noel.wade wrote:
OK All,

Snip...

How detrimental to performance are the effects of time on a glider?
How high is up?

I'm talking about things like roughened gelcoat, flat-spots on the
wing-skin by the spar-caps, etc.
What others have already said...

A quote attributed to Dick Johnson: "Air has fingers but no eyes." Of
*course* surface finish affects air flow, both theoretically and
practically...but whether Joe Pilot actually can detect it is why God
invented beer and fellow pilots.
- - - - - -

Do you think they affect flapped
gliders any differently than standard-class gliders?

Snip...

Also, every time I get close to buying a glider of this vintage, I
start considering the fact that it will be the biggest purchase by far
in my life at this point - and seeing aging gelcoat, surface corrosion
on metal bits, worn-out cockpit interiors, etc makes me get cold
feet. Am I just being a wuss and overreacting?

Step back and juxtapose your first question immediately above with your
'overreacting' question and ponder the twain with reflective humor.

As for life-threatening airflow changes due to age-related surface
changes, according to the FAA, frost on wings kills, while according to
the NTSB, takeoffs in DC-9's with retracted slats does too. Yet
airplanes routinely fly with ice on their wings, and with retracted
slats AND flaps. Magic?

Regarding age-related composite woes, how many examples of composite
gliders can anyone point to that came apart because their fiber/resin
matrix got tired?

Continuing the ponderation of age-related woes, how many metal bits in
airplanes and gliders have gotten tired due to age? (Correct answer:
lots [infinitely?] more than f/r matrices. The good news is, metal bits
are [on sailplanes] generally straightforwardly visually inspectable.)
- - - - - -

I'm usually not one
to dwell on appearances - but the sheer dollar amounts, and the fact
that skin-friction-drag is important, make me jumpy with gliders....

Any thoughts?

There are older (in time) composite gliders than the one I've been
flying since 1981 (and which was built in 1977), and many of them
probably look much better than mine does today, simply because I'm one
who figures looks on a sailplane do about as much good as an appendix.
(Hey...the philosophy works for me. My priorities tend to be:
structural integrity; superbly functioning netto, 'other stuff'...)

There is no such thing (IMHO) as the perfect sailplane...or anything
else, for that matter. Perfection is not an option. Perfection is -
however - the enemy of good enough. Know yourself, make your best
attempt to understand how you expect/hope to be expanding your soaring
skills in the next few years, don't allow your fantasies of 'setting the
soaring world afire' to overwhelm the realities of where you are on
soaring's infinite learning palette, purchase accordingly and you'll
have years of rewarding soaring flight in your immediate future!

Respectfully,
Bob W.