On Sat, 15 Feb 2020 07:59:06 -0800, Nick Kennedy wrote:

On W&W for sale recently there have been several Libelles listed, some
look very nice.
And affordable.
Are these ships suitable for very low time beginners?

Its probably a good idea to have a few hours on a similar single seater
before getting into a Std Libelle. If you fit the cockpit, then they're
comfortable and easy to fly and with remarkably few gotchas: there's lots
of feel for thermals and if it doesn't like the way you're flying it, you
can feel that too.

The main issue for a low-time pilot is probably the weak air brakes.

Getting a good descent rate isn't the issue because they slip really well
and controllably, brakes in or out. Doing wheeler landings on a big field
isn't a big deal either, but the brakes are an issue if you're trying for
a fully held-off two point landing because speed isn't shed all that
fast, even with brakes fully out, so its very easy to balloon right at
the end of the float if you misjudge raising the nose to put main and
tail wheel down at the same time.

You might find this helpful:

https://www.gregorie.org/gliding/lib...201_notes.html


I've heard they are "lightly" built.
I've also never heard of them having any structural problems.
Thought's?

Yes, they're light - mine was 216kg last time we weighed it,
counterbalanced by a small wing for the era (9.8 m^2).

Mine has now done 3245 hours, a lot of it winched, and shows little more
than fair wear and tear despite its share of field landings.

Glasfaser holds the type certficate and is an excellent source of spares
and support: no subscription needed and willing to supply documentation
to help with any unusual or difficult repairs or mods.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org