited S-H to see the prototype D-2b, I told Tilo and Biggo
my concerns about my size. They just smiled and said that we
should go try it on for size. Once I sat in it and realized how much
room I had, Tilo and Biggo said that they had figured that it was
time to build a cockpit that almost anyone could fit into. That sold
me.

You may look at the SZD 55-1 too. I hear it has a large cockpit.
Gordon Boettger had a Grob Twin Astir 1 and a Kestrel at one point.
There are different STD Cirrus models. I understand that the later
Cirrus 76 (or was it 75?) models have a larger cockpit.

Good luck!

RO

On Fri, 10 Jan 2020 20:11:35 +0000, Michael Opitz wrote:

At 18:08 10 January 2020, Rob wrote:
I did not know that about Open Cirrus. I thought it was the same
cockpit.=
=20

It was interesting that a number of ships I tried that everyone was
certain=
I could fit in, I did fit just fine legroom-wise, but could not close
the
=
canopy.=20

I'm in the Houston area, and I have an airplane, so any excuse to
go fly
is=
very welcome. If anyone's got an Open Cirrus or Genesis 2 or
maybe Discus
=
2b or Nimbus, or prety much anything for a tall guy in area, I'd
love to
ch=
eck it out. What's for sale in the area?=20


I am 6'2" with a long torso (39" sitting height). I have had my
Discus-2b for 20 years now. I can sit in it - the rudder pedals pulled
back 2 notches with my legs still flat on the floor, a regular Strong
Paracushion-seat/back chute with the seat-back still installed and have
plenty of room. After having been crammed into various other top line
racing gliders (and at a competitive disadvantage due to comfort
factors), I have been extremely happy with my D-2b. Mike Westbrook has
one for sale in the DFW area. The only issue is that it is way above
your desired price point. V-2b has the same cockpit. When I visited S-H
to see the prototype D-2b, I told Tilo and Biggo my concerns about my
size. They just smiled and said that we should go try it on for size.
Once I sat in it and realized how much room I had, Tilo and Biggo said
that they had figured that it was time to build a cockpit that almost
anyone could fit into. That sold me.

I understand that the later Cirrus 76 (or
was it 75?) models have a larger cockpit.

I sat in one of those late Cirrii once - truly cavernous to sit in.

Another glider with a big cockpit is the 205 Club Libelle. It has a very
different fuselage to the other Libelles or the Mosquito, with a roomy
cockpit: it was designed to be a club hack, so designing in a big cockpit
was a good move. There's one in my club. It doesn't seem to give a lot
away in performance compared to the Standard Libelle: climbs well but a
little slower in a straight line. Its a nice, clean shape with really
nice fairing round the wing root and its owners like it. I don't know how
many, if any, there are in the USA.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Martin we have one in our club. It is pretty roomy and does climb well.

I had similar problem.

Decided to go with DG300. Never regreted. Most comfortable of alk i tried. Performs very well.

S