OK so I'll chip in some experience. Grizzled yes, instructor for the
last 5 or so years...

The experience is still new enough to remember the embarrassment when I
wanted to transition to the Std Cirrus I had purchased. Having learned
exclusively, and flown exclusively in wood , tube + rag (Bergfalke 2-55
if you must know) I found I had spent too much time in really draggy,
slow low performance ships. Result is that I took quite a few flights to
get my speed under control in something as forgiving as a Grob 103.

Lesson learned is that it is far better to learn on something a little
higher performance - but if you are solo in such a low performance old
lady - you will need some transition training.

What worked for me was about 10 launches in a Grob103 with an instructor
in the back. flying in different conditions and locations to get the
feel of the faster everything (accelleration, stall, pitch response) and
vastly better glide angle (hint - it is impossible to make a good
landing when you arrive over the threshold with full brakes and fifty
feet of clear air under your wheel...) Unfortunately in a draggy old
ship it is all too easy to develop bad habits. The sooner you fly higher
performance the easier I would assume to change them.

My first launch in the Cirrus was perfectly safe and I had less than 50
hours total time at that point. I made sure it was on a field I knew
well, in calm conditions - try to stack the risk factors in your favour
and fly the glider.

Now - My daughter is learning in the Grob103 and is not phased by the
performance, it is normal to her. At 10 hours her speed control is
excellent. She was disconcerted by how unresponsive the Bergie was when
I introduced her to it.

Cheers
Bruce

On 2011/02/02 1:44 AM, Don Johnstone wrote:
At 21:39 01 February 2011, wrote:


I'm gonna be the grizzled old instructor that is going to suggest you
need to go very carefully.
I expect the folks I supervise to get at least 50 hrs in a 1-34(that's
what we have) before moving on to glass
of the type described. At the very least a good bit of time in some
intermediate ship.
These ships fly very nicely but they are heavier, twice as slippery,
all are tailwheel aircraft, virtually all have CG
hooks being aero towed, and all require very good stall- spin skills
compared to a 2-33 primary trainer.
To do this safely, you need a couple ships in between and a good
coach.
Good luck and take care
UH

Sorry to disagree in a way. Many people do their first solo in either an
ASW21 or Grob103, both could be described as fairly slippery compared to
the old wood and metal. Many other organisations accept that if you set
the level of training correctly, and train a person to fly the type he is
destined to fly then there should be no problem. Same applies to flaps,
there is no real difficulty there provided the right training is given.
I have long had issues with instructors who insist that people fly low
performance gliders before getting in the hot ships. If you set out to do
the proper training there is no reason to do that.
I too am a grizzled old instructor, been instructing for 46 years and in
the beginning all there was was wood or metal. That is no reason to force
those that have followed me to fly low performance first, I hope my
teaching is better than that.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771 & Std Cirrus #57