Marc,

You and I said about the same thing in different ways. However, I don't
agree that persons speaking from their experience will always impart
wisdom. I posted the truth, that I have 1 flight of 2 hours in a
Standard Cirrus. That has nothing to do with the meat of the matter. I
don't personally care for Jantars, but someone looking at one to buy it
has to figure out for himself/herself whether or not that ship is what
they want, and can handle. How does one go about that? I would talk to
several folks that have them, currently. If they all describe the same
thing that's likely to kill you, then you'd be foolhardy to buy it.
When I first flew the 1-35 I mentioned, all the nay-sayers were porch
sitters that hadn't flown it. How did they know whether it had bad
habits? The person that told me it's "just another airplane with it's
own traits" did me a favor. I was glad in a way that almost no one else
flew it, because it was a club ship that I could keep all afternoon. I
had a ball.

So, because you missed the point of my rant, here it is: Just because
you don't like something doesn't make it bad, or wrong for me. Just
because something's dangerous for you doesn't make it dangerous for me.
Just because something is beyond your skill level, doesn't make it
beyond mine. Yes, designs have improved, but that doesn't make the
older ones inherantly dangerous. Are there dangerous gliders out there?
Yes, absolutely, and especially in the wrong hands, and even more
especially with the wrong advice. The former owner of my PIK was told
to begin his first takeoff with +45 degrees of flap... what a surprise
he had! There are certainly gliders out there that I wouldn't fly,
because they are beyond my skill level. I know which ones they are. I'm
not bashing them here nor anywhere else.

I may be crazy, bit I'm not stupid. Stupid may be listening to someone
telling you of his experiences, while not telling you the whole story.
I read an account of a guy in a 1-35 that had an accident at initial
rollout. What I got from it was that he had no business in that ship.
Unfortunately, the writeup villified that airplane. That's just one
example of not getting the whole story. Eric was forthcoming with his
experiences, and is a well-intentioned gentleman from everything I have
read on RAS. I just don't think he's a good judge of whether or not the
original poster would be fine with a Cirrus or not. Only that person
can figure that out. And, whether or not I've owned a Standard Cirrus
has naught to do with that argument.

Jack Womack