My name is Stephen, and recently purchased a Kestrel T59D in great shape. The Kestrel's handicap (Kestrel .89 versus Discuss .93) being in the neighborhood of more expensive ($250,000) aircraft--seems like a pretty good bet to put money into the old girl--albeit a 50 year old glass ship.

The bird is in amazing shape, yet needs some love in certain areas.

Being nearly seven feet tall as a pilot... options are to cut a hole in the bottom of the aircraft--which negates need for new brakes. Of course, I could opt for one of those new-fangled, sexy looking single canopies with a six inch larger bubble. Yeah, yeah, that is the ticket... Look cooler, go faster, and receive small increase in performance. Mmmmm... That is probably the better choice.

My hit list is simple...

1) Trailer gets new Timbren Axle-less axles. A two tone paint job--gray lower, white upper--with red seperation stripe and alloy designer rims. Electric brake upgrade, with new radial tires.

Inside will be painted, scabs and wounds from years of use fiberglassed over, and mounting hardware updated.

(About $3000 of love to make a 36 foot long viable and attractive for competition.)

2) Canopy modification... Going to reproduce Don Austins work for canopy. Would love to find that guy and actually ship my aircraft to him for design changes and review. The canopy is the biggest potential loss of L/D on the Kestrel--with any leak of air pressure devastating the laminar flow around the nose to wing section.

(Planning on $4000 of love, could go up to $6000 depending on cost of DG frame and hinge costs)

3) Wingtips... Have research done on benefits and size required. Again, mimicking Don Austins work in England, with small tweaks because of research values found to be optimal. Really curious as to the reality of theoretic values vs real world application of that theory in Don Austins bird--he loves the darn thing, so it must be exceptional.

(Planning on $6000 to $8000 of love on winglets. Improving L/D by 4--making former 44:1 closer to 48:1 with windshield mods, turbulators, and wingtips.)

4) Brakes and suspension... Improved brakes... Why improve brakes on a plane that is known to spin on the ground if you manage to fly it in hot? Because, the standard brakes are just too damn ineffective. Good speed control is important in any plane--add sixty five feet of wingspan and you have a wild bronking buck on your hands. The damned thing is designed to fly, and it wants to. The suspension will absorb the more aggressive landings, instead of my rumpus--connected--to--me (medical term, yeah.)

Again, stealing as much as Don Austin will let me from his experiences... Thinking maybe I should let him do all the work. If only I could find him. Plus the cost and hassle of shipping the bird... Really looking for a talented shop in the United States that is adventurous and not outrageous in price tag.

I will be the first to admit, I will have $30,000 into my sailplane... It will however run circles around others at competition, with the competitors spending $300,000 to arrive at the same place my $30,000 took.

Finish lines never lie...

Anyone know Donald Austin? Tell him I am going to need his help to compete in the 2020 year.

Personal Best to all you dedicated fliers out there,

Stephen