Letters Asking to Buy My Glider

Marc Ramsey wrote:
Frank Whiteley wrote:
As a former DG-100 owner, I liked the finish, the light handling, the
ultimate strength, the durable finish, the warm toes when high,
payload, and the high rough air VNe. The downward twist of the wing
tips at high VNe is extremely interesting. It's narrow at the hip,
which discourages some and makes it a bit unsuitable for club use.
Later testing showed they were at least 10% under claimed best L/D. No
way they'll outrun a Jantar Std 2.

We looked at one a couple of years ago. Due to maintenance issues and
a substandard trailer we weren't willing to offer as much as asked, so
we walked, happily. There was a nice one for sale in Texas, but we
passed as some didn't want the split canopy. We bought an LS-4a.

1) DG-100 != DG-100G (101).
2) You gotta properly seal them to make them fly to their potential (the
101 Johnson tested wasn't sealed at all, which was stated in the article).
3) DG offered (still?) an inexpensive retrofit kit with 300 style
upswept wing tips (which mine didn't have) that got rid of the downward
twist and significantly improved high speed performance, but there was
no point to flying that fast, even with water.

No, I couldn't outrun Jantar Std 2s and 3s, but I'd catch and pass them
by the top of the next thermal. Mine would eat the local LS-4s for lunch...

Marc
Other than canopy and tailplane, what's the real diff? IIRC, same
wing, same fuselage, same A/R. G/101 had better cockpit protection.
Nothing indicated on the DG web site that would indicate a real
performance distinction. The one I partnered in held the NV 100k
record for a time. True the split canopy made sealing a bit of an
issue, the front hinged is preferred, but that's the only substantial
difference WRT performance. Either way, it's a nice, strong glider.

Frank