Kirk,

Where do you fly from? I am trying to make some plans for travelling
with my SparrowHawk over the next few months. I am hoping to show the
SparrowHawk to as many people as want to see it, and hopefully convert
a few "non-believers". I would be very happy to have the opportunity
to show it to you and other people that would be interested in seeing
it. For a few qualified individuals there might even be the
opportunity to fly it.

Until you see it and feel it, I can understand how hard it is for
people to grasp just what kind of accomplishment this glider is. 155
pounds!? Ridiculous! That is if you are not familiar with the
materials. The carbon pre-preg and the adhesives used to bond the
plane together are totally different and more than twice as strong as
what is typically used to build sailplanes. We joke about how we
could take our rudder and use it to chop up every other glider on the
field. This really isn't far from truth. One used as a display
sample by the manufacturer of the pre-preg has been through the
airlines baggage handling system without the benefit of a box. If
anything can survive that....!

Is it possible to break it? Of course. One SparrowHawk did suffer
some damage to its landing gear while landing out last summer, however
the pilot reported that it is one heck of a strong airplane and the
tailboom would likely have broken on any of his other sailplanes.
Mine has been landed out a couple of times and it has flown off of
some fairly rough strips as well as suffering some of my landings.
All it has to show for this are some paint scratches. No dents or
cracks. Structural testing has been done to the wings, vertical tail,
horzontal tail, seat, fuselage and tow hook, as well as the control
system.

As far as performance goes, like one SparrowHawk owner said, on an
average day, flown by average pilots in an average way, it doesn't
really give up anything. Some trade-offs were made to make it a very
easy glider to fly for less experienced pilots (every CFIG who has
flown it has said it would be a good first single seater). Stalls
including fully cross controlled with the stick held full aft through
a number of cycles are a non-event. Control response and harmony is
excellent down to very low speeds making take-off and landing very
easy. So what is the trade-off? Up to about 60 knots, there isn't
really any. Above that, most of the newer 15M gliders do have a
performance advantage. That doesn't mean that the SparrowHawk falls
out of the sky though. At 80 knots it is still getting around 20:1
L. It has flown a 300 km triangle with a 25 knot wind blowing and
averaged 52 mph.

I realise that this is all talk until you actually see it, that is why
I would like to have the opportunity to show the plane to as many
people as possible over the next few months. Anyone who would like to
see it, please let me know.

Best regards,

Doug Taylor

ps. I am not an employee of Windward Performance, although I did help
out on the construction of tooling and the first few SparrowHawks. I
am just trying to help spread the word because I believe this is one
fantastic machine!


(Kirk Stant) wrote in message

No, unfortunately I havn't, so my opinion is worth precisely what you
paid for it! I am obviously making an assumption, and I hope I'm
proven wrong, by the way, as the Sparrowhawk looks like a nice little
glider, but my real concern is triggered by the emphasis on the
"ultralight" aspect, which obviously drives the 155lb (!) weight of
the glider - I can't help but wonder where the weight has been saved.
By the VNE and G limits, it seems to have faily strong wings, so I'm
guessing the fuselage is a real eggshell...

And I truly hope that an "ultralight" Sparrowhawk (i.e. no N number)
never shows up in the hands of an untrained, unlicenced non-pilot,
because I think that is a sure way to kill or injure someone, real
quick!

Has anyone out there actually touched and/or flown a Sparrowhawk? How
about an eyewitness report - I havn't eaten any crow in a while...

Kirk