soaring into the future

Hi Tony,

I learned to fly sailplanes in 1979. Trained in a 2-33, a Blanik and
occasionally in a Lark IS-28B2. Most of my training was in the 2-33. I
loved it. I had several instructors but my favorite was an old guy
named Stan. He was firm and fair and rode me hard when needed. The
2-33 was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I didn't like the
Blanik and the Lark seemed like somthing only astronauts would be able
to fly. But...........along with the 2-33, the little 1-26 was there
and I knew one day I would fly that ship. R.A.S. did not exist back
then, so I didn't know that the 2-33 sucked, and the 1-26 was just a
piece of tin, so it was in total ignorance when, as a student, I took
the 2-33 up to cloudbase and flew it all the way from Issaquah to
Marymore Park and back, under a 4500' cloudstreet. She seemed eager
and up to the task, and I was dumb enough to go for it. Later I got to
fly the 1-26. I flew it many times up on Tiger Mountain, the most
memorable flight was in strong south winds and strong ridge lift. I
was hooked.

Occasionally the guys with the ASW-15's would show up at the field and
I felt I was in the presence of greatness, and badly wanted to fly one
of those someday, but that never tarnished my opinions of those 2
metal birds that gave me so much fun.

Fast forward............I became a hang glider pilot. Advancing
quickly to my advanced rating with all the special check-offs, even
got my winch rating. Some of my favorite flights were drifting at low
level in light ridge lift, just above the trees and feeling every tiny
breeze. Landing in peoples back yards became common place, and I never
feared "going for it"

Today, I fly an Apis-13 that I built from a kit. It gets maybe 35:1.
Like your Cherokee, it can effortlessley drift at low altitudes and if
I need to put her in a small field, I can land in less than 200'. I
can also center a thermal at 200' and continue with the flight.

I am a proponent of this kind of flying, and of gliders that can do
this kind of flying. It is not for everybody, and the guys with the
heavier wing loadings blow by me everytime, but for me..............a
"light" ship that handles well, is easy to rig, easy to fly and climbs
like an eagle is my cup of tea.

Might there be some more folks that like that kind of flying out
there?

Brad
199AK





On Dec 27, 3:36*pm, wrote:
Very interesting thread.

Im glad to see that a few people enjoy my reports of cheap dirty fun
flying in the upper midwest. *I'll keep it up.

Sometimes someone asks me when im going to buy a different glider. *my
standard response is "when i can afford something better than what I
have!" *Fact is we all are going to buy the best glider we can for the
money. *I didnt buy the Cherokee cause I was in love with a 40 year
old wood glider. *Or because i thought the forward swept tail (like a
mooney) looked cool. *I didnt even buy it because it had stellar 25:1
performance. *I only bought it because the price tag equalled the
amount of money I could scrape up over a summer of working, and I
really wanted a glider!

Saying that 40:1 + is necessary for going cross country is a great way
to kill enthusiasm and interest in the sport. now now now, i know that
there is a lot of unlandable terrain out west and it may be a good
idea to either have good performance or lots of alititude out there,
but I have had great fun on some pretty short low altitude flights
here in the midwest. *Obviously you can go out there with low
performance but you must tip toe.

If composite construction is so difficult then why not make it metal?
pulling rivets is a pretty simple task.

carry on...