Bob Kuykendall wrote:

I tend to believe that the legacy of span-limited competition classes
is such that sailplane buyers will tend to gravitate towards
competition spans, even those with very weak inclination to ever
compete. That's one of the reasons I'd like to see a distinct
competition class for sub-15m ships; and I think that 13m would be a
perfectly good place to draw the line.

This effect should not be an issue here, since we are talking about
performance identical to an LS4. So, it would do exactly as well in any
contest as an LS4. I don't know if it would be immediately accepted into
the club class since I'm not familiar with the rules, but if has the
same performance as an LS4 and the same price, why not?

A 13-meter class would collect all the Russias, Apii (Apia?), PW5s,
and Sparrowhawks, though sadly leave the 14m L33 (TG-10D for
USAFAians) out in the cold. It would give people at least a plausable
excuse to buy these little gliders, and give developers an economic
basis for developing them. And I think that it would be a kick-ass fun
class to fly in, since I'm just the right size for it and I'm used to
flying a few points short of a Libelle.

I like the idea of encouraging smaller gliders with a class, but I'm
more in favor of "performance bracket" classes than span classes. THe
European club class is such a class. By handicapping over a small range
of performance, say 10%, it's easier to accommodate performance
differences fairly.

Instead of the Sports Class we have in the US, I'd like to see something
like "Sports A" (handicaps from 1.05 and up), and "Sports B" (handicaps
from 1.04 and lower). Or maybe 3 classes?

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA