On Monday, October 21, 2013 9:51:07 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
Perhaps a more relevant question to ask is "What is the best glider for me?" rather than "What is the best cross country ship?".



I'm not an expert, so I cannot give advice, but I don't understand why practically everyone on this thread is in favor of a pilot, who has not yet even been checked out on his club PW-5, trying to transition directly to a high performance glider.



I transitioned from SGS 2-33, to Blanik L-23, then quickly transitioned through a ASK-21 and a PW-6. Since the beginning of this season I've flown an SZD 51-1 Junior for about 50 hours in all sorts of conditions over changing terrain. I'm certainly not bored and I get better every time I fly. I've gotten much better at exploiting lift and I can much better handle strong turbulence and crosswind takeoffs and landings. I'm much better at reading the clouds and weather. The Junior has been an ideal learning platform for me.



The Junior seems to be designed for docility and durability. Look at the massive tail boom on a Junior some time. I can worry less about breaking the tail off when I land out, and I've heard that even experts do that some times. It would be rather discouraging to break a $70K ship on an early land out. Look at the tiny low drag tail boom on a high performance ship.



The other thing that I like about the Junior is that it climbs really well given the low wing loading, so I get the positive feedback of being able stay up even when I flub up. It is easy to fly and rewarding.



I did not want to get too much ship too soon, scare myself bad and ruin the sport forever.



I think the experts forget how much expertise they have, and how much a student needs to learn, and how much practice it takes. Sure, I'm flying a "paper bag", but I'm getting dam good at it and I'm having a blast.



I realize that I will have a lot to learn when/if I transition to a higher performance ship, but the perception and motor skills that I'm developing in the Junior will make that transition less of a crap shoot. A lot of things that I'm learning now (like finding lift) will apply directly to the slicker ship.