Hi all Good pilots will do well no matter what they fly. However for less experienced pilots I feel that modern machinery has an edge. That is because they are more forgiving. Older gliders can be made to perform well with experience but aren't tolerant of sloppy flying.
For example I flew a DG200 for several years and it is one of the busiest flapped gliders I've ever flown. It has to be in just the right flap setting to get close to it's best performance and there are from memory about 7 settings -8, -4, 0, +4, +8, +10, +12 and the correct setting is dependent upon cruise speed and thermal smoothness. It took me over a year to get the hang of it. Once I did though I found it to be a great glider. A modern flapped glider often has only 3 or 4 settings to cover the thermaling to flat out speed range - much harder to be in the wrong gear. Apparently the LS8 almost tells you where the thermal is and will hang on in even the roughest thermal - a Hornet is a great glider in a straight line but it takes real skill to make it climb well. So to answer the question originally proposed "is a modern glider an advantage?" I think for most people it is initially. If you can't get your hands on a modern glider then get a lot of experience in one type/particular aircraft. Or else be naturally talented like it seems James is! Philip Ritchie _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
