Tim Mara wrote:
2. You can buy a used glider with heavier wings that has
instant maintenance needs for less money. You have all those
hours to work on the glider, but you can't do another
two turns in each thermal? :P
The biggest advantages of the Russia and PW-5 is that they are
small and light and new. This is very convenient.

snip
but you are right about one thing, some of these new light and ultra-light
gliders are easy to assemble and disassemble and that may be more important
to some of their owners since they probably will need to retrieve them more
often when they don't make the final glide home! :-)

If the pilots are flying to the limits of their craft, they'll all
landout about the same. If they are flying to make it home, L/D doesn't
make much difference - the lower L/D glider just doesn't go as far
before turning around and heading b. Landouts are up to the pilot, once
he has some experience.

But to address the weight and size issue: These can actually be an
important factor. One thing that keeps many people from going
cross-country is the potential difficulty of a retrieve. A 600 pound
glider may be more than a guy and his wife can manage, but 300 pound
glider (like a Russia) isn't. Or it may mean s/he can retrieve
themselves, instead of always needing a crew. An easy to retrieve glider
is very liberating for some people, even if it has less performance,
because they are willing to land out more instead of nervously sticking
close to airports.

A high L/D glider effectively puts the airports closer together, but
having a light enough glider so that the retrieve isn't a bitch is a
viable alternative.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA