What was your first glider?
flgliderpilot
Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
fly it, did you keep it or quickly out grow it? Would love to hear
your stories...
Pat Russette
all my distance and duration badges in it. Also did many diamond
distance flights until I (and my partner) purchased a Libelle 201B that
I owned for around 8 years. Followed by a Ventus B and currently an
ASW20BH (Hobbs model which I love).
Patman CQ
Frank Whiteley
SZD-30 Pirat, in a syndicate with three others.
1978, ill-fated aircraft I'm afraid. It was imported from Poland
after three factory test flights logged. The first owner rigged it
and tied it out overnight. It wound up as a write-off during a storm
in the night. Alan Hume, craftsman and BGA senior inspector, spent
four and a half years of spare time restoring it to as new condition.
We bought it as the result on an ad in S&G I think. I had three
flights, another partner had two I believe, another never flew it.
The fourth partner performed a rather spectacular crash on his flight
on a gusty day. Curl over the hill top resulted in some strong sink
as he was heading down wind. He turned toward the runway and put the
nose down only to vanish into the valley. A few seconds later he re-
appeared going up at a steep angle (and as later recalled 95kts) in an
attempt to fly over the telephone cable that followed the road and was
at field elevation. Pulling so hard resulted in a high speed stall
and the right wing caught the telephone cable and the glider
cartwheeled while climbing (and looping) vertically. After a 360
degree rotation and looped over the top of the climb and descended in
a stalled, 20-30 degrees nose down attitude and disappeared into the
valley. Everyone ran down the hill. I stopped by the hangar and
picked up the first aid box. The pilot was in shock, conscious, but
unable to recall the day of the week. Sprained ankle, three cracked
vertebrae, dislocated shoulder and a concussion. At last contact 4-5
years ago he remained active as a BGA CFI and owned half a Stemme.
The glider wasn't rebuilt. I moved into an SHK syndicate for the next
three years.
Frank Whiteley
Barry Bredenkamp
who had 'refurbished' it. Has proved not to be a great buy. The
restoration, once you get below the skin, is a bit iffy. The trailer has
proved to be a glider biter, esp on rough roads (common at gliding sites
in South Africa). As a result I have more hours fixing it than flying it.
To be fair the local experts do point out that at 46yrs old she is a very
tired old lady and down time is to be expected. There are lessons here
(frequently seen on r.a.s) for first-time buyers.
Cheers
Barry
Alistair Wright
"flgliderpilot" <vic20...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:0edba740-6086-4f5a...@c29g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
Gliding Club (of which I was a founder member and Technical Officer). It was
one of the early ones - BGA 507. It had been in a crash at the Mynd and the
whole front end was new, so that most unusually for an Oly it had a Skylark
4 cockpit canopy which was a great improvement on the standard one. I did my
5hrs in it, the first ever achieved at that site (Meir near Stoke on Trent),
and my Silver height. I made several unsuccessful Distance attempts in it.
Several more Silver legs were done by other partners. I sold my share after
three years and moved on to an Olympia 463 which was a hot ship at that
time. I did a lot of cross-countries in the 463 but I found less and less
time to fly it as I had become an instructor. I liked the 2b more than the
463, which was a bit of a handful and nothing like as stable. I moved clubs,
and never owned a share after that. I actually finished my Silver in a club
K18 at Dunstable some time later.
Alistair Wright
Pete Startup
>
>"flgliderpilot" wrote in message
>>
>> Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
>>
>> So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
>> fly it, did you keep it or quickly out grow it? Would love to hear
>> your stories...
In deference to one of the earlier posts................
Ka6Cr followed by a Libelle and now a Discus.IMHO 3 of the best gliders
ever made.I owned them all for several years each and I've loved them
all.When I win the lottery I'm going to buy them all back!
Pete
rlovinggood
Bought in August (I think) of 1994.
I've made a few slight changes over the years. New yaw string, new
seat cushions, etc...
Still loving it!
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
Bruce
would not let me fly her until I had more time solo, and a little time
on glass so it was six months later before I got to fly her.
