Debacle: Flight test of Diana-2

Lets be adult for a moment. What grounds other than actual safety of an
inexperienced pilot and the glider could there be behind the decision
not to let Naresh fly? the whole discussion seems a bit childish,
overly emotional frankly speaking

The heated and hostile reaction of Naresh and above all rather far
fetched assumptions about the glider itself in his blog suggest that
perhaps he is a little too emotional about his skills and clearly has a
problem with esteeming his abilities... Good pilots should be able to
take a second look at themselves instead of reacting the way Naresh
did.

Gentleman - let's be men, not whining children who didn't get their
candy.

Olivier

The first ever presentation of brand new Diana 2 was of considerable
success and a thoroughly positive event, nevertheless there was fog in
the morning and few hours of sunshine only. Until now only the
competition pilots Janusz Centka and Sebastian Kawa and the two other
test pilots of BPB (Bogumil Beres' production company of Diana 2) had
been flying. Now for the first time ever customers had the unique
chance to fly the new Diana 2.

We started in Germany (the country with the strongest glider community)
in the Swabian Jura in Aalen-Elchingen where the rate of glider pilots
per square meter is the highest in the world. Pilots who flew Diana 2
- the dream glider to many - finished the flights with a smile of
satisfaction on the face.

The testing customers were positively thrilled about the way Diana 2 is
flying. Some feedback: the glider is easy to fly and also safe. None of
the pilots (among them also competition pilots and instructors) could
make the glider spin or stall completely. The view out of the cockpit
is unprecedented - so far no other glider can boast of such an
incredible - wide view from the cockpit (both forward and backward).
The Vice-World Champion Yvonne Schwarz could even see the rudder from
the cockpit. She said "It's like sitting in a swimming pool",
"I'm not flying, I'm just in the air". Also the glider shows
the pilot in a fine way where the thermal is standing. (On the first
day there where some week ones).

With such positive feedback from all those who had the chance to fly
Diana 2 it is understandable that those who couldn't feel unhappy
about. Despite being easy to fly and handle we should still remember
that Diana 2 is a high performance sailplane demanding a little bit
more than just basic knowledge of flying.

I believe it is more reasonable not to allow somebody to fly it then
face all the possible tragic consequences of an accident. Therefore
saying "no" at the last moment was not a matter of trying to
humiliate Mr. Sharma by any means as he claims - but protecting both,
the person and the glider. It's also worth mentioning that our
decision was confirmed by the local gliding instructor who shared our
doubts. Mr Sharma said to me personally that he had only 200 hours and
no experience on racing class gliders.

Our decision was not based on personal preferences but on extreme
caution and common sense. Safety is the most important issue in our
sport. There are some examples of crashes during presentations of
gliders. We are sorry that Mr Sharma mistook safety priorities for a
personal attack on his person. However I'm thankful to Mr. Sharma
that he is stirring a discussion about the BPB dedication to safety
matters. We pay a lot of attention not only to excellence in sailplane
production but also to maximum safety of our clients.

For those interested in more information about Diana 2 you can
subscribe to my English and German speaking Newsletter by sending an
email with "subscribe" to or just
call me (+49-178-358 83 08). The pictures and detailed report from the
first three days of test flying of customers will be on my webpage
(English version coming soon) within the next days.

I think that it is very easy to write something negative and by this
damage our gliding sport. Instead we should be thankful to visionary
people like Bogumil Beres who make the gliding sport go forward.

Cheers
Alexander Mueller
www.dianasegelflugzeuge.com

I believe it is more reasonable not to allow somebody to fly it then
face all the possible tragic consequences of an accident. Therefore
saying "no" at the last moment was not a matter of trying to
humiliate Mr. Sharma by any means as he claims - but protecting both,
the person and the glider. It's also worth mentioning that our
decision was confirmed by the local gliding instructor who shared our
doubts. Mr Sharma said to me personally that he had only 200 hours and
no experience on racing class gliders.

We need some facts...

1) Was this decision based on Mr Sharma's previous flying experience or
on the results of his checkride ?
2) Is it true that by the time he landed the glider was already being
disassembled ?

