soaring history

On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 4:05:45 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Who was Rudy Mozer?

I am currently the owner of a ASW 17 which he was the first owner and flew in several Nationals in the late 70's with the likes of Ben Green, Wally Scott, Moffet, Dick Johnson and others. It is a pleasure to fly a aircraft with this kind of history. I can only wish I had the time to become as good as these greats from the golden age of soaring. It sat for many years in a trailer and needed much TLC to bring up to flying condition. I have been tweeking on it since I got it and it flew about 50 hrs last year, 10 more than the previous 10 years. I hope to do my best to keep this piece of soaring history flying and improving its condition as the seasons pass.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 10:14:54 AM UTC-6, wrote:
On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 4:05:45 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Who was Rudy Mozer?

I am currently the owner of a ASW 17 which he was the first owner and flew in several Nationals in the late 70's with the likes of Ben Green, Wally Scott, Moffet, Dick Johnson and others. It is a pleasure to fly a aircraft with this kind of history. I can only wish I had the time to become as good as these greats from the golden age of soaring. It sat for many years in a trailer and needed much TLC to bring up to flying condition. I have been tweeking on it since I got it and it flew about 50 hrs last year, 10 more than the previous 10 years. I hope to do my best to keep this piece of soaring history flying and improving its condition as the seasons pass.

Good on you, John! Rudy was the Schleicher Dealer in the US for many years.. He took the first AS-W12 in the US to the Nationals at Marfa in 1967, and had, shall we say, a rather rough time with it. Wally Scott flew that same plane at the Nationals at Marfa in 1969 and placed second. You will find an interesting article about a free distance flight by Rudy in one of his Ka-6s, titles "Horace Greeley was Wrong!" in the March 1962 issue of SOARING. What could be written in even a complete issue of Soaring could not even begin to cover what all Rudy did for Soaring in the US.

You have quite a piece of soaring history there, my friend. Fly it, take care of it, and most of all, have fun with it! That is what Rudy would want you to do! Thanks for bringing another out of its trailer.

Steve Leonard

I have many hours in a Nimbus 2 and it was exciting to get into a ASW 17 knowing that they went head to head in the early 70's as the best in their class. It is a truly big sailplane, 100lbs heavier than my Nimbus was but goes like stink and I can keep up with all friends, most of the time at 1/4 the cost, just need some good friends to help me put it together. It is really fun to know who and when it was flown in competition, i can see Rudy's sailplane (now mine) in the line up at the 1974 and 75 National championships where he finished 8th and 25th. That is fun, now it is time for me to run like Rudy.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 9:02:29 AM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 10:14:54 AM UTC-6, wrote:
On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 4:05:45 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Who was Rudy Mozer?

I am currently the owner of a ASW 17 which he was the first owner and flew in several Nationals in the late 70's with the likes of Ben Green, Wally Scott, Moffet, Dick Johnson and others. It is a pleasure to fly a aircraft with this kind of history. I can only wish I had the time to become as good as these greats from the golden age of soaring. It sat for many years in a trailer and needed much TLC to bring up to flying condition. I have been tweeking on it since I got it and it flew about 50 hrs last year, 10 more than the previous 10 years. I hope to do my best to keep this piece of soaring history flying and improving its condition as the seasons pass.

Good on you, John! Rudy was the Schleicher Dealer in the US for many years. He took the first AS-W12 in the US to the Nationals at Marfa in 1967, and had, shall we say, a rather rough time with it. Wally Scott flew that same plane at the Nationals at Marfa in 1969 and placed second. You will find an interesting article about a free distance flight by Rudy in one of his Ka-6s, titles "Horace Greeley was Wrong!" in the March 1962 issue of SOARING. What could be written in even a complete issue of Soaring could not even begin to cover what all Rudy did for Soaring in the US.

You have quite a piece of soaring history there, my friend. Fly it, take care of it, and most of all, have fun with it! That is what Rudy would want you to do! Thanks for bringing another out of its trailer.

Steve Leonard

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:51:12 PM UTC-6, wrote:
I have many hours in a Nimbus 2 and it was exciting to get into a ASW 17 knowing that they went head to head in the early 70's as the best in their class. It is a truly big sailplane, 100lbs heavier than my Nimbus was but goes like stink and I can keep up with all friends, most of the time at 1/4 the cost, just need some good friends to help me put it together. It is really fun to know who and when it was flown in competition, i can see Rudy's sailplane (now mine) in the line up at the 1974 and 75 National championships where he finished 8th and 25th. That is fun, now it is time for me to run like Rudy.

I need to step up my game, too. I have about 600 hours in the 604 that AJ Smith use to race, and about 300 hours in the Nimbus 3 that George Moffat and Ray Gimmey raced so successfully. A good one man rigger helps a lot. The 604 is solo rigging capable with the factory trailer and my one man rigger. Takes about as long as it does to solo rig the Nimbus 3.

Steve,
you are right, good ground handling equipment is a must, the one man wing rigger is also a must, I am working on a hydraulic ramp jack right now, my trailer is a minden tube type and the fixtures are easy to use. Once the weather gets good I leave it assembled and have built a tow bar that connects to my tail dolly and i tow the 17 to the runway and off with my car. It is a tank but in the air it will run and run. My water ballast system was real funky so I removed it and now am in the dreaming up of a new system, that is the beauty of experimental aircraft and old airworthiness limitations. It has a forward hinged canopy and I took the fixed panel out and built it so it now goes up with the canopy, new panel, wiring 5 point harness, moved the brake to the stick and much more, and more to do. Cant wait to get the bags out and see what is there and fly with water. Look for me on OLC, I fly out of Bend Oregon and lots of good soaring to you to, I like to say "old glass kicks ass".

John Bentley

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 9:18:30 PM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:51:12 PM UTC-6, wrote:
I have many hours in a Nimbus 2 and it was exciting to get into a ASW 17 knowing that they went head to head in the early 70's as the best in their class. It is a truly big sailplane, 100lbs heavier than my Nimbus was but goes like stink and I can keep up with all friends, most of the time at 1/4 the cost, just need some good friends to help me put it together. It is really fun to know who and when it was flown in competition, i can see Rudy's sailplane (now mine) in the line up at the 1974 and 75 National championships where he finished 8th and 25th. That is fun, now it is time for me to run like Rudy.

I need to step up my game, too. I have about 600 hours in the 604 that AJ Smith use to race, and about 300 hours in the Nimbus 3 that George Moffat and Ray Gimmey raced so successfully. A good one man rigger helps a lot. The 604 is solo rigging capable with the factory trailer and my one man rigger. Takes about as long as it does to solo rig the Nimbus 3.

;895414]Steve,
you are right, good ground handling equipment is a must, the one man wing rigger is also a must, I am working on a hydraulic ramp jack right now, my trailer is a minden tube type and the fixtures are easy to use. Once the weather gets good I leave it assembled and have built a tow bar that connects to my tail dolly and i tow the 17 to the runway and off with my car. It is a tank but in the air it will run and run. My water ballast system was real funky so I removed it and now am in the dreaming up of a new system, that is the beauty of experimental aircraft and old airworthiness limitations. It has a forward hinged canopy and I took the fixed panel out and built it so it now goes up with the canopy, new panel, wiring 5 point harness, moved the brake to the stick and much more, and more to do. Cant wait to get the bags out and see what is there and fly with water. Look for me on OLC, I fly out of Bend Oregon and lots of good soaring to you to, I like to say "old glass kicks ass".



John Bentley

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 9:18:30 PM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:[color=blue][i]
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:51:12 PM UTC-6, wrote:
I have many hours in a Nimbus 2 and it was exciting to get into a ASW 17 knowing that they went head to head in the early 70's as the best in their class. It is a truly big sailplane, 100lbs heavier than my Nimbus was but goes like stink and I can keep up with all friends, most of the time at 1/4 the cost, just need some good friends to help me put it together. It is really fun to know who and when it was flown in competition, i can see Rudy's sailplane (now mine) in the line up at the 1974 and 75 National championships where he finished 8th and 25th. That is fun, now it is time for me to run like Rudy.


