6'7" and looking for a glider

Rob:
A few suggestions.

First, consider a thin pack parachute and race driver shoes (thin soles/no heels)

Gliders that fit big guys: Open Cirris, 17 or 19m Kestrels, ASW-15 or 17 with seat back removed (actually any of the Schleichers with the seat back removed) and 304cz

Contact Gordon Boettger. He is a pretty tall guy as I recall and about your size.

There was a very tall (about your size IIRC) German pilot at Ridge Soaring several years ago. If I'm not mistaken, he was on their national team. I don't remember what glider he was flying but he had a parachute rig that had the container for the canopy stored in the "baggage'area and attached to his harness. It was an interesting set up - maybe custom made?

I have an ASW 15 and you can cross that off your list. At 6'1", with a chute on and seat back removed my head was less than an inch from the canopy.

If you can fit in an ASW 20 with the seat back out, I have a Pegase that I will likely be selling in the spring. Same fuselage more or less, depending on who you talk to.

On Friday, January 10, 2020 at 11:01:02 AM UTC-5, wrote:
There was a very tall (about your size IIRC) German pilot at Ridge Soaring several years ago. If I'm not mistaken, he was on their national team. I don't remember what glider he was flying but he had a parachute rig that had the container for the canopy stored in the "baggage'area and attached to his harness. It was an interesting set up - maybe custom made?

I have an ASW 15 and you can cross that off your list. At 6'1", with a chute on and seat back removed my head was less than an inch from the canopy.

If you can fit in an ASW 20 with the seat back out, I have a Pegase that I will likely be selling in the spring. Same fuselage more or less, depending on who you talk to.

... but he had a parachute rig that had the container for the canopy stored in the "baggage'area and attached to his harness. It was an interesting set up - maybe custom made?
That would have been the 'Kohnke-Päckchen', which was very popular in Europe. It was a static line chute which was stored in the luggage compartment and attached to a harness via two carabiners.

Uli
'AS'

On Fri, 10 Jan 2020 08:00:59 -0800, mdfadden wrote:

If you can fit in an ASW 20 with the seat back out, I have a Pegase that
I will likely be selling in the spring. Same fuselage more or less,
depending on who you talk to.

I can confirm that Centrair built ASW-20s under license (many fitted with
a lifting panel as standard) and didn't renew the license when it
expired. Instead they rolled out the Pegase, which is basically an ASW 20
with new wings, which have a different section and no flaps. The fuselage
is tweaked slightly. The cockpit air intake is at the nose, the NACA
ducts under the wing are faired over (if you look carefully at a Peg you
can see where they were on the 20) and a lifting panel is standard.

The ASW-19 has the same fuselage, so if you're comfortable in one of
these, you'll be right at home in the other two, give or take a flap
lever!

The late-model Pegs (Pegase 90) have fully self-connecting controls and
somebody in Europe is or was converting 101s to self-connecting - I've
seen one or two round my club.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

I had similar problem.

Decided to go with DG300. Never regreted. Most comfortable of alk i tried. Performs very well.

S

On Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 8:46:02 PM UTC-7, Rob wrote:
I've been reading tall pilot threads here from a few years back, and I wanted to start a new thread. I'm 6'7" 230 lbs with a bit of a taller torso and I'm on the lookout for a glider. I've noticed that legroom isn't usually an issue, but with many gliders, closing the canopy is a problem.

I've been doing my training in a Blanik L-23 and I can fit OK, not the best, but no issues with the training. I've tried to fit in the ASK-21, no way. I'm wondering if I can fit in the G103 so I can go to a commercial operation and finish my rating.

So far, I fit in the following:

L-33 Solo - very comfortably I might add. I've been doing my solo work in one.
PW-5 - very comfortable. Haven't flown one yet.

Ideally, I'd like to do cross country and earn badges. I was talked out of these two because they're not the best performers for cross country and I received what seems to be a solid advice to keep looking for something I'd be happier with longer term, so here we go.

