J a c k wrote:

I think the Duo's airbrakes are better than many people think. The Duo is a
big heavy glider with lots of inertia. It doesn't like to change direction
quickly. That includes its behavior on sudden airbrake deployment. You
don't get a lot of sink right away.

My first reaction was that the airbrakes were weak but a little more
experience showed me that with a little patience, the brakes took effect and
produced a respectable decent rate. The Duo just makes you plan ahead a
little more than with a light single seater.

I don't understand the physics here.
Consider an analogy:
when the VW-beetle came out it had a reputation of 'turning over easily',
based on the false logic that you need less men to 'turn it over' than to
'pick up & turn over a bigger car'. Of course the forces while driving, that
tended to 'turn it over' were less for a VW, but so too were the forces that
resisted 'turn it over'.
A heavy pendulum is 'eqivalent' to a lighter pendulum.

So too for the BIG glider.
What doesn't scale up is the pilots strength.
Or is reynolds number significant ?

== Chris Glur.