This particular Std Cirrus was originally the regional hot ship -
belonging to Ted Pearson who was the Schempp-Hirth agent. Ted set
various records in her in the early seventies, and won the Rhodesian
Nationals in 1971 in her.
A year later I took 100% ownership, largely because I wanted to invest
in new instruments and the other partner really preferred to fly two
seaters. He also had the habit of lighting up a Mills or two in the
cockpit which led to some differences of opinion.
Some five years on and the more I fly the Cirrus the more I enjoy her.
Recently I also purchased a T59D Kestrel 19, which was in need of a good
home. This is a completely different animal. Much better performance and
comparatively viceless. But those long wings are less nimble, and you
really know who your friends are the second time you ask for help rigging...
Having overhauled the trailer on the Cirrus there is no question which
one you want to drag half way across the country. The Kestrel has a
Frankenstein's monster of a trailer.
Decisions, decisions - which one to keep.
Bruce
T8
HP-18. Wrote this years ago: http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-18/N67TT.html
(contact info on that page is not correct, btw)
It was beautiful, fast, quirky, fiddly, a lot of work to fly well.
The landing flaps were super cool, except in high wind, though they do
come with a learning curve. Not a good choice for a first glider.
Too radical. Too hard to fly. HP-14 or RS-15 probably better choices
in Schreder ships, depending on build quality.
Had it for ten years, sold it, went gliderless for eight years, saved
my nickels, bought an ASW-20B. The 20B is a classic that does
everything well.
Evan Ludeman / T8
Uncle Fuzzy
Grob Speed Astir II, 16UF. Originally purchased by Brian Utley and a
partner (Ed Fsomething, sorry). It's been owned by several others over
the years. I got it in late 2003. By June of 2010 I will exceed the
hours in it of all previous owners combined sometime around June 2010
(barring unforseen events). The only way I see 'outgrowing' it would
be literal. The cockpit is quite tight, and gaining 10 pounds might
well preclude my squeezing in. The Speed Astir suits me very well.
Tough, (relatively) high performance, and NOT pristine. Also, despite
comments to the contrary, very quick and easy to rig (aside from the
156 pound wing weight) once you figure out what you're doing.
Thomas Rose
standard 201b with winglets wing root fairings and a low profile
canopy.Did my first 100k,300k & just recently 500k in the UK.It`s been to
Switzerland twice and the last time I flew it from Zurich to Innsbrook &
back over the top of the Alps up to 13,000ft and that is why I she is
called the FABULOUS CHARLIE MIKE WHISKY ! I have had the pleasure to fly
everything from a T21 - EB28 but nothing is as much fun as CHARLIE MIKE
Westbender
This is my second full season with it. It's perfect for me given my
low-time as pic. Just started to stretch out with x-country flying
last season and I'm continuing to learn as I go.
I'm extremely happy with it and feel I made an excellent choice.
Dave Hoppe
West Bend, WI
Ben Dawson
before!
Its a wood ship, made in the 70s.
It's lovely to fly a real floater with reasonable performance at
speeds up to 65 knots.
I bought her off Ebay for pennies (�1500) with a syndicate partner.
We have spent quite a bit of time and a little money doing her up.
I borrow the clubs Junior and LS4 however despite the better
perfaformance of the LS4 I still prefer to fly the SB5e.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21RmpxlUi7E
At 03:52 19 August 2009, flgliderpilot wrote:
>
Ben Dawson
before!
Its a wood ship, made in the 70s.
It's lovely to fly a real floater with reasonable performance at
speeds up to 65 knots.
I bought her off Ebay for pennies (�1500) with a syndicate partner.
We have spent quite a bit of time and a little money doing her up.
I borrow the clubs Junior and LS4 however despite the better
perfaformance of the LS4 I still prefer to fly the SB5e.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21RmpxlUi7E
At 03:52 19 August 2009, flgliderpilot wrote:
>
Ian
about 12 years.
Followed with an ASW19, but found that a bit small ( both in span and
cockpit size). That lasted for about 18 months.
Moved up to a Kestrel 19, a lovely old glass gentlemans carrage. After 8
years was seduced by 25.5m worth of Nimbus 3., but after 2 years the whole
thing was just too much, so I have now reverted to a Kestrel again.
