Info on Mosquito

[Walt Connelly]

Okay folks, help me out here. How about some of you old timers weigh in
on the Mosquito. Handling? One man rigging? Possible dollar range?
Let me know what you think, I don't know squat.

Walt




--
Walt Connelly

[Rick Walters]

On Feb 27, 11:06 am, Walt Connelly <Walt.Connelly.

Walt

I beleive the Mosquito and Mini N share the same wing and both have
automatic control hookups, which is a real plus. Very roomy cockpit
and a good handling ship. I have never cared for the flap/divebrake
setup on the Mosquito and early Ventus. It is hard to adapt to the
feel, but the effectiveness is second to none.

Richard Walters

[Derek Mackie]

I loved my Mosquito. Flies as well as anything from the era as long
as it's well sealed (like the Ventus). It is, bay far, the easiest
rigging glider I've seen, though the wings are a bit heavy as compared
to the new ships. I enjoyed the flap/divebrake system and you can
land precisely and very short. The approach is steep with it all
hanging out, which surprises a lot of people. As well, people tend to
land them a little hot at first - but once you have the speeds in the
right range, it's a pussycat. The wheel brake lever on the A model
(located just in front of the stick) isn't a great location, but you
get used to it. Ergonomics are great and the cockpit is huge.
Everyone I spoke to who had owned one or flown one had happy
memories. IMHO, you can't beat the bang of the buck. ~$25-30k for
one in good shape, depending on instruments and trailer. Closer to
$22k or so if it's a little rougher.

Lots of good info and support: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mosquitos/

The type is still supported and parts available: http://www.streifly.de/home-e.htm
These are some of the guys that are supporting the Concordia!

Cheers,

Derek

[Mike]

On Feb 27, 12:06 pm, Walt Connelly <Walt.Connelly.

Hi Walt

Have you checked with the swarm?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mosquitos/

[JS]

What the others noted, with added belief that the canopy mechanism
takes more getting used to than the flap/brake combination.
Jim

[marco haakm]

I am not an owner but have flown quite a few hours on the glider. It
is very easy to handle. Performance might be a bit off compared to
other gliders of the era, certainly Venti or ASW20. This probably is
important for a few. But there is plenty of performance left. I do not
know your current experience but with a bit of plastic hours on your
log you should have no issues with flying it. Canopy indeed is a bit
of a trick. And when this thread becomes longer people may warn you
for the flaps. But just try them and maintain your speed. For a first
time only pull them at the edge of the airfield (not before) and put
the glider down (providing the field has a fair lenght). This will
help you to understand the effectiveness from which you can start
playing/learning. My record has been a decent at around 25 m/s (true
vertical) at a 180 kph stable speed (so vertical 50 knots; ias 100
knots). Great fun!

[Dan Marotta]

You're never too high in a Mosquito. With that trailing edge, you can fly
straight down without exceeding the redline. I've done it. As for lacking
performance, here's a flight I did last summer in a borrowed ship:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=2054684


"Mike" <rs15...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:0b6b5541-407d-4ec5...@s9g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...

[Mark Jardini]

I used to own the one tested by Dick Johnson. What every one else
said, great ship. They are a bit heavy being polyester epoxy ships and
stoutly built, about 7+ lbs wing loading unballasted, and not the best
light air climbers. Never flew it with water. I never heard of someone
not liking the handling.

mj

[Simon France]

Big cockpit, good handling, good brakes, push-button trimming,
parallelogram stick(not twitchy even at VNE). I rig it single-
handed with two trestles and a wing root dolly.

Si

At 21:45 27 February 2012, Dan Marotta wrote:
>You're never too high in a Mosquito. With that trailing edge,
you can fly
>straight down without exceeding the redline. I've done it. As
for lacking
>
>performance, here's a flight I did last summer in a borrowed
ship:
>http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?
dsId=2054684
>
>

>"Mike" wrote in message
>news:0b6b5541-407d-4ec5-bae5-
e49072...@s9g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...

[BobW]

Being either precise or anal, "polyester epoxy"? My understanding is Mosquitos
are epoxy resin, "all fiberglass" ships (i.e. no carbon or Kevlar/polyamide),
which is to say, their construction materials are typical of many first/2nd
generation "glass gliders."

The only polyester resin glider I was ever (vaguely) aware of was the (never
actually produced, so far as I'm aware) Torva.

Never flown a Mosquito, was wingtip grunt for one many times, ditto all prior
rigging comments. Never noticed any of its owners having to "fuss with" the
canopy mechanism. I believe (didn't check prior to posting) Mosquitos also
have the parallellogram stick, do they not? Always seemed like a good idea to
me (as compared to either an "S-curve" or sharply angled back one).

Other than the untimely death of Eugen Hanle and Glasflugel
not-long-thereafter being purchased-by/absorbed-into Schempp-Hirth, I've long
thought the innovative (and used for a while by Schempp-Hirth...and also
Slingsby on the Vega) trailing edge flap/dive brake was the only "fly in the
ointment" somewhat balking the Mosquito's more general acceptance. We glider
pilots tend to be SO conservative in our "what's acceptable in a glider"
views. :-)

Have Fun!

Bob W.

[T8]

On Feb 27, 2:06 pm, Walt Connelly <Walt.Connelly.

Thinking about buying one?

Neat airplane. Old airplane. Individual history is important. Get
your favorite A&P/IA involved.

T8

[Brad]

perfect sailplane for the OLC.....................;)
rrrrrrrroooooooowwwwwwwwwwwrrrrrr

Brad

[Mike]

The Finish Utu used polyester resin-I think.

[Nigel Pocock]

I flew one for 2 seasons having previously flown mainly standard class
gliders.
A lot of bang for the buck. Easy rigging especially with the tool to pull
the wings together that last half inch.
One gotcha though. I was used to opening full airbrakes once I had touched
down to keep me firmly planted. First time I tried this with the Mossy i
found myself 2 ft back up in the air. a combination of slightly too fast
touchdown and trailing edge airbrakes providing lift as well as drag in
ground effect.
I found the roll rate soggy at thermalling speeds but once established in a
thermal and with some flap it went round on rails
The gell coat seems to last better than a lot of gliders although most of
them will have been refinished at least once by now.
same performance as a discus at half the price.
Nigel

>