ASW 20 Handling Issues?

On Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 11:31:34 AM UTC-5, WB wrote:
On Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 9:59:38 AM UTC-6, Mike the Strike wrote:
I owned WA - Wally Scott's ASW20 for a number of years. It was a while before I discovered he had secreted large amounts of lead in the wings and tail and that the W&B data was completely fictitious. I can confirm that with a CG well aft of the factory permitted range it can depart into a spin quickly and viciously!

With the lead removed and the CG returned to the permitted range, I never experienced another problem. There were reports of a tendency to spin when the "Jesus" landing flap position of early ASW20s was selected, but this again was not a problem I encountered.

Mike

I think the departures that occur in the "Jesus" landing flap position result from pilots realizing too late that they are coming up short and getting too slow in an attempt to make the landing area. My advice to new 20a drivers: If you are going to use full landing flap, don't aim for the near end. Choose a touchdown point in the middle of your chosen landing area!

When i bought my 20c i was instructed by HW to not pull landing flaps until after turning final, both because the stall departure is more sudden and severe, and because you have to be high as hell on base to need landing flaps already.

Obviously in an A model this is even more prounounced.

as far as spinning in flight, we've got ours at 80%, and i have had it break into a spin entry a time or two, but only when i was really muscling the glider around in a thermal. normally it totally behaves. i wouldn't call it any worse than another glider. if you're at the aft limit though, obviously all bets are off...