On Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 7:03:09 AM UTC-4, Senna Van den Bosch wrote:
Op donderdag 5 april 2018 13:01:09 UTC+2 schreef AS:

I have no clue where this is going to be honest

To bring this back to the original thread: before settling on the DG, look into the service contract aspect surrounding older DG/LS models. Streifeneder still provides service, advise and parts to Libelle owners without a binding service contract.
I know because I owned a H301 for 30 years....

Uli
'AS'

I have been told to stay away from the H301 Libelle because of many reasons, is this true? As you have owned one for 30 years you could probably have the best opinion on this.

Senna - that may be true for the fresh solo pilot. I would not recommend a 301 to someone who has not flown a few hours on similar 'slippery' glass ships. When I bought my 301, I had about 100 hours in LS1c, ASW-15, Cirrus and Std.Astir. The 301 assembles quickly and is a delight to fly but one has to keep some Libelle specific short-comings in mind, like the small rudder coupled with a short fuselage (I think others mentioned this before in this thread), the relatively weak spoilers despite of them being top & bottom on the 301, etc. The flaps are no issue as long as you use common sense. The wings were all built with a Balsa core but as long as you don't plan on tying her down outside for the season, that is no issue. Neither is repairability. Mine suffered leading edge damage but a qualified shop fixed it w/o any issues.
There are some weight and size limits to consider. If you are built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the fuselage may feel a bit tight. I am 90kg/1.81m and fit nicely while still having the CG within the limits. Also, the 301 was never designed for water-ballast, despite many of them being retrofitted in the US with 'Smiley Bags' and raced that way in strong conditions.
The DGs are the next generation plastic, featuring more creature-comfort like the more reclined seating position, better visibility and probably more payload.
So, if you have some glass hours and can find a 301 in Europe (they are rare over there - only 111 were built and over 50 of them were sold into the US), I would not rule her out.
Hope that helps you in your decision making process.

Uli
'AS'