Debacle: Flight test of Diana-2

Jancsika,

Please read my response on www.neshe.com titled "Where are the Diana-2
debacle posts". I agree with some others here that there is no point in
beating this issue any more.

Thank you,
Naresh

Jancsika wrote:

Jancsika wrote:

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.


Once mo can we see this invitation letter?

/jancsika

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.

Alexander Mueller
www.dianasegelflugzeuge.com

Alexander:

You did not address Mr. Sharma's assertion that the Diana was being
de-rigged during his checkride.
You had his aeronautical experience before he arrived at the field.
If you were not going to let him fly, you should have told him as soon as it
was determined.

I am a USA Flight Instructor and a ASW27B owner. I have seen people with
inflated ideas of their ability and can usually determine this quickly
during a check ride. With the right training in the ASK21, the transition to
a '27 is easy.

In any event--if Mr Sharma failed his check ride, he should have been
infomed of that, and exactly what he did wrong. That could be lifesaving for
Mr. Sharma.

Either way, it is a pretty shabby way to treat a potential customer.

Hartley Falbaum
USA ASW27B "KF"

All the responses both, pro/con my point are appreciated. Thank you for
the follow-ups. This is in the hope that glider pilots are not misused
by manufacturers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All,

I'm copying the email of Mr. Alexander Mueller since it was not cached
by my server, I don't know why maybe someone can explain.

His email has a very twisted version of the day. Including the comments
from the three pilots who flew the glider. The only one who was totally
pleased with the glider was Yvonne Schwarz. Yvonne is between 45-55kgs
and very short. You can look up the photos of the day and see for
yourself. She fit in the glider perfectly due to her size. The only
other person who made comments on the stall spin were the french pilot
who said: "very easy to fly, I tried to stall it straight and level and
in cirlces, and it wouldn't, I didn't try to spin it since I was not
comfortable." I would like to put on my Aerospace Engineer's cap here
and say a few words about control-power but I'd be digressing...

As far as experience goes, Mr. Mueller wrote to me BEFORE I went on the
wild-goose chase of getting the paper-work to fly the Diana that the
hour requirement was 200 with 3 flights in last 4 weeks. I don't know
where this racing-class point is being raised. Janus-c-22m, and DG500
should be in the racing class, they are flapped and all have 40 glide
ratio. Anyway, I have flown these types, Mr. Mueller never bothered to
mention. I'm sure that DG300 pilots would not be too happy with the
remarks of Mr. Mueller.

The last straw is Mr. Mueller saying that their check-ride was not ok.
In addition to their beginning the de-rigging before I even took-off,
according to my friend who was shockingly watching the events unfold,
the check-pilot clearly, as the German-swiss do, announced that,
"according to me you were fine". I left at the field at that time as the
humiliation of their behavior was too much to take.

Mr. Mueller, before making any personal comment on my flying ability,
should realize that I am also a Flight Instructor, and have been judged
a safe and good instructor by three separate 20,000 hour instructor
examiners who apparantly don't speak to each other, and live 1000's of
Kms away from each other. Unlike many other pilots I know: in the 1250
or so flights, I've never nicked a glider and hope to stay that way.

Lastly, I wouldn't have had ANY problem if they did not want me to fly
the diana, just that, if that was the case, they should have told me so
and not wasted my TIME and money. Mr. Beres mentioned the weather, and
that was not so, since the day was beautiful when the flying was started
as one can well see on the photograph at my blog. How may lies to hide
the truth?

They should have said, this glider is going to be sold only to the
world-champions and 10 levels down (world-vice-world-vice-vice-world
etc), there is no room for 215 hour guy like you, call us maybe in a few
years, and I would have been happier. What Mr. Mueller should realize is
that email, skype-chat and my faithful digital-camcorder is good in
recollecting the precise details and faithfully reproducing the FACTS.
If the group would be keen, I'll put up all the emails and skype
sessions that I've had with Mr. Mueller for public consumption.

Another strange thing is happening, there are a bunch of attacks on my
blog that are coming from top level domain .pl.

Best regards,

Naresh



----copied- Alexander-Mueller's-email-to-rec.aviation.soaring--------
----since it was uncached and mentioned personal comments about me---

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

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 07:19:49 UTC,
"anti-spam-add-remove-dashes-and-dot---naresh-"
"anti-spam-add-remove-dashes-and-dot---naresh-"@-neshe-dot-com
wrote:

Unlike many other pilots I know: in the 1250
or so flights, I've never nicked a glider ...

How many hours, as a matter of interest?

Ian

Hi All,

This is an open invitation to anyone in the vicinity of North Italy.

To put the personal accusations of being "unsafe-pilot" made by Mr.
Mueller about my flying ability to rest: If you are an instructor
visiting here, and would like to check me out, I'm willing to become the
scape-goat in our clubs glider and I'LL PAY FOR THE RIDE. You can name
the glider-type and we'll find one.

Anyone willing to take it up is welcome, this way we get a third party
opinion. I'd like to video the check-ride and put it up as well (Not
having a video will not be under discussion).

Best regards,
Naresh

A link to the photograph of the group. Yvonne and the French pilot, are
behind towards the right. Your's truly is on the left. Notice Yvonne,
she's quite small and fit into the Diana-2 very well.

http://www.neshe.com/?q=node/27

It says a lot also about the Diana's friendly handling Even a
beginner could fly a Discus2. Buy that one instead of something what
requires Chuck Yeager in the cockpit...

/Jancsika

Alexander wrote:

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.
....
Mr Sharma said to me personally that he had only 200 hours and
no experience on racing class gliders.

Hmmm... Now, you must decide: Is that glider (15m!) "easy and safe to
fly" or do you need more than 200 hours to be able to handle it?

Stefan

Stefan schreef:

Alexander wrote:

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.
...
Mr Sharma said to me personally that he had only 200 hours and
no experience on racing class gliders.

Hmmm... Now, you must decide: Is that glider (15m!) "easy and safe to
fly" or do you need more than 200 hours to be able to handle it?

Stefan

There are plenty of glider pilots, even with 500 hours or more who
can`t handle performance gliders. They can in common situations like a
local flight but when in trouble the plane is too fast, too nervous,
just too hard for them to handle.

Most of those pilots know that themselves, others buy a glider and get
scared in flight, few try to test-fly someone elses glider.

Chester D wrote:

There are plenty of glider pilots, even with 500 hours or more who
can`t handle performance gliders. They can in common situations like a
local flight but when in trouble the plane is too fast, too nervous,
just too hard for them to handle.

If a 500 hours pilot can't handle a certified (which means something,
handling wise) 15m glider, then he should quit gliding *immediately*.
Or, he oher way round: If a 15m glider is so nervous that a 200 hours
pilot (*any* 200 hours pilot!) can't handle it, then I wouldn't call it
"easy and safe to fly", which was my point.

Stefan