But there is a World Class Two-Seater! It's called a shortwing Kookaburra...
Caleb Kooka 45 KPST -----Original Message----- From: Robert Hart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Soaring in Australia." <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 12:14:50 +1000 Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] World Class Glider On Wed, 2005-04-06 at 11:23 +1000, Peter Creswick wrote: > In essence, I wonder if the whole idea of a world class single seater > is viable to begin with. Would it not be more sensible to have a > world class two seater ? I admit that at first thought it might be > considered a heretical idea, but let's give it a run as a > hypothetical. Comments ? Peter I think the concept of a world class glider was probably good, the execution, as is visible in the form of the PW 5, was terrible. There have been some useful suggestions as to how that bad decision might have been avoided. If a reasonable performance single seat glider, backed by a worldwide comp system, was available at a good price, then I think the idea would work. The design should also include a one man rig trailer and (if possible) provision for self launching (as I too think that this will dominate the future of gliding). Reasonable performance is of course in the eye of the beholder. My thoughts are 40:1 or better max L/D, but with a modern aerofoil giving a good performance at 80 kts. A world class two seater is an interesting idea. We certainly need a good, low cost two seater to replace our ageing ab initio fleet. If there were a worldwide 2 seater comp to back it - as this is what would drive its adoption worldwide and allow economies of scale to be reached - then the idea could work well for us. With today's aerofoils and materials, I think an acceptable XC performance could be achieved whilst still keeping handling and strength in the sweet spot for ab initio training. Again, I would suggest the rules should specifically require a 2 man rig trailer and stipulate provision for a self launching option. -- Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] +61 (0)438 385 533 Brisbane, Australia http://www.hart.wattle.id.au _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