Bartek

Alexander,

Your response does not explain your behavior to a fellow glider pilot and
potential customer. You did not just fail to communicate with him -- you
ignored, insulted and humiliated him.

I would never consider a Diana product based on what I've read here so far.

Ted Wagner
Chandler, AZ, USA
Ventus-2c "2NO"

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 03:20:33 UTC, "Ted Wagner"
wrote:

Your response does not explain your behavior to a fellow glider pilot and
potential customer. You did not just fail to communicate with him -- you
ignored, insulted and humiliated him.

I would never consider a Diana product based on what I've read here so far.

You select gliders based on the manufacturer's criteria for check
flights? Coo.

Ian

I eliminate gliders based on the manufacturer's customer service. But you
knew that

"Ian Johnston" wrote in message
news:dzZo7CxomoOm-pn2-R2ZdjiRpcyhW@localhost...
On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 03:20:33 UTC, "Ted Wagner"
wrote:

Your response does not explain your behavior to a fellow glider pilot and
potential customer. You did not just fail to communicate with him -- you
ignored, insulted and humiliated him.

I would never consider a Diana product based on what I've read here so
far.

You select gliders based on the manufacturer's criteria for check
flights? Coo.

Ian

Ted Wagner wrote:
Your response does not explain your behavior to a fellow glider pilot and
potential customer. You did not just fail to communicate with him -- you
ignored, insulted and humiliated him.

Ted Wagner
Chandler, AZ, USA
Ventus-2c "2NO"

It is not my personal policy nor is it a policy of the company to get
involved in emotional exchanges on a public forum. I believe I have
addressed all the questions concerning the issue that prevails the
choice whether an interested person can fly Diana 2 - which is safety
- and I believe that every experienced glider pilot should understand
this question more than well. But let me just say some additional words
as a lot of posts are based on incomplete facts and misunderstanding:

Mr. Sharma said to me during a phone call before the presentation that
he would come even if he couldn't fly our glider.

Numbers don't mean anything. Even a pilot with 4000 hours or a world
champion requires sometimes a check flight. And not only hours or types
flown are relevant to whether somebody can fly - also the momentary
personal constitution, the emotional state, the behavior on the
airfield or other factors are a decision point. All other pilots apart
from Mr. Sharma flew in Birrfeld before and knew the local
particularities. It is not possible to set a standard for prerequisites
for customers in test flying. Also the weather may change. There is no
guarantee of what will happen when we drive to the airfield. For us it
is normal that we have to expect not to be able to fly. This is
probably different in indoor-skiing or go-cart racing but not in
aviation.

De-rigging and rigging belongs to a presentation and it has nothing to
do with whether a client can fly a glider or not. Within few minutes
our glider can be assembled for the customer flight.

With regard to the check flight (agreed at 2.00 pm) to which Mr. Sharma
came with a delay, I personally agreed with the instructor to give me a
clear sign / a clear yes that would mean that Mr. Sharma could fly our
glider. The instructor did not give me such a sign. But at the same
time the instructor tried to be polite to Mr. Sharma. When I spoke with
the instructor later when Mr. Sharma was not any more present the
instructor clearly affirmed not to allow Mr. Sharma fly our glider.

We are sorry that it was not possible for Mr. Sharma to make a test
flight.

I am convinced that Mr. Sharma misunderstood the situation and his
reaction made it impossible for me to reason with him.

By the way Mr. Sharma was not the only pilot who didn't have the
chance to fly Diana 2 during the presentation days. There were other
(very experienced) pilots who didn't have the opportunity to fly due
to weather conditions and other reasons. They understood it, took it in
a friendly way, and will take their chance to test Diana 2 when the
next opportunity arrives. One of them came all the way from USA,
another one came from the Netherlands which is much further than Italy.
These glider fellows as well as all other participants thanked for the
friendly assistance and the time spent together on the airfield. The
fact that they couldn't make their flight didn't change their
opinion about the product, the service, instead they were happy to just
be present and enjoyed being with us.

Mr. Sharma came of his own will. The distance from Birrfeld to Italy is
short, 3-4 hours on the highway and it is not necessary to spend a
night in Zurich in order to arrive at Birrfeld. Mr. Sharma told me on
the phone on the day prior to the presentation in Birrfeld that he
takes the chance to make a private visit to Zurich with a friend.

