Which 18m FES sailplane to buy?

I'm sorry - maybe northeastern Colorado's 60F temperature triggered early
spring fever, but I found the first two posts in a new thread today humorous!

I'm considering the purchase of an 18m FES equipped sailplane,
Snip...
I have eliminated the Ventus
2cx as a possibility, due to the aircraft's reputation as being
unsuitable for low-time pilots. In the 18m class, that leaves the
following gliders that are available with a FES system:

- Discus 2c - Lak-17B - HpH 304S Shark
Snip...

What about Ventus?


Bob - I'll be hibernating by the weekend per the forecast - W.

P.S. Have fun deciding! The buying disease can be almost as much fun as the
flying cure.

I have many hours in the 15m Discus 2 and the 18m is not much different - rally superb handling and very forgiving.

I have a few hours in an early HpH 304 and while it flew and handled well, I did not like the parallelogram stick. I found it did not harmonize well with the aileron control. The Discus 2 is to me a much better sorted ship.

I have quite a bit of time in the Ventus 2bx, also not too different from the 2cx. It's basically a flapped Discus!

Can't comment on the Lak.

It's all a matter of personal taste.

Mike