SZD-55-1 vs. Discus
Günther Seemann
with. One of our club members is Peter Fischer (7th in Uvalde and Borlaenge)
who owns a Discus. He took the SZD-55-1 and his wife Connie, formerly
german female champion, the Discus. It seems that the SZD-55-1 climbs a bit
better.
After Peter I took a trip about an hour. My personal feeling is that while
thermalling the handling is very close to the Discus. Only the steering forces
are higher than in other standard-ships like Discus, LS 4, LS 7, DG 300. After
reaching the top of the thermal I tried some stalls. I have to mention that
the SZD-55-1 has an electrical stall warning (like most airplanes (Cessna's,
Piper's...)). There are no distinct aerodynamic warning signs before the
stall. At stall speed the SZD-55-1 was going down over the left wing every
time I tried stalling. Is this typical for the SZD-55?
All in all for me it's a nice ship and compared with a Discus a reasonable
competitor even with the price. The man from SZD said the the plane will get
the type certificate by the german LBA in the next two month! While I'm
normally in love with 15m-race-class (some competitions with Ventus b) I'm
interested in the SZD-56 Diana. Probably I can fly it in autumn.
Some pilots out there to confirm the stall behaviour of the SZD-55-1?
- Guenther
Michael C. Steckner
being retrofitted with stall warnings so that they can be approved.
Michael
TomKnauff
S...@WZL-MTQ1.WZL.RWTH-AACHEN.DE (Gnther Seemann) writes:
SZD-55 is reported to be a fragile aircraft and so lightly built (80
pounds less than a Discus!) that it is not holding its airfoil shape
very well. On the long term, it probably is not a wise investment
especially since it costs nearly the same as a Discus. Discus
delivery positions are much better now and you can get one in 6
months or so. The new LS-8 is receiveing good reports and finished
in the top ten at the German Nationals.