Avia Economia, Part 3

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We can also expect to have the real glider folks point us toward some
photos of the real thing.

For better or worse, primarys are no longer a part of the "real" glider scene,
except in the occasional flight demo or as a museum exhibit. However, the very
first red-blooded USA-made Schweizer glider was a primary, the SGP 1-1. You can
see one here along with its original designers :
http://www.sacusa.com/corporate/history.asp .

In looking for this gem, I found it interesting that when one Goggles "primary
glider" the thing that floats nearly to the top is an old blog page from one RS
Hoover.

Even though I am a glider CFI, I have never had a chance to actually fly a
primary. In fact, the only guy I know who ever has flown one is dead. However,
this is the Internet, so lack of experience need not imply lack of opinion. ;-)

So here goes:

For several reasons, I don't think primary gliders should have any role in
initial flight training (a good subject for another thread) but I do think that
building a primary might be a worthy project for an EAA chapter. As Bob has
said, a building a primary could be a great and affordable learning experience.
Once built, it could be kept up in the hanger rafters to be taken down to be
flown by all at the annual chapter picnic.

When the members are done flying the thing and its time to break out the beer
and hotdogs, mount it on a little GC stand, point it into the wind, and let the
kids "fly" it to their heart's content. Any wind over 8-10 mph will likely be
enough to make the controls effective. With it fastened to terra-firma, the
kids won't be able to hurt it and it certainly won't hurt them.

If it ever happens, I would sure like to be there, and would hope to be allowed
to add a few seconds of PIC time to my logbook.


--
Vaughn

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Nothing personal, but if you are posting through Google Groups I may not receive
your message. Google refuses to control the flood of spam messages originating
in their system, so on any given day I may or may not have Google blocked. Try
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You probably already have a news reader program in your computer (Hint: Outlook
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http://news.aioe.org/ for free and/or http://www.teranews.com/ for a one-time
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Will poofread for food.