ASW 20 Handling Issues?

20 A/C or 20 B?
A 20 B full of ballast goes pretty good in strong conditions (ridge or thermal), I believe the other 20's are "maxed" at 9LBS.

I have flown a 20 C on the Mifflin ridges (central Pennsylvania for those that don't know, home of some great eastern US ridge flying and many records) against Ventus and LS6 at full weight in regionals and Nationals.
Knowing the area and where gaps were, I could gain, then get run over on longer runs due to wing loading.

In terms of flying any 20, pretty nice ship if you mind CG. Flown with and without winglets.
Yes, 20 A at full landing flaps and dive brakes, you go down like a "homesick brick". Every spring, after a few flights, I would arrive on final waaaaay too high, then "hang it all out" and drop like a stone just to get used to the decent rate.


I flew a 20 C with the CG behind the aft limit ONCE by accident (multiple pilots on a single day, I was the lightweight at about 150LBS, decided to fly with more aft CG, didn't know previous 250 pounder did the same......I didn't count lead discs in the nose.......my bad).
A few aggressive thermal "yank, crank and bank" were met with over the top spin entries at altitude.
Owner saw one (while towing) and asked if I was practicing spin recoveries. Well, yes I was, but that was not the intent.

I have to say, all the "AS" gliders I have flown are fairly easy to get into, even for modest time pilots. Get a good briefing, have some time under your belt, practice some more extreme flying as you gain time.

The earlier comment about getting time in a Cessna 150 and trying full flaps, great idea. I went from "SGS" trainers/low performance to 1-35, PIK-20 and one other in quick succession after a few flights in a 150 where I was shown the relationship of flaps and pitch.

A 20 (having divebrakes) can be easier to transition to compared to "flap only" like a 1-35/PIK/etc. For local flying, set thermal flaps, then fly divebrakes until you get the feel.

So, is a 20 a "spin machine"? No, if being mindful of CG. The 80% of CG is likely fine for most flying. A bit further back may gain a tiny bit of performance but spins become more noticeable.

My 20 was well behaved, but if you have the $$$, go for a 27.

+

Much easier for us older folk to rig
Automatic Hookups
More margin in limit airspeeds

-

Smaller O2 bottle courtesy automatic hookups
Carbon fiber fuselage incompatible with internal transponder or flarm
antenna

When buying a single seater, be extra cautious if the seller is heavier
than you. I
took several lead plates above the tailskid out of the 20 after doing a W&B
and
calculating where I wanted the CG. At 80% my 20 was well behaved.

If you happen to get bit by a 25+ kt gust, you may discover some unusual
attitudes that you can't reproduce in better behaved air.