"Ben Dawson" <b...@glider-pilot.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7f36ifF...@mid.individual.net...
Tony Condon
>
I bought my Cherokee II with Internship money back in the spring of 2005.
Another guy in our club had owned it for a while but needed to convert it
into cash. I've been flying it as much as I can, which still isn't
enough, but about 20-30 hrs a summer. It's nothing pretty with old
fabric but it was built really well and assembles easy and the trailer was
in OK shape. I've spent this summer slowly re-working (restoring) the
trailer. Should've just built one from scratch. Getting in the home
stretch of that now and have been able to have the trailer operational for
the last two months.
I've pretty much fallen in love with the glider and don't forsee getting
rid of it anytime soon. I'm strongly considering putting new fabric on it
this winter, the old fabric and paint is showing its age. Will be a good
opportunity to go through the glider and make sure it is in good shape for
its next 20 or 30 years of flying. Be careful about falling in love with
an aircraft, it gets expensive.
I've done some pretty significant panel upgrades on it since i got it
including a few new varios and a Microair radio and the associated
electrical system. I also am working on installing a transponder but
haven't had a lot of time for that with the trailer work.
-Tony Condon
Cherokee II N373Y
uncl...@ix.netcom.com
First glider was a Schweizer 1-26D. Did my Silver badge in it in the
first 6 months I owned it. Kept it for many years and it became one of
our club ships back then. It's gone to another owner, but we still
have 3 1-26's in the family. Oldest is #002 which is our club glider
set aside for our juniors to fly. My 14 year old grandson recently
checked out in it and is working toward his Silver. I fly it a couple
times a year for fun when it isn't worth rigging one of the fancy
ships.
Still have fun with those old basic ships. Fun per dollar is
unmatched.
UH
grant...@hotmail.com
Super sweet handling with reasonable performance for a short wing
ship. Big cockpit that fit my 6'3" frame. I was a low time glider
pilot when I got it, absolutely no issues with the transition. I flew
the Russia alot and that ship took me beyond 300Km. I cannot imagine
that there is a glider that is easier to rig or derig. Flew it for 4
years and then sold it to get a 15 meter ship.
Second and current glider is a DG-303 Acro. I REALLY like the DG.
Good looking, amazing visability, super comfortable cockpit, great
performance, easy to rig. I've already done three 500km flights and
spent over 7 hours comfortably in the DG. This could be the start of
a long relationship!
WS
grant...@hotmail.com
Oops! The Russia was built by a guy named Brad in Washington state,
not Oregon. (To give credit where credit is due!!!) Nice guy, great
ship.
Steve Leonard
Dreaded Yellow Pages. Dreaded because it is full of things you just
can't pass up!). Dad and a friend went partners in it, then I bought the
friend's share. Flew it a season, then bought my Zuni 2, which I still
have today, some 22 years later. She is a "til death do us part" ship.
But, since then, I have added an HP-14, 604, BS1, Ka-6CrPE....
Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS
sisu1a
First ship was Sisu 1a, s/n 101: www.eaglebrandproducts.com/N6390X/ .
Loved it dearly, but could not resist the SZD-59 (also a s/n 1... well-
B2157, but it was the first production model...) I found so I put it
up for sale to help pay off the 59. Never thought I would be selling
it to AIG! :O Naturally I bought it back and will someday fix it.
The Acro rocks though and I'm still on my honeymoon 2yrs into it. Tony
is dead on about falling in love with a glider ;)
-Paul
Andres
I bought an LS1-f. I haven't done big distances yet. It's a nice
machine and I love it
I think it's a very affordable machine that offers good performance,
and the some fun as more expensive ones.
ryanglover1969
My first glider was a Ka6-CR first imported into this country by Rudy
Opitz who, as many of you know, was a test pilot for the Germans
during WWII. I did a couple 300km FAI triangles with the ka6. Then I
bought a Standard Cirrus N3450G which belonged to Roy Mcmasters. At
one time it held the World Out and Return record of 807 statute miles.
I have done a couple 500km triangles with it and it is the current
holder of the Oklahoma Out and Return Record of 240 nautical miles. I
love my Standard Cirrus!
