On Monday, April 1, 2019 at 12:47:08 PM UTC-7, Michael N. wrote:
On Monday, April 1, 2019 at 1:26:03 PM UTC-6, wrote:
With 200 hours I would stay away from the Ventus w/o winglets unless your instructor says you have plenty of extra bandwidth available while flying and your thermalling skills are already very sound.

Can you comment further on the differences in handling of the Ventus B with and without winglets?

Thanks!

Unfortunately I can't, never flown one with them. There have been comments in other threads iirc. JS's post above is a good one, safety is the primary concern with all of this. Another tack... your instructor, and competent conservative pilots that you hold in high regard that know your flying, that you have flown with, will know. Ask them what they think of your idea and if they get quiet and take a long pause, listen . This works for many, many questions in soaring... "I'm thinking of doing _X_, whaddya think"? If eyes dart towards the ground you probably have your answer. Like the day I was considering a Diamant...
And are you sure you would lose any significant amount of $ buying and selling glider #1? Gliders are getting cheaper over time i believe so if you buy one with a good finish, are not stuck with a "hot potato" as it were, then it's mostly just inconvenience. And you might have a much better idea what you DO want, say you have a chance to fly a Ventus for example, and then be in a position to jump and buy the glider you know you want when it comes up for sale.