ASW-24
I recall that day very well, Charlie. I had been uncertain about winglets only until KS outclimbed me in a survival thermal at Littlefield with early Maughmer winglets when my ship was new. Once I started flying with UH's "slip on" winglets a year later, there was no going back. I could outclimb non-winglet 24s (and many other types) but the big difference was better low-speed handling.
My impression was that these early UH tips were better than the factory's. On more than one occasion, I was able to climb away from 24s with the factory winglets in weak thermals where I was pretty sure wing loading was not a factor.
It's true that on that day, Charlie was able to climb through me pretty convincingly with a later version of UH's tips. But the cross-over point in glide on that early developmental design was a little too low for me (75-80 kts?).
However, UH continued to refine his design and the final version retained the superior climb with no perceivable loss at the high-speed end. That's when I made the switch. I've been flying with them for 15 years and consider them essential. They're also Schleicher approved, now.
Chip Bearden
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