"Ben Flewett" wrote in message
...
All valid points but....

You get what you pay for and nobody wants to buy a
PW5 because they are overpriced rubbish. That is why
the World Class concept has failed in it's current
format.


I am biased as a PW-5 owner but am at a complete loss to understand why so
much vitriol is hurled at the design. Everyone makes their choices and pays
their money and that is fine. It would just never occur to me to denigrate
all the designs I did not choose and believe me they all have their
drawbacks.

I could say:

I would never buy a motorglider. You pay all that money and get an
unreliable smoky engine where the new prop bearings may seize and that
sounds like a lawnmower and that can't fly with any kind of reasonably low
wingloading. Also you don't deserve any records you set or contests you win
because of the motor advantage.

I wouldn't buy any of those modern, expensive German gliders. They are
finished with junk that is easy to apply and smooth but that disintegrates
in a few years requiring a refinishing that cost as much as a used glider.
This is not to mention the spar shrinkage that may happen in just a year or
so of southwest US heat. Then of course I will have to replace it in 5
years to stay competitive.

I wouldn't buy any cheap Eastern European open class glider. How would you
ever find the help to do that heavy rigging and it is not competitive in any
class except maybe Sports.

I wouldn't buy any 2nd or 3rd generation back 15 meter or standard class
ship. What classes are they competitive in now? Either none or maybe
Sports Class if you are lucky. Yeh, I guess you can fly with your buddies
if that interests you. Hard to get better if you are trying to fly with,
instead of faster, than your buddies.

I could say all that and parts of it would be true. Why would I want to?
I'm not offended when people make other choices, I just enjoy the beauty and
technology of the gliders they purchase.

So there you have it. The 1-26 was and is a successful one-design class, in
the US only. The low performance can be a disadvantage in some areas and it
can not use a compact trailer. The PW-5 has the advantage of more modern
materials and more performance and of being an international class. The big
idea is it is a one-design class, not that it should compete with the LS-4.
A side advantage is that it is inexpensive. What new glider is cheaper?
Not fair to compare to used gliders. It is far from being the prettiest
glider out there and I sure do appreciate the beauty of an ASW-28, but I can
live with that for the advantages it does have. The class hasn't grown as
fast as hoped, but it seems to be doing about as well as Open Class (or
Standard last year) and I don't hear a lot of uproar again that class.

My B1 model has a polyurethane finish that I expect to last for a long long
time. It has automatic hookups. It seems as well built as any recent
German glider I have seen. It does not have any indication of spar
shrinkage, after some hot summers. It is extremely easy to handle on the
ground and to rig and derig. It is and will remain, as long as the class
endures, a cutting edge glider in the World Class and, at least for now,
Sports Class, all without messing with the considerable hassles of water
ballast. This means I don't have to replace it every few years.

I am very happy with the glider and hope everyone else is happy with their
choices.

Larry Pardue 2I

Shaking in my boots about competing against John Byrd on an EQUAL BASIS this
summer.