a few more newbie's pre-purchase questions

a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute system? (Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more experience on that kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on comfort compared to other products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem? (A topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring books!) Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not affect my choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

Ted Wagner wrote:

Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than local.)

Flaps pro: lower stall speed during landing, some performance increase
Flaps con: additional cockpit controls complexity and pilot workload


-Doug

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 20:33:40 -0800, "Ted Wagner"
wrote:

a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute system? (Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more experience on that kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on comfort compared to other products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem? (A topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring books!) Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not affect my choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

Have a look at http://www.soaravenal.com/diamond8.htm
NDH is very important.

Success!!

"Ted Wagner" wrote in message .. .
a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country
than local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute
system? (Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more
experience on that kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on
comfort compared to other products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem?
(A topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring
books!) Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not
affect my choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

--

Come to the ASA meeting tonight and you'll probably get answers on at
least 2 of these questions.

Hope to see you there.


Andy

I think Shelton's subtle point is that the claim of NDH is sometimes
misleading, as evidenced by Pez's new ship with the mis-matched wings
and bent tail.

BJ

Ruud wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 20:33:40 -0800, "Ted Wagner"
wrote:

a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute system? (Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more experience on that kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on comfort compared to other products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem? (A topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring books!) Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not affect my choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

Have a look at http://www.soaravenal.com/diamond8.htm
NDH is very important.

Success!!

In article , Bob Johnson
wrote:

I think Shelton's subtle point is that the claim of NDH is sometimes
misleading, as evidenced by Pez's new ship with the mis-matched wings
and bent tail.

That one only had NDH because it had NH at all...

-- Bruce

"Ted Wagner" wrote in message .. .
a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country
than local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute
system? (Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more
experience on that kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on
comfort compared to other products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem?
(A topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring
books!) Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not
affect my choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

--

African or European?

They have flaps, by the way - no Standard Class for mother nature!

Pee tubes are popular, followed by various baggies or containers
(Gatorade bottles work just fine in a 1-34, but not at all in an LS6,
BTW - cockpit ergonomics is a critical factor here). Not something to
be taken lightly; a well engineered solution will absolutely be the
difference between a fun flight and misery - been there!

We seem to have a pretty even split on flaps vs no-flaps in the ASA,
not a lot of performance difference; some more maintenance with flaps
and more to screw up inflight, but also fun to learn to use properly -
makes for a "busy" cockpit inflight, which I personally enjoy.
Possible exceptions are 90 degree flap ships such as Pik-20, 1-35,
HPs; neat for landouts, most owners love them, some I know never got
used to them.

Given similar costs, condition, performance, and availabiliy (for a
used Std and 15M ship), the trailer is probably more important!

Kirk
Flaps and loving them

I'd love to come to the ASA meeting tonight but alas I work in Lost Angels,
the Big Wheezy. Only get to grace my home state on the weekends ...

Come to the ASA meeting tonight and you'll probably get answers on at
least 2 of these questions.

Hope to see you there.


Andy

Pee tubes are popular, followed by various baggies or containers
(Gatorade bottles work just fine in a 1-34, but not at all in an LS6

I've been using Gatorade bottles in my LS6 but I want to get away from
that. I had a full pee bottle bounce off of the top of the canopy once
(yes, from the inside) and I don't want that to happen again. It was
pretty violent and I have no idea why the canopy didn't crack.

Tony V.
http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING

"Ted Wagner" wrote in message
...
a.. Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than
local.)
b.. Opinions on the Rigging Innovations P-124 emergency parachute system?
(Yes, I know it's a ram-air parachute. I have much more experience on that
kind of glider.) Mostly looking for feedback on comfort compared to other
products.
c.. What is the most popular solution to the call-of-nature problem? (A
topic conspicuously absent from the x/c portions of my (two) soaring books!)
Are relief tubes offered in new(er) gliders? (No, this will not affect my
choice of glider.)
d.. What is the best L/D of a laden swallow?
-ted

African or European?

Tim Ward