James Hamilton
>On Aug 18, 8:52=A0pm, flgliderpilot wrote:
>> Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
>>
>> So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
>> your stories...
>
>My first glider was a Ka6-CR first imported into this country by Rudy
>Opitz who, as many of you know, was a test pilot for the Germans
>during WWII. I did a couple 300km FAI triangles with the ka6. Then I
>bought a Standard Cirrus N3450G which belonged to Roy Mcmasters. At
>one time it held the World Out and Return record of 807 statute miles.
>I have done a couple 500km triangles with it and it is the current
>holder of the Oklahoma Out and Return Record of 240 nautical miles. I
>love my Standard Cirrus!
>
Mine was a Slingsby Dart 15/17 MK II B, Works #1471, built in
Kirbymooreside, Yorkshire, England in April 1965 (how's that for a
description!). It was originally made for Phillip Wills (so the logbook
says) and has a unique paint scheme unlike any other Darts. From research
I've done it appears to be the only 15 mtr Dart ever made with wingtip
extensions to make it 17 mtrs. It somehow found its way to Colorado and
was owned by John Brittingham. Then it came to South Carolina in the
early 70's. A good freind of mine, Mike Hoke, bought it and flew it out
of Bermuda High Soaring in Chester, SC. He let me fly it on numerous
occasions and I got my Silver Distance in the Dart, in 1975. In 1976 Mike
and I both moved to Reno, NV (working for the same company). From 1977 to
1979 Mike and I flew Sports Class competitions as a team where we won
twice and placed 2nd on another occasion. In 1980 I bought the Dart from
Mike when he purchased a Diamant HBV (a great glider that I had the
priviledge to fly). I kept the Dart until 1984 when I got a Ventus B (and
then a Ventus C in 1995). From 1977 to 1984, I was fortunate enough to win
numerous Sports Class competitions in the Dart. To make a long story
longer, Mike and his wife Janice bought the Dart again in the late 80's
and they still have it. I still get to fly it once or twice a year and it
is a great handling plane! It has been refinished in the original paint
scheme and has modern GPS/Flight recorder instrumentation, radio, xpndr
and oxygen. Mike's twin boys have flown it cross-country and in
competition. If anyone would like to see a photo of this beautiful
machine, send an email to me with "Dart Photo" in the subject field and
I'll email the picture back to you.
Jimmy Hamilton
JLH
Reno, NV
vic20owner
Great stories guys keep them coming! Thanks so much... enjoying the
thread.
-tom
Brad
magazine a few days after having a dream in which I was flying a
motorglider. The area code where the glider was for sale was 207, I
thought that's great, I live in Washington State and my area code is
206, gotta be close............in fact it was in Maine, about as far
from Seattle as possible. So the wife and I loaded up the Toyota 4x4
hang glider rig, and drove across the states to get it.
For 10K I thought it was a steal. I bought it while a student pilot.
When I finally sold it years later I had put 600 hours on the
airframe, about 100 on the engine and learned a ton about cross
country flying. She was a great bird, kept it rigged in a T hangar at
a local airport 20 minutes from work and used up a lot of sick leave
and vacation time flying it!
Brad
PS.............the picture of the ASK-14 in the soaring directory was
mine, taken at Ephrata years ago.
Clint
into Botswana in 1996 and had only about 50hrs when I bought it in
2003 - it had been in storage from 1997 as the club had folded. Was
interesting buying a glider at a border post in Africa and then
getting it across the border - had lots of spare cash in my pocket for
bribes but all the customs official wanted was a coke - so $1 later I
was heading on the long road home with my glider in tow. Its
instrumentation and radio had been upgraded and an eds oxygen system
was included. i have just added a pda (first a Palm with Soaringpilot
and now an IPAQ with Winpilot) system but am now looking to fit
winglets and an extra 1/2m of wing. 21.5m is looking a little short
and 21m has a nice ring to it.
Done my 300 and 500km flights in it so far - attempted a 750 but
turned short and did 630km. Had a few landouts which result in lots of
moans when the huge wings (they are one piece) have to be carried
across the soft ploughed cornfields - but seem to be landing out less.
