Why are so many Stemme S10-VT motorgliders for sale?

That's what I like: If one can "afford" a Stemme, he must be able to
afford it. How about this: I simply decided I wanted one and made
sacrifices in other areas to be able to afford it, then I got very lucky
knowing and meeting some folks who pointed me to a pristine example that
was sorely under utilized.

Super car? What's a new ASG-29 cost? Not a lot less than a 14-year old
Stemme. And you should get your numbers right. The S-10 has a 23 meter
span and the S-12 has 25. What's better? It has a baggage compartment
and electric trim! I believe you an also install an auto pilot, but for
me, that removes all fun and challenge.

The Stemme is an open class ship because it has long wings, not because
it's a super performer, but it /_is_/ adequate. It has a 50:1 glide
angle at best L/D and runs pretty nicely at 80 KIAS. It has a 1.10 OLC
handicap which means it's not a screamer. It's more like a Bentley than
a Ferrari to use the car analogy.

Never enter contests? Who cares about contests other than those few who
go to contests? I don't "play glider pilot" and fly once in a while.
In the 8 months I've owned my Stemme, I've flown it 223 hours, taught my
wife to fly it, and enjoyed her company on about 75% of the flights. We
flew a 285 km flight on 10/23. Where else can you find an aircraft with
the soaring performance of the Stemme and still be able to cruise on
engine power at 140 KTAS at 18,000' while burning only about 3.5 gph?
Of course, if I was a glutton for punishment, I could motor up to the
service ceiling of 33,000', but that would just be vulgar (and cold).

I once heard a guy in a Harley-Davidson dealership say, "It'd be cool to
ride a Harley", and I knew he'd be wasting a lot of money and the bike
would sit unused for a few years before he sold it for a big loss. It's
not about "cool". It's about doing what you want and not caring too
much about what others think.

Next time you're in Moriarty, stop by and I'll give you a flight.

On 11/14/2016 7:43 AM, Sean wrote:
Folks who can afford products like the Stemme tend to like that new car smell. Plus Stemme's seem to hold their value well, which makes the upgrade even more appealing. In my view owning a Stemme is like owning a Supercar. I've heard the Stemme is a descent glider, but I've also heard the new one (12?) with the longer wings (26m?) doesn't perform much better than the original one. But so what? :-) It has longer wings! It is therefore cooler. And so on... This doesn't have to be entirely rational. See classic or sportscar owners, or airplane owners, etc.

I'm always surprised that Stemme owners never seem to enter contests such as the open nationals or sports class nationals. It would be fun to see how they "actually" perform even within the minimal level of objective measure that US OLC tasking still provides. Do Stemme's ever compete in Europe?

At the end of they day, if I lived out west, and just wanted to play glider pilot once in awhile and take friends for rides with ease, the Stemme is still the coolest motor glider on earth.

Looking forward to taking a ride in one someday soon.

--
Dan, 5J

......I've flown it 223
hours, taught my wife to fly it, and enjoyed her company on about
75% of the flights.Â*....snip.

.....er....ah....Dan, I think you made a big faux pas that needs correction ASAP. I'm sure you meant to say, "I enjoyed her company 100% of the time. We fly together 75% of the time".

It's almost Christmas, what were you thinking?
Mike

Oh man, you're right! But in my defense, I read your reply to her and
we both got a chuckle. We enjoy every minute that we fly together but
about 25% of the total time, I fly alone.

On 11/14/2016 11:40 AM, Duster wrote:
......I've flown it 223
hours, taught my wife to fly it, and enjoyed her company on about
75% of the flights. ....snip.
....er....ah....Dan, I think you made a big faux pas that needs correction ASAP. I'm sure you meant to say, "I enjoyed her company 100% of the time. We fly together 75% of the time".

It's almost Christmas, what were you thinking?
Mike

--
Dan, 5J

Can't wait Dan! Thx!

The Stemme is unique among other gliders in several ways, and so are uniquely appealing! Here's how I enjoyed mine:

Stores in a regular T-hangar and able to operate out of even a busy tower controlled field. This allows a business person to leave the office early, get to the airport and unfold the wings, pre-flight, (this just takes minutes), taxi out on conventional retracting gear with wing clearance above signs and such, launch and go soar for a few hours. Ground handling is very good, four of us taxied out in a 35 knot wind, made 4 90 degree turns and launched pretty much vertically at the runway intersection (brag: I went first).. No other high performance glider I'm aware of could do that.

Turbo charged and intercooled, the Stemme can climb out of high and hot airports with no problem. Switching over to power involves little extra drag (a loss of maybe 12-15 L/D until the prop is turning). It handles turbulence with aplomb, soaking up the bumps better than any lighter glider I've flown.

I have a bit over 450 hours in the S10. I flew alongside a Stemme for about 15 miles with my ASH26E (50/1) both gliding straight line in fairly smooth air. He was slowly losing altitude on me the whole time, which was surprising, as I'd flown alongside Marty Hellman's S10 many times and running performance was quite similar. Discussing this on the radio with the other pilot (who shall go unnamed) Terry advised he'd forgotten to close his nose cone and thus his engine cooling vents were open too - for the extra drag, we still wasn't doing too bad, having lost only a few hundred feet on me as I recall :c)

To give non-stemmers what it can do, this video is about a 500 km cross country done in 3.5 hours.
It is so well balanced while thermaling you don't have to be looking at Bumper's yaw string all the time.

Sorry is not in english!

https://youtu.be/KX1B11M_9ZE

Who needs to understand? Just look at their faces.

My best fight to date was a bit over 640 km but I was still new in the
ship. I can't wait until next summer...!

On 11/16/2016 3:48 AM, wrote:
To give non-stemmers what it can do, this video is about a 500 km cross country done in 3.5 hours.
It is so well balanced while thermaling you don't have to be looking at Bumper's yaw string all the time.

Sorry is not in english!

https://youtu.be/KX1B11M_9ZE

--
Dan, 5J

Prices can be affected by a number of things.

The S10 has a fixed pitch prop and normally aspirated Limbach. It may not have folding wings, which detracts a lot from convenience and speed of rigging - making it a one man, easy operation that take just minutes.

A S10-VT has a turbo charged, intercooled engine and prop that has take off and cruise positions.

There are also two panel shapes, the earlier standard panel and the "mountain soaring" panel that is a little smaller, but easier for the pilot or passenger to see out the opposite side of the canopy - since it's introduction, I think most Stemmes are sold with this option.

I think those are the main options and those that would be the most expensive to retrofit.

A few options, at least back when I purchased my ship in '97, like long range tanks, if you ordered you paid for them, and if you didn't order them, you got them for free anyway, as "all" the wings came with them!

The Limbach engined S10 could also have the VP (variable
pitch) prop.

On Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at 2:48:29 AM UTC-8, wrote:
It is so well balanced while thermaling you don't have to be looking at Bumper's yaw string all the time.


https://youtu.be/KX1B11M_9ZE


In the interest of full disclosure - - it's a good thing you don't have to look at one of my MKIV "high tech" yaw stings, as that ISN'T one! :c)

Looks like you are still having fun though, which proves you don't need one of my yaw strings to do that. It does help though!

bumper