Future Club Training Gliders

On Nov 10, 11:41*am, "noel.wade" wrote:
I think you have misunderstood my last comment and the comments of
others here. *No one is saying that you have to buy a DG-1000 or a Duo-
Discus or an Arcus in order to conduct training. *Your example of an
ASK-21 is a sex-machine compared to the Schweizer gliders! *Compahttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eizer2-33C-GWC...
tohttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/SCHLEICHER_ASK_21_....

The point is that even someone who knows nothing about airplanes can
tell which one is more modern and capable.

Absolutely! Even a thirty year old ASK21 or Grob looks (and flies)
fabulous compared to an ASK13 (or 7), Blanik, or 2-33. I think every
club that can possibly swing it financially (including loans) should
upgrade as soon as possible. We switched from Blanik to 17 year old
Grobs in 1995 and I think it was a great move.

Where I'd quibble is whether people should be buying brand new ASK21's
TODAY. We looked at them several years ago but they're hellishly
expensive for what they are. It turned out that if you got a fixed
gear, fixed 18m span DG1000 with none of the optional extras then the
price was only a few thousand more than an ASK21 and can do everything
an ASK21 can do, but with 10 points more L/D.

Another benefit that is maybe seldom considered is that the DG1000 is
surprisingly quick and pleasant to rig and derig. I've done it with
just myself and one other person (but two on the root end is
definitely helpful). We've been taking ours on far more "away"
weekends than we used to do with the Grobs or Janus. People would
mysteriously disappear if you were rigging one of those! (I haven't
tried with an ASK21 so can't comment on rigging one)

A good trailer also makes a huge difference, both to rigging and to
towing. Our Grob literally doubled the fuel consumption of my car,
while the DG1000 seems to add about 25% - 30%.

http://hoult.org/bruce/Subaru_with_TA.jpg

vs

http://twitpic.com/11uvwc