On 2/5/2011 2:10 PM, David Smith wrote:
The ASW20 in its day was/is a racing thoroughbred, set up properly and
flown by a experienced pilot was the best glider in its era. But it is not
tolerant of mishandling, in particular use the flaps wrongly and it will
bite you and in common with other designs of the time the wing is biased
to a climb profile.
Later designs used by the LS6, ASW27 and Ventus had much more cruise
biased wings and outclassed the 20. The earlier LS6 A and B were OK but
the 18m LS6C is the gem, as is the 18m LS8 and command premium price. As a
15m ship the ASW27 is still at the top of the tree and should be included
in this discussion.

The LS6 is same vintage as the ASW 20B/C, at least a generation behind
the ASW 27. The :S6 a fine glider, but it is not a match for the ASW 27.
This pilot, and the other ASW 20 (and B/C) pilots I know, did not find
the LS6 to be superior in contests.

If you can afford an ASW 27, I strongly recommend it over the ASW 20 and
the LS6. It has a far more crash resistant cockpit, all self-connecting
controls, landing flaps, airbrakes that won't suck out, a disc brake on
the main wheel, and wonderful performance. It makes the LS6 and ASW 20
seem very old fashioned.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)