Phoebus c and Mistral C

[THOMAS LEANDER NIELSEN]

Is there anyone who have a informations on these 2 gliders. Are they any
good. ???
Please send to hs...@get2net.dk

[George Emsden]

I do not like the Phoebus.
It is the only glider that ever frightened me. I was circling in a thermal
and stalled a wing which dropped without any warning. Most gliders will give
you some warning of a stall but the Phoebus did not.
It is an early glass glider and there are newer with the same performance
which fly better.
Can't speak about the Mistral. HTH

--
George

"THOMAS LEANDER NIELSEN" <t.le...@get2net.dk> wrote in message
news:k0vo6.245$4v3....@news.get2net.dk...

[Bill Dean.]

George,

Please do not think that the Phoebus is the only glider that could frighten
you by dropping a wing at the stall without any warning.

I once had this happen to me when I was teaching effect of controls in a K21
at 3,000 ft. The pupil was flying it, and it took me completely by
surprise.

I am quite certain that the only safe way to fly is to assume that ANY
glider can do this if you are really unlucky. If you are unable to make a
glider do this deliberately this does NOT mean it will never do it. Of
course, some types are more likely to than others, with the K21 it is very
unusual, with the Puchacz it is to be expected. I have also had this
happen to me in an IS28B2, a Bocian, a Dart17R and a Skylark4. A friend
had this happen to him in a Mosquito.

As to the Phoebus, we had two 'C' models (17m, retracting U/C) in the Surrey
& Hants. gliding club at Lasham for several years, they were a success.

The Phoebus 'A' (15m, fixed U/C) was one of the first glassfibre types
produced, introduced at about the same time as the Libelle 301; there was
one of each at the Internationals at South Cerney in June 1965. The 'C'
model was available with a tailchute (identical to that in the 301 and the
SHK), we had one with and one without. It was also available with water
ballast.

There was one Internationals, in Poland (1967?), where the top open class
machines were the Big (Open) Cirrus, the Phoebus 'C' and the SHK. George
Burton for the U.K. flew an SHK, the one which flew at South Cerney in 1965;
Nick Goodhart flew a Slingsby built HP14. From the results, including
daily results, and from talking at the time with those who were there, there
was nothing in it between the three types.

The Phoebus 'C' has a large wing area and a comparatively low wing loading
and its performance was suitable for normal English conditions, similar to
the SHK, no 301s were ever imported new to the U.K.

Points to watch. The Phoebus 'C' has top and bottom brakes, but they are a
long way back on the wing and not very effective (like the Libelle 301 and
SHK). Good approach control is vital (like the 301). The undercarriage
attachment structure is not tolerant of heavy landings (like the SHK), we
cracked or broke the bulkheads several times. The VNE is only, I think,
108 knots (like the SHK?). The tailplane is all flying with no antibalance
tab, feel and trim relies on a spring; you cannot trim out at more than
about 80 knots. The pitch feel and stability is like a K6E only more so,
it is not as foolproof; partly because it has a much better high speed
performance than any K6.

Bill.

George Emsden <yq...@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:97ud30$hlo$1...@lure.pipex.net...

> I do not like the Phoebus.
> It is the only glider that ever frightened me. I was circling in a thermal
> and stalled a wing which dropped without any warning. Most gliders will
> give you some warning of a stall but the Phoebus did not.
> It is an early glass glider and there are newer with the same performance
> which fly better.
> Can't speak about the Mistral. HTH
>

> George
>

[Mark Wright]

Hi,
The Mistral c is a beautiful glider to fly . It has light & well harmonised controls.It is very easy to fly and I would recommend it as a first solo aircraft. I reckon the performance is probably a little better than an Astir CS. I've not flown a Phoebus, But, for God's sake don't write off a type just because it can drop a wing with little or no warning.A lot of gliders given the correct circumstances can achieve this. You'll be left with little to fly if you follow this edict.

Regs.
MW

P.S. I always thought we were trained to react to these sort of situations.

P.P.S. Surely if this doesn't happen occasionaly to you while thermalling then you aint trying hard enough!!

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[gvgl...@gmail.com]

Hi Thomas just spotted this forum and I own the only Mistral C in Australia. It is a gentle glider to fly. A well balanced aircraft with some aerobatic features. I aerobat regularly and never get tired of flying it. It has recently done 391km and 388km. Can recomend it to anyone. George Vasiliadis VH-GDZ

[ND]

i flew a pheobus C once for about 45 minutes. i found it to be pretty docile. i noticed that keeping the yaw string straight required a little more attention than with newer glass gliders.

I also thought that the seat was a little uncomfortable, but that's the kind of thing that can be tweaked.

Rigging was a pain for that particular pheobus, i don't know if the others were like that too.

but it flew well, thermalled nice, and landed really easy. the approach speed felt slow, and the glider felt draggy, which made for an easy landing.