On Jan 27, 7:25*pm, Tony V wrote:
BruceGreeff wrote:
The illogic is only exceeded by the predictability of the consequences.

It's perfectly logical. The ultimate goal is to have so many classes
that there'll be one competitor per class and everyone walks away with a
"first place". :-)

Tony

I support the creation of the new 13.5 meter class. In the past 11
summers I have flown a glider with less than a 13.5 meter span more
than 1200 hours and 30, 000 miles cross country. Having been involved
in soaring off and on for over fifty years, I have also flown gliders
with spans of 15 to 19 meters about the same amount of time and miles.

There some pretty neat things about short wing gliders. They tend to
be lighter and easier to rig than larger gliders. This is nice for
older flyers and their older helpers. Just picking up the tail of many
of our 30 year gliders to put on a tail dolly can result in a hernia
for a 63 year old flyer. Moving the lighter gliders around on the
ground is easier. For example getting a PW-5 or Sparrow Hawk off of a
busy GA airport runway is a snap. Experienced Sparrow Hawk pilots one
man rig without a 800 dollar one man rigger.

Short wings increase the number of safe land out places. I have
landed the short wings in about ten places that would have totaled a
15 or 18 meter glider. The lower landing energy and speed of a
lighter glider is also a plus.

To me all gliders are pretty slow moving. The sensations in small or
large gliders are about the same, the main difference is the speed on
the score sheet. We all seem to try to return to our starting place
at the end of the day anyway.

I left soaring in 1978. I had a Standard Libelle which I loved but
was not (in my mind) competitive. I decided to do something different
and started racing sail boats. I noticed that the less expensive and
smaller the boat the more fun and comradship in the fleet. I do not
know why that is the case, but that is my opinion. In soaring the
last ten years, it seems to me that the people really having the most
fun are the 1-26 ers.

I do not see that continuing to have a place for short wing gliders to
race and set records really takes anything away from any other class.
I think it is especialy neat that the class is being opened up gliders
other than the PW-5. There are seveal really neat gliders that will
be able to fly in the 13.5 meter class. Think of all the time,
effort, and money that has been spent designing and building these
gliders.

If you have not tried it, don't ____ _____ __.

Bill Snead
6W