toad wrote:

Time to update your knowledge to at least the 1980s, when the LS4,
Discus, and other gliders showed you don't have to sacrifice performance
to have a glider with wonderful, forgiving handling.

Then why doesn't the PW5 have better performance ?

The requirement for low cost.


Trade offs between handling and performance might be:
span, easier handling with lower span.

Smaller span is one way to reduce cost. No designer has problem making a
15 meter glider handle easily. How many trainers have a small span?

wing loading, high for performance, low for safety, happy medium ?

Wing loading is not an important aspect of "handling", as I understand
it; however, prohibiting ballast is another way to reduce cost.

airfoil and twist for better performance or stall ?

Wing design has gone way beyond the need for crude twisting or
inefficient airfoils to provide good stall behavior.

fixed gear vs retract.

This has little to do with "handling", but it does increase cost to have
a retractable gear.

high wing for safety vs lower drag mid wing ?

I've never seen an article on the relative safety merits of high wing
versus low wing. Have you? I'd like to read it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org