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Old March 17th 17, 01:16 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default We need an ASW-19 rebirth for $25,000

ATOS VR used prices are about 17,000 Euro. For 20:1 L/D. I flew hang gliders for 30 years, and got into sailplanes in 1999, just about the time the ATOS was introduced. The increase in weight, T/O and landing speed, coupled with my aging knees and body precluded an attempt to embrace the new technology. Instead, I bought a 25 year old glider (Centrair Pegase 101A) for about the same price and flew the heck out of it. With 40:1 L/D and a 135 kt. Vne, I got over 200 hours the first year and way more kilometers of XC flight than I had ever experienced with a hang glider. Plus, I always (well nearly always) landed back at the home airfield. On a wheel.

But I still miss hang gliding. It was the most fun I ever had. Soaring is close to the same fun, but not quite.