Why is Soaring declining

On 18 Apr 2004 23:11:00 -0700, (Lennie the
Lurker) wrote:

As far as the gliders go, I had my 1-26 and was happy with it, I was
even happy with it after I had flown it.

Dammit, Lennie, you keep putting reasons in front of me to visit the
States again - I really must fly a 1-26 to see why so many pilots like
them.


--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :

Martin Gregorie wrote in message . ..
On 18 Apr 2004 23:11:00 -0700, (Lennie the
Lurker) wrote:

As far as the gliders go, I had my 1-26 and was happy with it, I was
even happy with it after I had flown it.

Dammit, Lennie, you keep putting reasons in front of me to visit the
States again - I really must fly a 1-26 to see why so many pilots like
them.


That's funny, Martin picked up on the positive note! AND..he will
spend some pounds in the US to fly our beloved 1-26! BTW, There is a
good chance that most altitude Diamonds were flown in that type of
ship. 30 Years ago droves of people from all over the world, picked up
their diamonds in the Mine at Black Forrest Gliderport in Colorado
Springs.

Guess there is a reason Lennie calls himself the Lurker. He initially
meant to
just DO that. If he would just keep away from that keyboard unless he
had some positive thoughts? I learned something about Steel!

Lets all be very positive and the sport will SOAR.

(soarski) wrote in message . com...

Guess there is a reason Lennie calls himself the Lurker. He initially
meant to
just DO that.

Ummmm, Lennie the Lurker was created specifically for good old
fashioned flame fests on alt.aviation.safety. With one thing or
another, such as the increase in spam everytime I used my real email
addy, it didn't take long before letting the spam go to the lycos box,
or at that time the Deja box, began to make sense. Since then one ISP
went belly up, another lost their news server, and my present one
never had or offered one, so Google is what's left. Makes sense to
use the Lycos addy, one click and the whole page of headers is marked
for deleting. One more and they're gone. My real email addy is my
real name, but there are five other people in this state with the same
first and last names, and if I have to change it, I won't be able to
use the other abbreviations. IT's also set up with a "reverse
killfile", if your name isn't in the book, "Delete from server."

Lennie the Lurker
President and Public Relations Officer
Whack-A-Loon, Ink.
Makers and Purveyors of Fine Quality Loon Mallets

Martin Gregorie wrote in message . ..
On 18 Apr 2004 23:11:00 -0700, (Lennie the
Lurker) wrote:

As far as the gliders go, I had my 1-26 and was happy with it, I was
even happy with it after I had flown it.

Dammit, Lennie, you keep putting reasons in front of me to visit the
States again - I really must fly a 1-26 to see why so many pilots like
them.

Think it appeals to those that like to keep things simple. It's a
simple plane, rigging it takes two people maybe 20 minutes, the second
time, and, mine anyhow, the cockpit was pretty uncluttered. Rudder
inputs are more like what one would expect from a powered plane,
pressures instead of movements, but other than being more responsive
than the 2-33 was, it flew about the same.

Then there's the possibility that some of them just like thumbing
their noses at the glassholes and cranking out some pretty darn
impressive flights. Not a world beater or record setter, but for
puttering in the "house thermal" just a fun little plane.

Martin Gregorie wrote
As far as the gliders go, I had my 1-26 and was happy with it, I was
even happy with it after I had flown it.

Dammit, Lennie, you keep putting reasons in front of me to visit the
States again - I really must fly a 1-26 to see why so many pilots like
them.

Pilots like them because they're fun to fly. Light on the controls,
turns tight, thermals on a fart. Won't penetrate worth a damn, but if
the winds are light or you're going downwind it's a hoot. Think Ka-8,
only the wings are shorter (and consequently the glide ratio is lower)
and the control feel not quite as good. Thing is, Ka-8's are not very
common in the US and in that class of glider, the 1-26 is the next
best thing (among those commonly available in the US). Also, Ka-8's
have wood wings, which scares some people and makes it impossible to
tie them down outside. 1-26's have metal wings.

Michael

Martin Gregorie wrote

Pilots like them because they're fun to fly. Light on the controls,
turns tight, thermals on a fart. Won't penetrate worth a damn, but if
the winds are light or you're going downwind it's a hoot. Think Ka-8,
only the wings are shorter (and consequently the glide ratio is lower)
and the control feel not quite as good.

I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

(Mark James Boyd) wrote
I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

Michael

The L-13 is a great trainer, especially for spin training. Compared to a
1-26 it is certainly less nimble, but weighs about 2 X as much. The L-13
will take a student through any maneuver they need to learn about before you
let them solo.

"Michael" wrote in message
om...
(Mark James Boyd) wrote
I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

Michael

f.blair wrote:
The L-13 is a great trainer, especially for spin training. Compared to a
1-26 it is certainly less nimble, but weighs about 2 X as much. The L-13
will take a student through any maneuver they need to learn about before you
let them solo.

"Michael" wrote in message
om...

(Mark James Boyd) wrote

I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

I would not lump the L-13 and the 2-33 together in the "non-glider"
class! In my opinion, based on a lot of instructing in the L13 and
thousands of hours in high performance gliders, is that the L13 flies
and handles like a "real" glider. There is a difference in _degree_, of
course. It is heavier on the controls and slower to respond than a 15
meter glider, but not any slower than my 18 meter glider (which is also
noticeably heavier on the controls than a 15 meter glider).

The 2-33s I have flown did not remind me of the high performance gliders
I am accustomed to flying. Again, in my opinion, it seems to be in a
different class, rather than just different in degree, like the L13.

In our area, the L13 has plenty of performance to make cross-country
flights, but the thought of retrieving it from a field discourages most
people from trying.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Eric Greenwell wrote:

The 2-33s I have flown did not remind me of the high performance gliders
I am accustomed to flying. Again, in my opinion, it seems to be in a
different class, rather than just different in degree, like the L13.

Granted, I only have one 2-33 flight, but I have to agree here. The
2-33 is a world of difference from a modern high-performance glider.

Jeremy
N304GT