Andreas Maurer wrote:

Unless you are an engineer competent in composite design for crash
protection, I don't think you will learn anything about the design by
asking "where the Kevlar is".


Well... extremely light weight of a fuselage definitely makes me
wonder about crash protection - something Germany glider manufacturers
have a lot of experience with. I think there's a good cause why their
gliders are so heavy compared to the Diana 2.

Questions about the crash protection are very sensible, but they should
be good questions. I think "how can your glider be so much lighter than
the German gliders?" would be a much better question than "where is the
Kevlar?". Or maybe: "Is the Diana 2 crash protection as good as the ASW
27 (for example)?"

snip

The design maximum speed is Vne + 15 percent - this is what the glider
is designed for (and being flight-tested). Obviously this is the
proven speed where no flutter occurs... at least in a perfectly
maintained (prototype) glider.
I certainly wouldn't risk to fly that fast... do you think that
someone is so stupid to exceed Vne?

I can easily imagine a pilot thinking "This wave has such strong winds,
I must fly very fast to get to the upwind lenticular. The air is quite
smooth, and the actual flutter speed was determined by testing at 40
knots over Vne, so I can fly at 30 knots over Vne quite safely; of
course, I will be very gentle on the stick!"

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA