Hi,

I also had a lot of fun in a 1-35c I co-owned a few years ago. I got most
of my badges and many state records in it. It was fun to fly and pretty
easy to fly. A great value. However, I must admit that while the flaps
were not a problem for me (or anyone with experience with flaps) I still
prefer airbrakes - give the choice.

As mentioned by someone else, the used Ventus is also a great value. It has
a reputation of being tough to fly, but I didn't think it was difficult to
fly. It is certainly not as easy to fly as a Junior or Discus, but I think
it is a great value in regard to performance for the price. But I must
admit that when I flew a Discus after flying the Ventus, I was amazed at how
wonderful the Discus flies. It is extremely easy to fly! Perhaps my
experience was partly due to the fact that I was at home in the cockpit
because it is identical to the Ventus cockpit. So, my point is that I would
take an old Discus over an old Ventus any day. But so would many other
pilots and the prices reflect that.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde

wrote in message
oups.com...

My first glider was a 1-35C. It served me well. Entering the 36:1 club
for only $15-18K is a good deal. The 1-35 was designed to compete with
the growth in fiberglass planes; while it could keep up, it still was a
bit shy on performance at the higher speeds.

I flew side-by-side flight performance comparisons with a friend in his
ASW-19. We were perfectly matched in the common flight regimes but
differed in three areas: 1) The 1-35 thermalled slower and tighter due
to lower wing loading and flaps, 2) The 1-35 landed extremely shorter
thanks to the flaps and steep approach angle, and 3) The 1-35
noticeably dropped below the ASW-19's glide when faster than 80 KIAS.

But high speed was not the reason I bought one. Learning cross-country
and safely landing very slowly in fields were the huge draws for me as
a new guy. At the time of purchase, I had 29 glider hours; the flaps
were no big deal for me due to high-time in powered airplanes.

My 1-35C was the plane that first took me away from the airport where I
learned to fly gliders.

It was a good ownership learning plane for me. That is, when I put a
dent into it learning how to assemble, move, or put the plane back in
the box, it was easy to fix. Being metal also allowed me to feel
comfortable about flying it during our cold Colorado winters. My
current plane is fiberglass and thus stays in its box during the cold
season.

For around $15K, these two 1-35s are a great buy for both the new guy
and the experienced guy.

Raul Boerner