USAF Academy looking for new gliders

Am 03.08.10 03:16, schrieb Bruce Hoult:
looked at the PW-6, Puchacz, ASK-21 but decided we'd get much better
much better value for money by stretching to the DG1000 Club for
something like EUR 10k more than the K21.

That gets you a 25 years newer design, 10 points better L/D ratio,

I think the "full" DG1000, while a slightly more expensive, is an even
better value for the money.

even more aerobatic (even outside loops and flick rolls if you're into

I think for primary aerobatics trainig, the ASK21 is the better choice.
The DG1000 is just too slippery, especially at higher speeds. With some
figures, e.g. the cuban eight, the red line apporaches *very* fast.
Combined with the slow roll rate this can quickly put you in a pretty
uncomfortable situation. Besides that to calculating the tail ballast of
the ASK is a very educative exercise for a student. Oh, and nothing
beats the really graceful spin of the ASK.

Did you really do a downward outside loop with the DG? The DG being that
slippery, I didn't dare yet. (Besides that the POH does not allow for
it, but that's a different question.)