If you might not be using your water ballast system in the future, and it is or is close to being serviceable, I know another local ASW17 that would benefit.

Thanks, Martin

On Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 11:43:05 PM UTC-8, OregonGliderPilot wrote:[color=blue][i]
;895414 Wrote:
Steve,
you are right, good ground handling equipment is a must, the one man
wing rigger is also a must, I am working on a hydraulic ramp jack right
now, my trailer is a minden tube type and the fixtures are easy to use.
Once the weather gets good I leave it assembled and have built a tow bar
that connects to my tail dolly and i tow the 17 to the runway and off
with my car. It is a tank but in the air it will run and run. My water
ballast system was real funky so I removed it and now am in the dreaming
up of a new system, that is the beauty of experimental aircraft and old
airworthiness limitations. It has a forward hinged canopy and I took the
fixed panel out and built it so it now goes up with the canopy, new
panel, wiring 5 point harness, moved the brake to the stick and much
more, and more to do. Cant wait to get the bags out and see what is
there and fly with water. Look for me on OLC, I fly out of Bend Oregon
and lots of good soaring to you to, I like to say "old glass kicks
ass".



John Bentley

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 9:18:30 PM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:-
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:51:12 PM UTC-6,
wrote:
I have many hours in a Nimbus 2 and it was exciting to get into a ASW
17 knowing that they went head to head in the early 70's as the best in
their class. It is a truly big sailplane, 100lbs heavier than my Nimbus
was but goes like stink and I can keep up with all friends, most of the
time at 1/4 the cost, just need some good friends to help me put it
together. It is really fun to know who and when it was flown in
competition, i can see Rudy's sailplane (now mine) in the line up at the
1974 and 75 National championships where he finished 8th and 25th. That
is fun, now it is time for me to run like Rudy. -


If you might not be using your water ballast system in the future, and
it is or is close to being serviceable, I know another local ASW17 that
would benefit.

Thanks, Martin




--
OregonGliderPilot

I have yet to confirm the size of my bags, but in my log book there is an entry to up the max gross weight of the aircraft to 1600lbs with the installation of larger bags which were installed, that would bring a wing loading of 10lbs per square foot, can you imagine what that would be like?

send me your tel number and I will let you know what I find when I pull the bags.

John:
The ASW17 will benefit greatly from a one-man rigger.
As noted in a prior thread about ASW20 ballast bags, if your bags are shot try sending them as a template to RPR.
Regarding the ramp jack, have a look at one of the "Uncle Fuzzy" trailer mods which is an alternative method to hydraulic. He isn't with us any more, but the videos are. Link below.
Many original 17s had insufficient wheel brake. Believe some people fitted a Blanik wheel/brake, which should be readily available now. This was addressed in the 17B with dual drum brakes. An alternative is to get a motorcycle shop to reline and arc the shoes. For example, Vintage Brake in Sonora, CA.
www.vintagebrake.com
Jim
(previously a partner in 17045)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abKXYtBlu8

I'm not very qualified to reflect on Rudy's great history, but I'll add a few memories. I fly at Ionia where he based his gliders. One contribution to soaring was Rudy and his sons promoting the annual regional at Ionia for decades. He had 4(?) sons that all fly gliders, including Eric who is the IGC President. I remember putzing with my newly acquired ASW24B in 1998 just after Frank W. delivered it (1800 miles in winter), and Rudy stopped by to say hi and commended me on my selection (Rudy owned and loved the 24). I was somewhat speechless when he approached me because I felt that I was in the presence of greatness. I later added winglets to my 24 that he and another friend designed, which later appeared on the 29. A few years later some friends and I purchased his hangar to continue the tradition of soaring at Ionia. Soaring history and Rudy Mozer are almost the same meaning.