Hi Mat,
I'm in favor of a Marske or Genesis spar and frame
with
a PETG skin. PETG is the clear plastic that everything
comes packaged in. I can't bend it, scratch it and
can
barely cut it with scissors. The stuff is everywhere,
it
can be recycled, surely it can also fly? It can snap
together AND be ultrasonic welded. Graphlite spars,
PETG bulkheads, ribs and stringers and the strong
shape of the Genesis. It could be done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYDdEjloYJ0

At 00:01 27 December 2007, wrote:
Why did the 1-26 do so well and is STILL doing well.
For crying out
loud, they still have their own contest a billion years
after it was
introduced! I don't understand it but we ought to
really take a hard
look at it.

I'm not saying that we want brand new 1-26s. I sure
don't. Brand new
Cherokee IIs either. Tony and I have more fun per
dollar in our
little wood ships than most out there but we wouldn't
mind a little
more performance, modern materials and safety features,
easier
rigging... But paying $25000 for it? Are you kidding?!

The PW-5 is a fun glider but it costs a fortune to
most people and
looks wrong to most of the rest. I don't think performance
is the
reason it didn't 'take off'

The new people we need in soaring are only going to
desire 40 or 50 to
1 if we teach them that's what they need to have fun,
earn badges,
have great flights, keep up with their friends.

Why cant we design a higher performance homebuilt quick
kit that has
basic components built by existing manufacturing processes
then
quality checked and assembled by individuals,clubs,
or commercial
operations? A modular homebuilt (that satisfies the
51% rule) that
handles well, gets better than 35/1, climbs like a
woodstock, lands
like a PW, and runs like a Discus and costs $10k as
a kit and $15k
finished.

Look at all the creativity and innovation that led
to the Cherokee,
the BG-12, the Duster, Scanlon, Tern, Javalin, Bowlus,
Carbon Dragon,
Woodstock, Monerai, the HPs... Sure most of those
had 'issues' some
were real dogs, some were great. But, they all showed
a creativity
that seems lacking today. Imagine combining the best
aspects of these
classic American homebuilts and applying modern materials,
engineering, and manufacturing to the result.

Somebody is going to do it. Some young genius glider
kid in Aero E at
university with no money thinking outside the box.
This isn't rocket
science. It's evolution. You can either be part of
the new wave or a
dinosaur.

MM