13.5 Meter World Championships

Why have a FES in a GP14 when you could have the retractable electric
self-launcher version - and forego the extra drag and ugliness of the
prop
moustache?

Speed of starting.

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:15:10 PM UTC-4, Al McNamara wrote:
Why have a FES in a GP14 when you could have the retractable electric
self-launcher version - and forego the extra drag and ugliness of the
prop
moustache?

Speed of starting.

Looking forward to someone using FES recover to recover from a premature termination of tow.

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 4:31:34 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:15:10 PM UTC-4, Al McNamara wrote:
Why have a FES in a GP14 when you could have the retractable electric
self-launcher version - and forego the extra drag and ugliness of the
prop
moustache?

Speed of starting.

Looking forward to someone using FES recover to recover from a premature termination of tow.

Well, I've had my Lak17B FES for almost 4 years and fortunately I have never had a premature termination of tow, but I always have it ready to go during a tow should it be needed. On several occasions I have used it instead of having to land for a relight. It does reliably start within a second or two and there is no mast to extend which definitely saves time. Now, I have seen a video of an auto launch on the FES website where a LAK 17a is able to climb away after dropping the rope at perhaps 200(?) feet, so I do believe it can safely be done as long as there is sufficient altitude. What exactly would be "sufficient" altitude depends on many factors and I am sure could be the subject of a very interesting discussion....Thx - Renny

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:31:34 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:15:10 PM UTC-4, Al McNamara wrote:
Why have a FES in a GP14 when you could have the retractable electric
self-launcher version - and forego the extra drag and ugliness of the
prop
moustache?

Speed of starting.

Looking forward to someone using FES recover to recover from a premature termination of tow.

I will assume we will see a "broken glider w/FES" from a PTT if they're NOT FLYING THE GLIDER.
Sorta like the guy (decades ago) that had a PTT (at a "famous site in the US") call his wife and say, "I'm going to crash!", just before he crashed.

I guess the "aviate" bit was lost on them.......

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 5:02:46 PM UTC-6, Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot) wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:31:34 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:15:10 PM UTC-4, Al McNamara wrote:
Why have a FES in a GP14 when you could have the retractable electric
self-launcher version - and forego the extra drag and ugliness of the
prop
moustache?

Speed of starting.

Looking forward to someone using FES recover to recover from a premature termination of tow.

I will assume we will see a "broken glider w/FES" from a PTT if they're NOT FLYING THE GLIDER.
Sorta like the guy (decades ago) that had a PTT (at a "famous site in the US") call his wife and say, "I'm going to crash!", just before he crashed.

I guess the "aviate" bit was lost on them.......

Hopefully, one can actually aviate and rotate one FES switch at the same time....

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 7:08:25 PM UTC-4, Renny wrote:

Hopefully, one can actually aviate and rotate one FES switch at the same time....

Drop nose, turn on FES (I guess).

Have you practiced this in your Lak17B? Do you have to worry about running into the tow plane or do you turn slightly to the right?

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:31:13 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 7:08:25 PM UTC-4, Renny wrote:

Hopefully, one can actually aviate and rotate one FES switch at the same time....

Drop nose, turn on FES (I guess).

Have you practiced this in your Lak17B? Do you have to worry about running into the tow plane or do you turn slightly to the right?

Drop nose, turn to the right and turn the FES throttle knob clockwise is the "plan." I have done this at altitude several times and running into the towplane has not been an issue.

Now, to bring us back to the 13.5 meter World's, many of the ships will have the FES (almost or perhaps all of the Silent 2s), so it will be very interesting to see how all of these FES equipped ships perform at the Worlds!

Also the GP14 is a glider with 45:1 performance, electric self launch technology (no external propellors or gaps like FES) and its cost is around 80k US with trailer (from what I have heard). The introductory price was far less IF you jumped in early and ordered this spring.

If all of this is true, and I have no reason to believe that it is not, the GP14 will be a MAJOR game changer in the sport of soaring.

Self launch is an absolutely key feature to offer to todays soaring pilots. Couple that with 45:1 performance and getting all of that capability in a sub 100k new package. That is nothing short of incredible compared to what is currently offered by other manufacturers for 160-200k. The Silent is 120k I believe.

From what I have seen the GP14's general tech, design, manufacturing innovations and overall quality...it is truly impressive. This comes from several who actually visited the factory recently. These are NOT folks who are easily impressed by glider manufacturing quality...to say the least.

It would be a very short step to take this design philosophy and scale it 1..5 or 4.5 meters to achieve 15m or 18m, etc.

Ill be honest. I don't care if I am flying in a class that is 60:1, 50:1 or 40:1 as long as the best pilots (and a significant number of pilots) are buzzing about it. I look forward to seeing the GP14 arrive in the USA (Michigan in particular) this winter. I suspect this glider is going to be phenomenally successful when compared to the other 13.5m gliders.

The big question is...how many pilots currently flying 15/18 gliders will take a look at it?

We shall see...

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 4:00:10 AM UTC+10, Kevin Neave wrote:
My ideal glider would be something with Discus performance & FES.
Many of the pilots in my club fly Discus / LS4 performance gliders, or
lower performance club class.

The GP14 claims to have mid 40s performance, as does the original Discus.
If there was a FES option I'd seriously consider it.

The problem with the PW5 was it had no performance & was ugly as sin.

KN

At 15:07 29 July 2015, Gliding Guru wrote:
Why would anyone spend money on a 13.5 glider? Big mistake of the IGC t
permit the class. Even bigger mistake of the Manufacturers to buil
something for it. Glorified PW5's and we all know how that ended!



Sounds like the GP14 isn't going to make it... That's going to mix up the results somewhat!

Enough thread drift already. How the heck is it going for Team USA?

XF