At 13:34 25 March 2011, kirk.stant wrote:

1-26s were fine in their day - but you can't do intro rides in them,
can you?

Can't do them in an LS8 either. My complaint is the idea that you
can't compete in a 1-26. It's the purest form of competition, head to
head with no handicaps and no excuses (particularly when some 80-year-old
submariner like Vern Hutchinson beats you).

And if you have never done acro in a glider - ASK-21, Blanik 13AC,
Pilatus, Swift, etc.. you are missing a wonderful aspect of our sport
- and one that can be done on those days when there isn't any lift
around. Don't knock it if you havn't tried it!

My problem is that it's so damned expensive. Talk about a way to beat
the towplane back to the airport, this is it. If you want to give the
cadets aerobatic experience (and I've never know the AFA to be interested
in that task) then do it in a capable aerobatic airplane.

Jim Beckman