Jantar Std 3 seems like a good fit. Can't find many for sale.
LS-3A is a good fit, but would likely need a very thin parachute. I would presume LS-4 is a good fit as well.
Mosquito was a little tight.
Standard Cirrus - could not close the canopy with all the cushions out too. That was a bummer.
DG-300 and 500 seemed like a good fit.
PIK-20 - could not close the canopy.
G102 - could not close the canopy.
Discus - could not close the canopy.

If I hit the lottery, I'd be all over an Arcus M - fantastic fit, beautiful ship and a decimal place out of my price range. Ideally, I'm looking for something in the 15-25k range. Anyone selling?

Rob
The LS3a has the lighter wings, of the 2 models, the LS3 slightly heavier wings but not a deal breaker.
Those LS gliders fly nice! And are available now. 40/1
That 40/1 is a magic number I think for XC
You can go XC in anything, but 40/1 makes it so much easier.
You can go places and get home. That L33 PW5 not so much IMHO

Originally Posted by Nick Kennedy[_3_]

On Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 8:46:02 PM UTC-7, Rob wrote:
I've been reading tall pilot threads here from a few years back, and I wanted to start a new thread. I'm 6'7" 230 lbs with a bit of a taller torso and I'm on the lookout for a glider. I've noticed that legroom isn't usually an issue, but with many gliders, closing the canopy is a problem.

I've been doing my training in a Blanik L-23 and I can fit OK, not the best, but no issues with the training. I've tried to fit in the ASK-21, no way. I'm wondering if I can fit in the G103 so I can go to a commercial operation and finish my rating.

So far, I fit in the following:

L-33 Solo - very comfortably I might add. I've been doing my solo work in one.
PW-5 - very comfortable. Haven't flown one yet.

Ideally, I'd like to do cross country and earn badges. I was talked out of these two because they're not the best performers for cross country and I received what seems to be a solid advice to keep looking for something I'd be happier with longer term, so here we go.

Jantar Std 3 seems like a good fit. Can't find many for sale.
LS-3A is a good fit, but would likely need a very thin parachute. I would presume LS-4 is a good fit as well.
Mosquito was a little tight.
Standard Cirrus - could not close the canopy with all the cushions out too. That was a bummer.
DG-300 and 500 seemed like a good fit.
PIK-20 - could not close the canopy.
G102 - could not close the canopy.
Discus - could not close the canopy.

If I hit the lottery, I'd be all over an Arcus M - fantastic fit, beautiful ship and a decimal place out of my price range. Ideally, I'm looking for something in the 15-25k range. Anyone selling?

Rob
The LS3a has the lighter wings, of the 2 models, the LS3 slightly heavier wings but not a deal breaker.
Those LS gliders fly nice! And are available now. 40/1
That 40/1 is a magic number I think for XC
You can go XC in anything, but 40/1 makes it so much easier.
You can go places and get home. That L33 PW5 not so much IMHO

Ah! The good old 'you can go places easier and get home with more l/d' True to a certain extent although I think the best way to look at more l/d was what I was told when I moved up to a Nimbus 3d

"You now have the ability to landout further from home"

:-) Colin

There is a mininimbus c just listed on w&w. Same cockpit as nimbus.

I have a DG-101G. I am 6’ 0� and barely have enough head clearance.

Matt

On Sat, 11 Jan 2020 08:36:25 -0800, robertholliday49 wrote:

There is a mininimbus c just listed on w&w. Same cockpit as nimbus.

Cough

The Mini-nimbus combined a Standard Cirrus fuselage and tail, so *Std
Cirrus* cockpit, with Glasflugel Mosquito wings and Glasflugel style self-
connecting controls. The C version had the late Std Cirrus tailplane
(with elevators, not all-flying tail). Lighter carbon wings were a
factory option.

So, probably not a good fit for the OP, though the one based at my club
seems to go very well and accumulates a lot of hours each year.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org