On 13/03/2015 05:11, Surge wrote:

A Nimbus 2 is on the market which I'm interested in as my first glider and I'd like some feedback from those who've owned or flown one.

I see lots of opinions here. I will add my own. I owned one and flew
several hundred hours in her and logged some memorable cross country
flights including an FAI 1000km diploma, back in the days when fewer
people had done that, than had flown in space.

I do realize that a flapped, long winged glider is not the best choice for a low time pilot which is why I will keep the glider in a hangar while I first build up some experience on Grob G102's. My motivation for purchase is because I think the glider matches my checklist for the type of flying I've always wished to do and also because of the opportunity presented which may not come around again. Due to the fact that gliders take ages to sell where I live (slow market), I'd rather purchase something I want to fly for the next 20 years than purchase an intermediate "first glider" that I battle to sell later. There is enough G102 stock available to hire in the transition phase.

The thing to remember is that this glider came off the drawing board
with the objective of beating the best open class ships existing at the
time. Suitability for a low time pilot was never a consideration.

That said, I think with 50 hours P1 in a Grob single seater, including
at least "sliver C" level cross country flying, and a few outlandings
and then some good conversion time in a glass 2 seater (Janus would be
ideal) a suitably talented pilot should manage the conversion. But don't
rush it!

1. Stall/spin characteristics. How much warning does it give before stalling and does it have any tendency to suddenly drop a wing and spin

Stalling is docile with little tendency to spin. But if you abuse it, it
can bight. The worst I had was pulling up into a thermal, fully
ballasted, allowing the speed at the top of the zoom to get a bit slow,
using aggressive rudder and aileron to get her into the turn and then
neglecting to set positive flaps before the wings loaded up at the top
of the zoom - it dropped a wing straight into a spin. But everything
except to the point of "failing to set positive flaps in time", is
"normal operation" when racing this glider.

2. Pitch sensitivity. The glider has an all flying tail

VERY sensitive. Especially when compared with the very heavy, sluggish
response to aileron and rudder. This takes getting used to. I got
blisters on my feet from kicking the rudders after a few days of
competitive flying.

But to add to the all flying tail is the S-Bend shaped control stick. If
you hold the stick tight and knock down your wrist with your other hand
you will note that as your hand goes down you apply up elevator. This is
because the grip is not directly above the hinge point of the stick.
This is what happens when you hit a bump at high speed. The resulting G
force causes your hand to go down further causing more up elevator. This
can get ugly very quickly if you do not take precautions.

The advise I was given when I converted was don't fly over 170km/h until
you are used to the elevator. Then do not attempt to fly a low flypast
until have many hours and a lot of confidence with the ship. Finally if
you do fly over 200km/h, hold the stick below the S-bend, in front of
the brake cable. You just need to get your thumb in front of the cable
and gently push. I used both hands, two thumbs, with my hands resting on
my thighs for better control.

3. Approach control. How effective are the airbrakes?Are outlandings a challenge with the tail chute?

The airbrakes are modest. That is why it came out of the factory with a
tail chute. 99% of the time the airbrakes are good enough. The tail
chute was a bit controversial. On the one hand if you are committed to
an approach with tail chute, and it fails to open, you are in big
trouble. On the other if the chute deploys unintentionally then you are
likely to be on the ground before you realize what has happened.

During outlandings, I planned circuit and approach without relying on
the tail chute. Thus neutralising the threat of it not working when you
need it most. Then I used it after round out - to reduce the ground
roll, hence probability of hitting a rock, during outlandings in
ploughed fields. If you are flying a ship with a tail chute, it is worth
adding it to your mental emergency checklist, if you find you are in
prolonged, unexplained, heavy sink, or flying behind a tug that descends
instead of climbs.

- Pitch is sensitive which evidently makes tugging a bit trickier.

It also has a CG release. When combined with the all flying tail, it
requires more concentration on tow.

- Long wings and cross winds don't play nicely together on takeoff.

Not so. Mine had a tail wheel (not a skid) and it handled hot and high
cross wind takeoffs better than many 15m flapped ships.

- Don't go full positive flap on takeoff as the wing may fly before the tail! :-O

Other way round. If you are slow to apply positive flap during the
ground run, the wing might take off before the tail, as the centre of
lift is further forward with negative flap. A handful of positive flap
will quickly rectify the situation, but it is a bit alarming.

- Heavy wings are not an issue as the glider will be hangared and flown conservatively cross country. The odd retrieve shouldn't be a reason to not fly such an awesome old lady.

I kept mine hangered in a T hanger with the wingtips removed. I could
put on the wing tips single handed and get her onto the flight line very
quickly. With the glide performance, I managed to "save" more
outlandings than I logged. Rigging is not actually that bad, as the wing
splits in 4 pieces with about equal weight on the ends of the inner
sections. (The ASW17 is much worse as the split is further outboard and
the inner wings are much heavier). Two full strength adults are required
to rig it. But if you land in a soft ploughed field and have to carry it
out, you will need four adults.

- The glider comes with a decent trailer and accessories before someone brings that up.
- All AD's including tail AD applied.

These ships are approaching 45 years old. They were quite high
maintenance 20 years ago and I can only assume they will require a lot
more maintenance now. Check the condition, the finish, the trailer and
instruments very carefully. Then plan on spending a few weeks each off
season, fixing things that wear and brake.

I had a lot of good flying out of the Nimbus 2. If you are keen and
energetic, you could get a lot of flying out of one too.

Ian