I think new materials and new structural designs to save weight
will give better results in the future, judging by the Diana-2
approach in the 15M class. Less weight = less required wing area,
higher aspect ration of wing, etc...

I think the Australia fiasco coupled with the 'what everyone else
flies' factor have both worked against this fine ship, although the
sidestick and need for special trailer (male root-spar stubs are perm
attached to fuse; wings have the female recip joint) haven't one it
extra points with most though either. It certainly holds it's own on
the comp circuit though, especially considering numbers, so I'm sure
there are many others out there now looking closer at it though.

If someone loaned Jim Payne their Dianna 2 for a while I bet he could
make it more popular

The Duckhawk will be an even more extreme example of the lighter
materials=less wetted formula by utilizing prepreg carbon, making it
look basically like a 2/3 scale model of an open class ship but with
an extreme envelope(300lb empty/900lb gross, 200ktVNE & 165ktVA, 50+/
1 L/D, +11/-9g's, 2sec roll rate, 30/1 aspect etc...). Sure looking
forward to seeing more progress on that project, which seems to be
backburner'd by projects like Perlan, Goshawk, TwinHawk, etc, but in
the meantime the Dianna does appear to be the highest performing 15m
ship, although not the most popular -at first.

-Paul