On 2018/05/29 02:16, wrote:
The brakes on the Kestrel are too far back on the wing to be very effective.
The Slingsby Kestrels had poor sutface accuracy too, thats why the extra 2 meters of wing only improved the LD by one point.
The ultimate ineffective use of span.

If you reprofile the wings accurately and clean things up the glide does
improve. But it is still an old airfoil, so don't expect wonders. I
measured best glide at ~1:45 (after reprofile and adding with winglets.)

Still a wonderful aircraft. Comfortable, good handling predictable and
strong as a a house.

The one piece canopy is a DG200 unit. The complete kit is available from
Striefenedder - but seriously expensive.

As mentioned before - the airbrakes are not the most effective. But the
landing flaps work well, and like any open class glider, energy
management in the pattern is important. With full landing flap, full
airbrakes and the drogue chute out - if you can see it over your toes,
you probably can't reach it.
Too fast and it will float forever.

Jokes aside - the approach is very steep once the drag chute is out, but
I have only ever practiced a couple of times with it. The landing flaps
are enough...