Indeed I called Mr. Sharma last evening trying to talk about mutual
misunderstandings but due to his reaction a calm conversation was not
possible.

------------------------------------

For those interested in more information about Diana 2 and our team you
can subscribe to my English and German speaking Newsletter by sending
an email with "subscribe" and your name to
or just call me (+49-178-358 83 08).

Cheers
Alexander Mueller
www.dianasegelflugzeuge.com

Since Mr. Mueller has taken the initiative to mention bits of my
conversation with him and his "opinions" here. I would like to clarify
my position:

The following is my side of the story:

1. For the purpose of the event at which Mr. Mueller invited me, I NEVER
said to him that I'd come to see the glider even if I couldn't fly it.

2. The rigging and de-rigging was not being shown for the purpose of
presentation. Since Mr. Beres told me that he was packing up to go back
to Poland. If what Mr. Mueller asserts is true, I should've seen the
rigging after they de-rigged the glider, which was not so.

3. It is an untrue assertion that I went to Zurich to meet a friend. The
fact is actually that I brought another aviation passionate friend with
me to see the Diana FROM Italy. A friend of mine from Zurich wanted to
come and have breakfast with me, to which I declined so he came to the
Birrfeld airfield for a few minutes to shake hands and say hello. His
photo is at the photogallery. Please get this right, the ONLY reason I
came 432kms from Italy was since Diana-2 people had sent me an
invitation to come to fly. The trip took 5hours each way and just to
make sure that I'd not be too tired to fly the Diana, and for the SAKE
OF SAFETY, it was imperative to stay the night in Zurich and not make
the 5+ hour trip directly. Maybe Mr. Mueller could make this trip in 3
hours, but I cannot. Check out www.viamichelen.com about the time and
distance, Mr. Mueller, before making unjustifiable statements.

4. Check-ride: The ONLY question that the check-pilot asked me while
flying, "so do you want to buy the Diana-2". I thought, why is he asking
me this question?, thats between the Diana-2 people and myself, and
primarily its for me to think about after I know that I like flying the
Diana-2!!!. I told the check-pilot, "maybe, but not before the end of
the year". I know what the pilot said in front of all the people who
where around there, that I flew well. How the versions, changed when I
left is left to imagination. The strange thing is that Mr. Mueller told
me on the phone two days back, that the check-pilot told him after the
flight that I had no intention of buying the Diana-2 in the near future.
Furthermore, I find that a very strange question for the check-pilot
to ask, and especially, even stranger since I'd told Mr. Mueller on our
skype chat a few days before making the unfortunate trip to Birrfeld, I
was not going to buy the glider immediately. I have a log of my skype
chats and will be happy to put it here.

5. The check-ride time: Of course the 2:00pm time was set, however, I'd
asked the check pilot that I wanted to go for lunch at 1:30 and that I'd
be back in 45mins. To which he was fine. I was back at the grid at 2:15
and we took off at around 2:30. Lastly, if the weather would've been
bad, I'd been ok with not flying the Diana-2. The weather was a
spotlessly bright sky at the time the third Diana-flight had landed.

6. THREATS TO ME: In the phone conversation two days back, Mr. Mueller
also "told" me to change the title of my blog during the conversation
and threatened me to not talk about the day any more. He threatened me
not to put the video up on the site, since THEY KNOW THAT the video will
corroborate my part well. I told him that BEFORE starting to take the
video, I had asked both Mr. Beres and Mr. Mueller, in the presence of
other people there, if it was ok to take the video. They were more than
happy and willing. That for me is a legal and binding permission.

I cannot understand why Mr. Mueller continues to make up stories to hide
the facts. I now firmly believe, that to give an opportunity to make-up
to the Diana-2 team (in my previous post), was my second mistake. I'm
publically retracting that offer. I'd like to put an end to this story,
and do not ever want to deal with Diana-2 team and Mr. Mueller in the
future.

Best regards
Naresh


Alexander wrote:

Ted Wagner wrote:

Your response does not explain your behavior to a fellow glider pilot and
potential customer. You did not just fail to communicate with him -- you
ignored, insulted and humiliated him.

