13 meter class

Op woensdag 26 december 2018 08:56:40 UTC+1 schreef Senna Van den Bosch:
Op dinsdag 25 december 2018 21:50:41 UTC+1 schreef Eric Greenwell:
wrote on 12/24/2018 5:56 PM:

Senna,

Let me tell you my opinion about what 13.5 meters did for our Club.

For the longest time, we thought our members needed access to a single-seat 15-meter glider. With this, they could try cross-country, we thought.. Eventually, members might buy their own 15-meter glider and go big time. Well, that was not happening.

Then, we acquired a Russia. That got the Club interested in cross-country; but still, they were not breaking the string between their comfort and getting beyond glide of home base. For those of us with 15-meter cross-country experience, we didn’t realize that we were not relating to the members who wanted to fly cross-country, but not the way the rest of us were thinking. These 13.5-meter cross-country pilots were tickled silly to fly a 50 km flight. Who’d a thunk it.

Then, we acquired a PW-5. We held ground school sessions for the glider; the attendance was spectacular. We had solo student pilots checking out.. The PW-5 schedule filled up to the point where members overflowed into the Russia.

Now we call it the 27-meter pilots.

Why did the PW5 energize the students/others so much more than the Russia? I've
flown both, and they seem nearly the same.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

I was more looking into mini LAK, AS 13.5, GP 11, ... PW-5 looks interesting as a trainer but wouldn't be sufficient for me

Also pricing is hard to come by, second hand 13.5 meter gliders even more rare.

On Tuesday, December 25, 2018 at 11:57:31 PM UTC-8, Senna Van den Bosch wrote:
Op woensdag 26 december 2018 08:56:40 UTC+1 schreef Senna Van den Bosch:
Op dinsdag 25 december 2018 21:50:41 UTC+1 schreef Eric Greenwell:
wrote on 12/24/2018 5:56 PM:

Senna,

Let me tell you my opinion about what 13.5 meters did for our Club.

For the longest time, we thought our members needed access to a single-seat 15-meter glider. With this, they could try cross-country, we thought. Eventually, members might buy their own 15-meter glider and go big time.. Well, that was not happening.

Then, we acquired a Russia. That got the Club interested in cross-country; but still, they were not breaking the string between their comfort and getting beyond glide of home base. For those of us with 15-meter cross-country experience, we didn’t realize that we were not relating to the members who wanted to fly cross-country, but not the way the rest of us were thinking. These 13.5-meter cross-country pilots were tickled silly to fly a 50 km flight. Who’d a thunk it.

Then, we acquired a PW-5. We held ground school sessions for the glider; the attendance was spectacular. We had solo student pilots checking out. The PW-5 schedule filled up to the point where members overflowed into the Russia.

Now we call it the 27-meter pilots.

Why did the PW5 energize the students/others so much more than the Russia? I've
flown both, and they seem nearly the same.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

I was more looking into mini LAK, AS 13.5, GP 11, ... PW-5 looks interesting as a trainer but wouldn't be sufficient for me

Also pricing is hard to come by, second hand 13.5 meter gliders even more rare.

I went to Lithuania in October, flew an experimental version of the LAk 17b FES that had been upgraded to self-launch, and then the MinLAK FES. I liked the Mini so well that I bought it. The deciding factor for me was that when pushed, it seem to hold altitude almost as well as my LS-6. The wing profile and the fact that it will take water probably make the difference. wing loading (with water) is the same as my LS-6, which does Xcountry very well.

However, if price is a limiting factor for you, the Mini may be out of reach. The glider is very new, and there are currently only 3-4 in the US. It will probably be some time before you are able to find one used. But among 13.5 gliders, the Mini in MHO is the standout choice.

Thank you for your information. I have my DG 101 for almost a year now and in maybe 5 to 10 years might switch to something different. Hopefully it will catch on and prices drop a bit

Good afternoon and Happy New year to all!!!!

Thank you Matt for your reply. Your recent purchase of the Min Lak FES is the best endorsement yet of this concept, and I will be following you very, very closely.

John

Oh, if soaring performance could be measured in smiles rather than miles! The PW-5 and Russia are definitely "world class".

The PW-5 and Russia are definitely "world class".

Only if everyone else at the field is blind. Looking at either one is painful.

I helped fly off the experimental hours on an early PeeWee.Â* It flew
pretty nicely but I never took it much past the field boundary.Â* Oh, and
I couldn't see it from inside the cockpit.Â* Standing outside was a
different matter...

On 1/2/2019 7:49 PM, wrote:
The PW-5 and Russia are definitely "world class".

Only if everyone else at the field is blind. Looking at either one is painful.


--
Dan, 5J

I enjoyed the PW-5 at a previous club and suspect I took it farther on XC than other club members. But over 50 kt. it was a lawn dart. That said it had a great nose for thermals: much needed because you couldn't afford to skip a thermal.

Op vrijdag 4 januari 2019 01:02:04 UTC+1 schreef George Haeh:
I enjoyed the PW-5 at a previous club and suspect I took it farther on XC than other club members. But over 50 kt. it was a lawn dart. That said it had a great nose for thermals: much needed because you couldn't afford to skip a thermal.

PW-5 looks really fun to fly but was more looking at the Albastar AS13.5, miniLAK or 13.5m GP gliders