As a happy owner - F-FAQC - I would just add that it's not very "nervous" as
roll rate is not impressive (in mountain flight some anticipation is needed)
however the controls remains light. Climbing ability is outstanding, and
it's very good in transition up to 160 km/h.
My co-owner succeeded a 1000km flight last summer from Challes-les-Eaux
(France/North Alps).

Mine has a tail chute which is very efficient at compensating the weak
airbrakes; However tail chutes are not 100% reliable so it's better to keep
trained to narrow approach angle.

.... And yes a rigging gear is mandatory if you want to keep friends
Jean

"goneill" a écrit dans le message de
...
performance, handling, value for money "buy it now"
The 17 scores massive on these points
BUT they have these reality checks
1/ Typical early open class ,heavy "MUST" have rigging gear
2/ they have a narrow approach angle ,weak airbrakes so best
countryside to fly them over is where outlanding fields are larger
than usual ,they land just as short as a 15meter ship but pilot
workload is much more intense.Very little room for error.

"Thomas Mærsk Pedersen" wrote in message
...
I am considering buying an AWS-17 - any opinions on this glider with
regards
to performance, handling, value for money etc?

Comments will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Thomas Mærsk
Copenhagen, Denmark.