Ted Wagner
Chandler, AZ, USA
Ventus-2c "2NO"


It is not my personal policy nor is it a policy of the company to get
involved in emotional exchanges on a public forum. I believe I have
addressed all the questions concerning the issue that prevails the
choice whether an interested person can fly Diana 2 - which is safety
- and I believe that every experienced glider pilot should understand
this question more than well. But let me just say some additional words
as a lot of posts are based on incomplete facts and misunderstanding:

Mr. Sharma said to me during a phone call before the presentation that
he would come even if he couldn't fly our glider.

Numbers don't mean anything. Even a pilot with 4000 hours or a world
champion requires sometimes a check flight. And not only hours or types
flown are relevant to whether somebody can fly - also the momentary
personal constitution, the emotional state, the behavior on the
airfield or other factors are a decision point. All other pilots apart
from Mr. Sharma flew in Birrfeld before and knew the local
particularities. It is not possible to set a standard for prerequisites
for customers in test flying. Also the weather may change. There is no
guarantee of what will happen when we drive to the airfield. For us it
is normal that we have to expect not to be able to fly. This is
probably different in indoor-skiing or go-cart racing but not in
aviation.

De-rigging and rigging belongs to a presentation and it has nothing to
do with whether a client can fly a glider or not. Within few minutes
our glider can be assembled for the customer flight.

With regard to the check flight (agreed at 2.00 pm) to which Mr. Sharma
came with a delay, I personally agreed with the instructor to give me a
clear sign / a clear yes that would mean that Mr. Sharma could fly our
glider. The instructor did not give me such a sign. But at the same
time the instructor tried to be polite to Mr. Sharma. When I spoke with
the instructor later when Mr. Sharma was not any more present the
instructor clearly affirmed not to allow Mr. Sharma fly our glider.

We are sorry that it was not possible for Mr. Sharma to make a test
flight.

I am convinced that Mr. Sharma misunderstood the situation and his
reaction made it impossible for me to reason with him.

By the way Mr. Sharma was not the only pilot who didn't have the
chance to fly Diana 2 during the presentation days. There were other
(very experienced) pilots who didn't have the opportunity to fly due
to weather conditions and other reasons. They understood it, took it in
a friendly way, and will take their chance to test Diana 2 when the
next opportunity arrives. One of them came all the way from USA,
another one came from the Netherlands which is much further than Italy.
These glider fellows as well as all other participants thanked for the
friendly assistance and the time spent together on the airfield. The
fact that they couldn't make their flight didn't change their
opinion about the product, the service, instead they were happy to just
be present and enjoyed being with us.

Mr. Sharma came of his own will. The distance from Birrfeld to Italy is
short, 3-4 hours on the highway and it is not necessary to spend a
night in Zurich in order to arrive at Birrfeld. Mr. Sharma told me on
the phone on the day prior to the presentation in Birrfeld that he
takes the chance to make a private visit to Zurich with a friend.

Indeed I called Mr. Sharma last evening trying to talk about mutual
misunderstandings but due to his reaction a calm conversation was not
possible.

------------------------------------

For those interested in more information about Diana 2 and our team you
can subscribe to my English and German speaking Newsletter by sending
an email with "subscribe" and your name to
or just call me (+49-178-358 83 08).

Cheers
Alexander Mueller
www.dianasegelflugzeuge.com

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 08:35:37 UTC,
"anti-spam-add-remove-dashes-and-dot---naresh-"
"anti-spam-add-remove-dashes-and-dot---naresh-"@-neshe-dot-com
wrote:

If what Mr. Mueller asserts is true, I should've seen the
rigging after they de-rigged the glider, which was not so.

Not at all. If a test flight starts with a rigging demonstration, they
wouldn't rig it unless the had a test flight customer, would they?

Ian


--

anti-spam-add-remove-dashes-and-dot---naresh- wrote:

1. For the purpose of the event at which Mr. Mueller invited me, I NEVER
said to him that I'd come to see the glider even if I couldn't fly it.

Can we this invitation letter?

/jancsika