Best Looking Sailplane

I seem to recall that the Libelle was voted the most beautiful
sailplane in the world, back in '68 or '69. A very beautiful ship,
indeed. There's one at my club that I see either coming out of the
box or thermalling above me.

Given that the Libelle is the "little sister" to my Kestrel 19, I
certainly see a gorgeous family resemblance, but I prefer the long,
slim "legs" of my mistress.

My vote for the most beautiful sailplane is for the one you fly.
Nothing will beat that!

Tell that to the guy sitting in the PW5...
Whilst he/she cant see how ugly it is when sitting in it..
He/She has to be led to it and from blindfolded so as not to be made
aware just how ugly it is.

Al

I am a 20B owner but I have to agree...the 22 has it beat Second is the
ASW17, third is the Kestrel 17.

Paul
ZZ

wrote:
ASW22 nothing else comes near it for looks.

http://www.gliderforum.com/photos/sh...6&currentpos=1
http://www.gliderforum.com/photos/sh...1&currentpos=2

http://silentflight.com/asw22ag.jpg
http://silentflight.com/asw22_2.jpg

Then I am biased...

Al

Best looking: 17.7m Open Cirrus and the Glasflugel 604

By the way, it is NOT the "End of the Season" in the USA sunbelt.
Every year in the fall I hear this rumor.
Yes, most contests are over, but only about 250 pilots participate in
them.
From Florida across to California hundreds of pilots keep flyin' and
enjoy some of our best soaring conditions.

Our Marfa, west Texas wave window open to 30,000'. Thermals year-
round.
Tows / Instruction / Checkrides by appointment.

Burt
www.flygliders.com
Open Cirrus, ASK-13, DG-1000T, etc.

#1. AS-W12 The in-flight black and white photos on Soaring were
absolutely breathtaking. On the ground, it sits up like a WWII
fighter. The ship fairly oozes testosterone.

#2. AS-W22. For utter beauty of line and proportion in flight.
Ungainly on the ground.

#3. Libelle with racing canopy for classic lines.

#4. ASW-W20a. Form-follows-function. The ultimate all-around best
glider ever built. Beautiful in form but even more fror what is it
capable of. Images of the Four-On-the-Floor-Gang blasting down
the Appalachians with bags of pennies and lead shot as seat cushions,
wings bowing mightily in the turbulence.

I have to go with the ASW-20 as just about the best looking glider,
with the LS6 closely behind (bias showing, there). The newer 27s and
29s do not have the same, perfect proportions - especially in the
tail.

Good thing air is blind!

But I guess I'm out of touch because I find the Libelle to be a bit
odd looking. I think the contemporary ASW-15 is much prettier.

But the absolute best looking glider is the one you can only see from
the inside - it's the one you are flying!

Kirk
66

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:15:29 -0800, ZZ
wrote:

I am a 20B owner but I have to agree...the 22 has it beat Second is the
ASW17, third is the Kestrel 17.

If you like the 17 and the 22... check out the new Binder EB-29 - its
fuselage is a combination of the 17 and a T-tail.
Not to mention the nice aspect ratio of 51...

http://www.binder-flugmotorenbau.de/eb29.html




Bye
Andreas

Andreas,
are they still using the ASW 25 airfoil on the EB 29?
Udo





On Nov 3, 10:22*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:15:29 -0800, ZZ
wrote:

I am a 20B owner but I have to agree...the 22 has it beat *Second is the
ASW17, third is the Kestrel 17.

If you like the 17 and the 22... check out the new Binder EB-29 - its
fuselage is a combination of the 17 and a T-tail.
Not to mention the nice aspect ratio of 51...

http://www.binder-flugmotorenbau.de/eb29.html

Bye
Andreas

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 08:27:44 -0800 (PST), Udo wrote:

Andreas,
are they still using the ASW 25 airfoil on the EB 29?
Udo

Hi Udo,

I don't think so - the wing (same as EB-28) is said to be completely
new (it's got a different planform than the ASH-25 wing, the airbrakes
being on the inner wing) and each part of the wing is significantly
lighter than on the 25. It's interesting that the roll rate of the
EB-28 is nearly twice as fast as on the ASH-25, despite its larger
wing span.


However, the main advantage of the EB-28 was/is its higher wing
loading compared to a stock ASH-25 - since the much smaller ASH-31 is
not significantly inferior to the current open class gliders I dare to
predict that the EB-29's airfoils are slightly inferior to th latest
Schleicher airfoils used on the ASG-29, ASH-310 and ASH-31.

On the other hand... aspect ratio and wing loading rulez - and this is
where the EB-29 excels.

Exciting times if you happen to need to invest 400.000 bucks...




Bye
Andreas

On 1 Nov., 19:02, glider wrote:
This is a test to see if it works.

*Abnd it's end of season, so we need to know if the Minimoa or the
ASW-20 is best looking sailplane. Maybe the DG-800?

Seems to me we've been here before; and, of course, the answer remains
unchanged: the 1937 DFS Reiher. It's the Penelope Cruz of sailplanes.

http://vintagesailplanes.de/REIHER.HTM

The that settled it once and for all!

Bo Brunsgaard