Think the climb optomiser in Winpilot may be helping there. Its a
lovely glider with a handicap almost the same as an ASW-20 in the
Soaring Society of South Africa handicap system (varies slightly with
the weak, intermediate and strong day ratings - with me carrying a
heavier handycap on a weak day and less handicap in a strong day). I
fly in the Club Class where water is not carried. I find I can out-
climb ASW20s yet loose ground in the cruises especially when the speed
is over 160km/h. So I tent to fly a little differently and use a
slower inte-thermal cruise speed and make up time on the climbs - and
hopefully somewhere can miss a climb due to the higher glide-ratio
(1:47).
Certainly not planning to change gliders soon eventhough I have
already owned her for 6yrs. She is a glider that I am continuing to
grow into especially in the competition flying arena.
Clinton Birch
Tim Mara
something like 50 (+/- ?) over the years..first one I ever bought for myself
was a TG3.. but it turned oiut to be too far gone (rotted spars) so never
flew that one...but alas, I only have shares in 3 gliders today :o)
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com
"flgliderpilot" <vic20...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:0edba740-6086-4f5a...@c29g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
>
> Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
>
> So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
> fly it, did you keep it or quickly out grow it? Would love to hear
> your stories...
>
Roy Bourgeois
from an estate through Tom Smith in Clinton NY in 1978. Nice floater, huge
all flying elevator with a lead ball on a stick for a mass balance. PITA
non hinged removable canopy. If you looked real close you would see holes
drilled into the bead ring of the main gear . . .because they used
motorcycle front wheels with the spokes removed in the days before Tost.
Roy B.
Bob Whelan
> Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
>
> So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
> fly it, did you keep it or quickly out grow it? Would love to hear
> your stories...
>
glider until a few days after obtaining my ticket. A work buddy and I
had concurrently taken lessons from the same instructor, and maybe a
week after obtaining our tickets, fellow newbie suggested to me we begin
looking for a 1-26 (which I then had maybe 10 fights in, and fewer
hours). After being reassured permission from no one else need be
obtained (!), clueless (in my case) searching began. After some
preliminary looking, my fellow newbie said, "Let's look at Tom's 1-26;
maybe he'll sell us thirds." He did. About two weeks later - trying
anxiously to prepare myself for our first fun contest (COSA Fall
Roundup, for those who know of it), seeking nothing more than to
convince myself: 1) thermals existed out of range of the home airport,
and 2) I could get back home from one thermal away, I landed out in it
(one thermal away...followed by a new airmass!). The next weekend Tom
landed out in it. Both were our initial OFL's.
I might still be flying it had I not moved 'out west' and got desirous
of longer air legs. Been flying "flapped 1-26's" ever since (1975):
C-70, HP-14, Zuni I (since 1981).
Bob W.
Andy
> Out of curiosity, I searched but found no similar thread...
>
> So what was your first glider, how did you find it, how long did you
> fly it, did you keep it or quickly out grow it? Would love to hear
> your stories...
Schweizer 1-34 for silver badge
LS-3 intro to contest flying
LS-4 gold/diamond badges and more serious racing
gap
ASW-27B (today)
I'd recommend an LS-4 as a great first glider to own IF: 1) you can
afford it (duh) and 2) if you have completed your silver badge in club/
rental ships first.
9B
guy
102/103 and it was a smooth transition to the flapped racing ship. It
was a very nice plane. Great legs, easy water ballast, easy to
assemble with a one man rig, and nice looking. I sold it after many
years because the relatively heavy aileron forces gave me shoulder
pain after 4 hours or so of flying. However I earned all my badges
and all my diamonds in that ship.
Guy Acheson, "DDS"
jsbrake
heavy; don't fit well into most gliders I've seen (or afford), and
it's worse if I wear a parachute.
I bought a one-man rigger this Spring, so the short-winged guys don't
run away when I set up for rigging -- I get everything out and lined
up, then get someone to wiggle the wingtip for the last bit of
fitting. I actually put it together alone 3 weeks ago. With the
dolly, I can take it apart and put it away alone every time.