18 Meter Nationals

With the Duck Hawk now having won the 15 meter Nationals and with an
outstanding performance in the open class nationals, and now looking
to win the 18 meter Nationals you would think that the US Soaring Team
would want to fill its ranks with Duck Hawks and show the world that a
small US company can kick ass. Why not? Why do we buy our goods from
China and our sailplanes from Europe? When will the committee open
there eyes and see what is right in their face?

On Friday, June 29, 2012 12:07:18 PM UTC-5, John Bentley wrote:
With the Duck Hawk now having won the 15 meter Nationals and with an
outstanding performance in the open class nationals, and now looking
to win the 18 meter Nationals you would think that the US Soaring Team
would want to fill its ranks with Duck Hawks and show the world that a
small US company can kick ass. Why not? Why do we buy our goods from
China and our sailplanes from Europe? When will the committee open
there eyes and see what is right in their face?

the US Team committee does not buy gliders for use by the US Team. I'm sure all US Team members wish this was the case but usually team members beg/borrow/buy gliders for contests overseas and fly their personal ships for (rare) world championships here in the states.

I'm with you on being very impressed by the performance of the Duckhawk this contest season and hope that it does some very good things for their sales.

On Jun 29, 11:07*am, John Bentley wrote:
*With the Duck Hawk now having won the 15 meter Nationals and with an
outstanding performance in the open class nationals, and now looking
to win the 18 meter Nationals you would think that the US Soaring Team
would want to fill its ranks with Duck Hawks and show the world that a
small US company can kick ass. Why not? Why do we buy our goods from
China and our sailplanes from Europe? When will the committee open
there eyes and see what is right in their face?

How many Duck Hawks are there?

On Friday, June 29, 2012 10:21:18 AM UTC-7, Mike C wrote:
On Jun 29, 11:07*am, John Bentley wrote:
*With the Duck Hawk now having won the 15 meter Nationals and with an
outstanding performance in the open class nationals, and now looking
to win the 18 meter Nationals you would think that the US Soaring Team
would want to fill its ranks with Duck Hawks and show the world that a
small US company can kick ass. Why not? Why do we buy our goods from
China and our sailplanes from Europe? When will the committee open
there eyes and see what is right in their face?

How many Duck Hawks are there?

One with one on the way and production forcast for 2 a month when production and tooling catch up.

How many Chip Garners are there?

On Friday, June 29, 2012 1:04:48 PM UTC-5, M North wrote:
How many Chip Garners are there?

I hear that Windward's next project after the Perlan is a cloning machine grin

The Duckhawk did not win the 15 m Nationals, an ASG-29 piloted by a non US citizen won the contest - the Duckhawk had the top ranked US pilot in the contest, but placed second.

This is a great achievement for the manufacturer and designer, but let's keep the facts straight please.

On Jun 29, 12:04*pm, M North wrote:
How many Chip Garners are there?

Very few. It seems soaring becomes mystical with him, and compared to
my dismal abilities, mythical.

On Jun 29, 11:59*am, Mike C wrote:
On Jun 29, 12:04*pm, M North wrote:

How many Chip Garners are there?

Very few. It seems soaring becomes mystical with him, and compared to
my dismal abilities, mythical.

Mike,

Ditto...........too bad a more competent racing pilot wasn't able to
fly the Tetra-15 in our R8 contest. I did not do the ship any justice.
I believe it has a lot of potential.

Brad

I love these discussions. They crack me up.

Dave, you still missed the point -- shame on you!

Jerzy won, not the damned glider!

Jerzy and Chip are at the top of their game right now and great fun to
fly with (for as long as you can). I happened to get hot for an hour
or two and flew with Jerzy for while on what must have been his off
day. It was a really neat experience. Flying with Jerzy, you don't
need vario. He's always in the best air. Always. You keep an eye
on the averager, but you just don't need the vario.

The DH flies fine. Remarkable considering that a few things were
typically prototype rough around the edges (cough, spoiler caps,
cough), so it's one to watch. But at Mifflin it was not a super
glider. Chip's flying it *really* well.

-Evan Ludeman / T8