Glider cockpit size

A friend complained about cockpit room in his ASH26E... Thought he was crazy!
Turned out to be a poorly designed parachute.
Many gliders you think you can't fit in are better with the right parachute..
A chair parachute may work for you in an LS4 but not an LS6. National Parachute seems to make the best fit for Schempps.
Your mileage may vary from others, so check it out before buying.
Jim


On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 8:38:26 AM UTC-8, jfitch wrote:
On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 8:00:07 AM UTC-8, Michael Opitz wrote:
Also, I have a tall pilot friend that fits comfortably in his Schleicher
ASW-24 with the seat back removed, which I assume means that
other ASW, ASH,
etc, gliders would fit the bill.

I am 6'2" and had one of the first (SN #8?) ASW-24's. I was so
crammed in (with the seat back removed) that I was afraid to make
an off-field landing in fear of putting my head through the canopy.
I complained to Gerhard Waibel about this, so he told me that in the
newer ones he had moved the cockpit bulkhead back about 4 cm, and
this would fix the problem. He told me that my old -24 could not be
modified, so I should just buy a new one - which I did. (That was
around ~1990) The new one was somewhat better, but I was still
uncomfortable even with the seat back removed. I understand that
Chip Bearden got a much later model which had the cockpit modified
once again, so that he can fit comfortably. Bottom line = Don't
assume all ASW-24 cockpits are the same size. They aren't. I have
heard that later ASW-ASG models have been improved in this regard.
Again, the newer ships will probably fit you better.

Try it on before you buy it.....

RO

I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27. But I fit fine in an ASH26, which has a cockpit about 4" longer. I also fit in an JS1, since the fuselage is an exact copy of the ASH26. An ASH31 shares the fuselage with the 26, so I fit in that as well. I have yet to sit in a Ventus that I could fit comfortably in but there are many variants and I haven't sat in all of them. I have yet to sit in a two seat that really had enough legroom front or rear (Grob 103, ASK21, DuoDiscus, ASW32 among them).

On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:38:24 -0800 (PST), jfitch
wrote:


I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27.

6'7" and I fit halfways comfortably into the 27.

On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 11:38:40 AM UTC-8, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:38:24 -0800 (PST),


I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27.

6'7" and I fit halfways comfortably into the 27.

I actually don't know how comfortable it would be to fly in, as I cannot get the canopy closed. The panel hits my knees and the plexi hits the top of my head about the same time, but still needs to close about 3 inches to get it latched. I have long legs and a short torso, not sure how this affects things.

At 00:35 26 November 2017, jfitch wrote:
On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 11:38:40 AM UTC-8, Andreas
Maurer wrote:
On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:38:24 -0800 (PST),=20
=20
=20
I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27.
=20
6'7" and I fit halfways comfortably into the 27.

I actually don't know how comfortable it would be to fly in, as I
cannot
ge=
t the canopy closed. The panel hits my knees and the plexi hits the
top of
=
my head about the same time, but still needs to close about 3
inches to
get=
it latched. I have long legs and a short torso, not sure how this
affects
=
things.

It could be an "early vs later model" issue like I had with the
ASW-24s. I sold my last -24 in 1999 in order to switch to the
much more comfortable Discus-2b. I remember the Schleicher
dealer telling me at the time that Schleicher had made more
cockpit changes in the interim, and that I'd be more comfortable
if I got another new one. I think he may have mentioned the
ASW-27 as well in that statement, but it was a long time ago...
It may be worth looking into, especially if one can find the
production serial number when the design changed.


Again, try it before you buy it....

RO

And what one person thinks as tight, another is OK with.
I (6' 0" / 1.83m) have flown the early model ASW24 that still has "RO" on the tail and found it very comfy. Have not flown ASW24B or E to compare.
Jim


On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 5:15:07 PM UTC-8, Michael Opitz wrote:
At 00:35 26 November 2017, jfitch wrote:
On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 11:38:40 AM UTC-8, Andreas
Maurer wrote:
On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:38:24 -0800 (PST),=20
=20
=20
I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27.
=20
6'7" and I fit halfways comfortably into the 27.

I actually don't know how comfortable it would be to fly in, as I
cannot
ge=
t the canopy closed. The panel hits my knees and the plexi hits the
top of
=
my head about the same time, but still needs to close about 3
inches to
get=
it latched. I have long legs and a short torso, not sure how this
affects
=
things.

It could be an "early vs later model" issue like I had with the
ASW-24s. I sold my last -24 in 1999 in order to switch to the
much more comfortable Discus-2b. I remember the Schleicher
dealer telling me at the time that Schleicher had made more
cockpit changes in the interim, and that I'd be more comfortable
if I got another new one. I think he may have mentioned the
ASW-27 as well in that statement, but it was a long time ago...
It may be worth looking into, especially if one can find the
production serial number when the design changed.


Again, try it before you buy it....

RO

On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 8:15:07 PM UTC-5, Michael Opitz wrote:
Again, try it before you buy it....

Right, also note early '27 cockpit was similarly quite different
from later production...

At 01:37 26 November 2017, JS wrote:
And what one person thinks as tight, another is OK with.
I (6' 0" / 1.83m) have flown the early model ASW24 that still has
"RO" on
the tail and found it very comfy. Have not flown ASW24B or E to
compare.
Jim

Nice try Jim, but I believe you flew RO2 which was my second
ASW-24, which already had the bulkhead moved 4 cm back. (My
original -24 had the tail # switched to 2HI.) Like I said, the
second one was better than the original, but was still tight for me,
especially on long flights.

RO

Per RO, first 32 or 36 SNs of ASW 24 had smaller cockpits. Mine later number had a larger cockpit and was also set up at the factory with pedals moved forward, no seat back, and a different instrument panel with higher knee holes. I believe there was at least one other even larger cockpit version later in production.

The parachute makes a huge difference (for me, very thin behind the shoulders, thick in the lumbar region: Softie Wedge model, packed properly) as does the ratio of torso to leg length.

Some types you can rule out (unless, like the late Rick Walters, you are willing to fly with a headrest parachute). But others you just have to try on..

Chip Bearden

On Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 6:15:06 PM UTC-8, Michael Opitz wrote:
At 01:37 26 November 2017, JS wrote:
And what one person thinks as tight, another is OK with.
I (6' 0" / 1.83m) have flown the early model ASW24 that still has
"RO" on
the tail and found it very comfy. Have not flown ASW24B or E to
compare.
Jim

Nice try Jim, but I believe you flew RO2 which was my second
ASW-24, which already had the bulkhead moved 4 cm back. (My
original -24 had the tail # switched to 2HI.) Like I said, the
second one was better than the original, but was still tight for me,
especially on long flights.

RO

Thought I was bad, having owned three ASW27s!
Anyone feeling a bit cramped in the 27 should look on the Yahoo ASW27 newsgroup for my seat back modification giving additional recline when using the rearward seat position.
Jim

At 19:38 25 November 2017, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:38:24 -0800 (PST), jfitch
wrote:


I am 6'4" and don't fit in an ASW27.

6'7" and I fit halfways comfortably into the 27.

Andreas,

Are you really 2.007 meters tall, or is there maybe a math error?