ASW-12 Proto Question

On 3/15/2011 11:17 PM, Derek C wrote:
On Mar 15, 9:36 pm, wrote:
Didn't one person think that glider would best be dealt with using a
box of matches?
I witnessed the rebuild from paint scrapers and a belt sander to
rigging and blasting up the Sierra Nevada.
Couldn't believe it when Gerhard referred to the design as "a mistake
of my youth".

A slippery high performance glider with no airbrakes that relies on
tailchutes to stop it has to be a mistake by Mr Waibel!

I recall Gerhard saying that the ASW12 taught him a lesson
(paraphrasing): "Every high performance ship will sooner or later be
bought by a lower performance pilot, and that is the pilot you must
design for, not just the very best ones". He apparently learned well,
and went on to bring us some very high performance ship the "the rest of
us" could easily fly.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation Mar/2004" Much of what
you need to know tinyurl.com/yfs7tnz

Flying the 12 was never a problem. It is very docile,much like the AS-
W17. It did give me "aileron elbow" due to the large, powerful
ailerons. It was easy to fling about like a 15m ship but you paid for
it. I asked Wil Schuemann how he dealt with the issue and he said
"don't turn". Wisdom.

I have never been more "awake" than when landing the 12. Holding a
rudder-stalled, nose-high slip down through the flair was nerve
wracking. The only thing worse was not doing so.

I appreciate the design philosophy of all-out performance that
inspired a passionate young designer to build such a machine. The
Concordia with its leading edge technology and design, its balsa core
and planked fuselage is very reminiscent of the 12.

I've done quite a few no-spoiler spot landings in my ASW-15B and have
always sort of wondered how the experience would compare to attempting
the same thing in a 12. I've always had a soft spot for the 12 and
occasionally dream of buying S/N 12015 if she ever comes up for sale.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that in "The Sunship Game" Wally
Scott's 12 seems to be one of the few gliders that DOESN'T get banged
up at least a little bit?