Bert Willing wrote:
Been there, done that (not properly locked the flaps when set). You need to
react very fast on the stick, and you should have carried some extra speed
before.

Of course I agree with Roy - you can do a lot of things if you have the
required experience... (and for the ASW20, I happen to have a couple of
hundred hours on that glider). As for novice counsel, a newsgroup doesn't
help anybody very much. You normally don't know where the advice comes from,
and if you really want to have advice on how to fly or what glider to buy,
you talk to instructors or experienced people *at an airfield*. Newsgroups
are rather, hm, amusing gossip?

I agree that one must be careful when getting "advice" from a newsgroup
or lots of places on the internet. In my case I first sought
information on how to fly my RS-15 (flaps only) from at least three
different CFIGs at two different airfields. The only "help" I got was
a lecture from one CFIG in California on how flaps only could get me in
trouble in strong lift just beneath a cloud. But I really don't blame
those CFIGs because they simply had no experience with this type of
glider. As it turned out I received a lot of very valuable information
from people belnging to a Yahoo Group dedicated to that type of glider.
But your point about being careful of the source of information on the
internet is a good one.

Btw, regarding advice on what glider to buy: The head of the FBO was
convinced I could not handle the RS and would likely spin it in
straight away. Since I was relying on him at the time to get my
license, that became an "issue". We had words. I eventually
discovered the flight characteristics of the RS to be very gentle and
an overall pleasure to fly. Compared to the G-103 which I had been
training in the RS felt "spin-proof". But I was needlessly scared
stiff for my first flight in the RS.

Regards,

-Doug