For Sale: Duo Discus Turbo

"Mark Lenox" wrote in message
...
I don't have any experience rigging the duo.

Do you know the weight of the individual panels?

Are the inner panels as heavy as, say, a typical 15M complete wing?

If two people can handle the individual panels reasonably easily, then
that
would be quite nice. My only experience rigging and de-rigging large
2-seat ships has been with ASK-21s and Blaniks, and they are both quite a
challenge to rig due to the heavy wings.

I am also assuming that all connections are automatic?


Mark

It's heavier than any 15M I have assembled. I'd say it's similar to most
2-seaters - not easy but two people can do it with assembly aids. The
controls are automatic.

Bill D

"Mark Lenox" wrote in
:

I don't have any experience rigging the duo.

Do you know the weight of the individual panels?

Are the inner panels as heavy as, say, a typical 15M complete wing?

If two people can handle the individual panels reasonably easily, then
that would be quite nice. My only experience rigging and de-rigging
large 2-seat ships has been with ASK-21s and Blaniks, and they are
both quite a challenge to rig due to the heavy wings.

I am also assuming that all connections are automatic?



The Duo Discus inner wing panels weigh 215 lbs. / 98kg each. The glider
goes together just like a Discus, only bigger and heavier. We have
assembled ours with 2 people and without rigging aids (other than wing
stands) numerous times. 3 people make it easier. 4 mostly get in the
way...
-Bob Korves
5H Duo Discus
5K LAK-17a

On 2 Aug 2005 21:18:04 -0500, Bob Korves bkorves@winfirstDECIMALcom
wrote:

We have
assembled ours with 2 people and without rigging aids (other than wing
stands) numerous times.
In the long run that will ruin your back!

3 people make it easier. 4 mostly get in the
way...
I can rig my duo all by myself without any help and without any heavy
lifting in light wind conditions.
At stronger wind conditions I need someone to stabilize the wing
dolly.
The only lifting I need to do is rolling the wing panels out of the
trailer into the wingdolly, but I'm working on a solution for that.
See the video on the web site.

I too have rigged a Duo T solo from a Cobra trailer
with a Cobra rigging aid. It can be done. The wing
is very heavy but that isn't the main problem I found.


If the rigging ground is rough and grass then the rigging
aid does not roll well at the point that you are trying
to pull the flat wing into the fuselage. It tends
to tilt and dig into the wing surfaces. The little
stabilizer wheel do not help and actually tend to get
caught in the grass or ground undulations. A rope
to pull on the rigging aid axle helps. On firm smooth
ground it would be very much easier.

Also everything in a two seater is just plain bigger
and things that are easy in little gliders are much
more awkward - such as that I could not reach over
the wing sufficiently to lift it and simultaneously
pull it inwards as the drag pins are inserted - like
I can easily do in a little glider.

Having said that - buy a Duo - get some help to rig
it - and appreciate what a lovely glider it is.

John Galloway


At 13:18 03 August 2005, Ruud wrote:
On 2 Aug 2005 21:18:04 -0500, Bob Korves
wrote:

We have
assembled ours with 2 people and without rigging aids
(other than wing
stands) numerous times.
In the long run that will ruin your back!

3 people make it easier. 4 mostly get in the
way...
I can rig my duo all by myself without any help and
without any heavy
lifting in light wind conditions.
At stronger wind conditions I need someone to stabilize
the wing
dolly.
The only lifting I need to do is rolling the wing panels
out of the
trailer into the wingdolly, but I'm working on a solution
for that.
See the video on the web site.

On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 16:42:17 +0200, Asbjorn Hojmark
If you like a real race horse for long X-country flights, you better
buy a Duo.

Well, except of cause if DG is right, and the DG1000 actually performs
better: http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/vergleich-duo-e.html

See: http://www.gliderforum.com/thread-vi...did=40&start=1

Ruud wrote:

If you want to buy a club work horse, the DG1000 is a good option.

If you like a real race horse for long X-country flights, you better
buy a Duo.

