On Jan 9, 9:58*am, "noel.wade" wrote:
Wow, who knew how much controversy I could start with just a couple of
words?? ;-)

On the Jantars: *I admit I mis-spoke about them being metal - don't
know why I was thinking that was the case. *A local CFIG tried to sell
me his Jantar Standard 2 when I went looking for my first ship. *I
checked it out; but decided the aircraft wasn't for me. *I haven't
looked at the Standard 3... *BTW, according to Johnson the JS2 L/D
was *36:1, not 38:1. *So no, it doesn't meet my "38:1" criteria.

As far as LS-1s go: *A buddy of mine flies an LS-1 and does REALLY
well with it. *However, it seems that all of the LS-1s I've seen have
reached the point where their gelcoat is going bad / wearing out...
This buddy of mine is actually refinishing the LS-1 this winter; its
going to look great when he's done, but it sounds like an insane
amount of work!

The LS-1 is another one of those situations where I say "I can afford
a newer/better ship with my budget - so why buy something older?" *For
example: *There's a pretty nice LS-3 on Wings&Wheels for $24k. *OTHER
than price, why would I go with an LS-1 instead of an LS-3? *Think the
"heavy" LS-3 wings are that big of a deal?

There have been steady advances in airfoils, ergonomics, safety, and
materials-usage over the years. *I am hoping to leverage some of that
with my budget - not get the cheapest glider I can that meets a bare
minimum of my criteria.

Anyone have further thoughts (or a critique of my position)?

Thanks, take care,

--Noel
P.S. *Martin - AFAIK, the 3000-hour issue on the Pegasus is still a
problem in the USA. :-(

Noel,

What LS1 model are you talking about? Don't know if you realize that
the "f" is quite different from the earlier variants. As I said it's
very very similar to the LS4 (fuselage and empenage almost identical),
although does have the same airfoil as the earlier LS1's. However the
wing incidence has been adjusted to allow better performance at higher
speeds and it's structurally stronger allowing a higher max gross
weight to carry more water if desired. I nice LS1f that's been
refinished in recent years would be a very nice ship for the money.
Should cost you less than $20k. An LS4 these days will easily cost you
$30k+ "IF" you can find one. Of course the LS1f's aren't easy to find
either.


Dave