Things I hate about the Duo:

The cockpit is a joke. Despite it's roomy as my saloon, there's no way
to carry even a simple water bottle without permanently fearing that it
will slip under the seat and jam some controls. Besides, I hate the
smell of my co-pilot's feet.

The spoilers are a joke for such a heavy glider. I have done outlandings
at fields which I wouldn't want to try in a Duo.

I forces me to abandon a good thermal at cloud base, when the cloud
above indicates that there are still 2000 metres of good climb, which
would allow me to cross that blue hole in front of me.

And, probably the most annoying thing: I'm not allowed to do that
occasional loop, just for fun, during a cross country flight.

The DG 1000 my club has ordered will be delivered only next spring, so I
don't know yet what I'll hate about that one. :-)

Stefan

At 19:36 03 August 2005, Stefan wrote:

Things I hate about the Duo:

The cockpit is a joke. Despite it's roomy as my saloon,
there's no way
to carry even a simple water bottle without permanently
fearing that it
will slip under the seat and jam some controls. Besides,
I hate the
smell of my co-pilot's feet.

The spoilers are a joke for such a heavy glider. I
have done outlandings
at fields which I wouldn't want to try in a Duo.

I forces me to abandon a good thermal at cloud base,
when the cloud
above indicates that there are still 2000 metres of
good climb, which
would allow me to cross that blue hole in front of
me.

And, probably the most annoying thing: I'm not allowed
to do that
occasional loop, just for fun, during a cross country
flight.

The DG 1000 my club has ordered will be delivered only
next spring, so I
don't know yet what I'll hate about that one. :-)

Stefan


Why carry water in inconvenient bottles in any glider?
For the Duo 2-3 litres of water in a Camelbak fit
fine for me tied horizontally behind the top of the
front seat back. Alternatively for tall front pilots
their water bag can go in the little rucksack in front
of the rear cockpit with a tube to the front. The
rear cockpit pilot can carry his water bag secured
elsewhere such as behind the rear head rest.

Front seat pilot's food and oddments sit nicely in
the deep well under the right thigh that is meant to
hold lead ballast but rarely does so. With that space
there is actually as much oddments room in the front
of a Duo as a solo SH glider. The side pocket is tiny
but you can tuck a surprising amount of stuff into
it.

Also the rear pilot acts as butler when required -
part of the fun of XC in a two seater

The weakness Duo airbrakes is greatly overplayed.
The forces required for full airbrake are excessive
IMHO until you adjust the hydraulic wheelbrake a little
and also make sure the glider has the modified airbrake
lever (in the mid fuselage) to reduce the forces.
Without those changes I was not able to fully open
the brakes without real effort. Then when you can
easily pull full brake you find that you have a glide
angle of 6.7:1. The Discus 2C, which is judged by
reviewers to have powerful airbrakes, gets 6.6:1.
If you can't manage with 6.7:1 to get into a field
then you ought not to be flying XC. The difference
between landing single and two seaters in fields is
the relative lengths of the float and ground run which
is directly proportional to the weights (for the same
approach speed) - except that the Duo has an extremely
powerful wheel brake and it is very difficult to get
a Turbo Duo to go onto its nose so full wheel braking
is available when needed.

If you want to critcise the Duo the one unquestionably
poor feature is the unsprung undercarriage which can
make landings on rough hard ground uncomfortable.
That (and all the other usual Duo moans) is done away
with in the Duo X. BTW when I was at the factory a
few weeks ago I was told that that there were further
developments of the Duo X in the pipeline - specifically,
on the front cockpit to improve storage and also separation
between that and the rear cockpit.

John Galloway

Bruce wrote:
The DG1000 also comes with a choice of 18 and 20m wingspan, the former endowing
it with Aerobatic rating...

It's aerobatic rated in *both* configurations. Difference is, with 18m,
it's full aerobatic, with 20m it's "limited" aerobatic, i.e. loop, turn
and the likes. And these are very easy and straightforward to fly with
20m. I really like this ship.

Cheers
-Gerhard
--
o o
Gerhard Wesp | http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/~gwesp/
\_/ See homepage for email address!