I landed the Champ on Saturday and found Charlie Yeates assembling a PW-6 in my usual parking spot. So I parked further down the line and watched as Charlie finished putting together this new 2 place fibreglass trainer. The wings are held in place by two massive spar pins which are pushed through the spars from the rear of the cockpit. The pins cannot be removed from the fuselage, and therefore don't wander off. Controls connect automatically, and spoilers are hooked up through an access hatch at the top of the fuselage. The horizontal stab slides into the vertical and locks into place. Charlie says it typically takes him and his wife 20-30 minutes to assemble the glider.
This is not the prettiest ship in the world, but it looks strong and functional. The gear is fixed, and consists of nose, main and tailwheel. The main gear is massive, and the tailwheel is substantial and nonswivelling. The ship rests on its nose and main wheels, but twenty pounds of pressure on the boom just forward of the vertical stab lifts the nose and the ship pivots easily on the main.
I get offered a ride, sign the waiver, and climb in. It's a big, comfortable cockpit. The spoiler handle has a wheel brake lever attached to it, and the spoiler lock feels firm and tight. The back of the seat extends from the seat pan all the way up the sides of the fuselage, completely isolating the rear rudder pedals from the front cockpit. No more smelly instructor's sneakers at your elbows.
We take off just after noon, into a clear blue sky. It's a fairly turbulent day with winds from the west at 20 knots or so. The PW-6 tows nicely, requiring only minor corrections to stay in position. We release into a thermal at 3000 feet. I find that keeping the yawstring straight requires lots of small rudder corrections, and slowing the ship to 45-50 in tight turns requires a very nose high attitude. Despite my bumbling, we gain a thousand feet. I ask Charlie to take it, saying I need to get used to the attitude, but really I want to learn a few tricks from an old master. Charlie gets us to 5500 in no time.
Stalls are gentle. The rudder keeps the wings level right to the end, and Charlie says you really have to kick it to get it to spin. The roll rate is terrific, much quicker than the L-23 and much less work It's an easy ship to fly, requiring perhaps more attention to rudder than in the Blanik.
The trim control is a sliding lever under the spoiler handle. The lever is disengaged from a series of notches by pushing it to the right, then slid fore or aft, and then replaced into a new notch. I found this awkward compared to a simple friction lever, and it was difficult to make quick, small changes to trim. But perhaps one could get used to this.
Coming down was impressive. At 60 knots I opened the spoilers all the way. The sink rate went to 600 fpm. Altitude control, even on a gusty day, was very effective. Touch down lightly on the tail, and the PW-6 settles immediately on the main and nose wheel. The wheel brake was not very effective and needs to be improved.
For the money, this is a very nice 2-place ship. Its performance is better than the L-23 while it costs a little less. For X-Country training it disassembles easily. The finish is polyurethane, so gelcoat problems are not a factor. The fiberglass will withstand minor impacts better than an aluminum skin, and ground handling it much easier and less sensitive than with the Blanik.
Ted Hauri
Hi all,
A bunch of Sterling members are down here flying the Region 2. Dave Nadler, Mike Newman, Errol Drew, Phil Gaisford, Bill Brine, Martin Berinstein and myself are here. I brought down the Duo Discus with the idea of doing a video on a contest from the inside. When I say from the inside I mean that I have cameras mounted on the stabilizer, wings, cockpit, etc. And I am actually flying (more like sitting with all kinds of gear) in the back seat while master soarer Karl Striedeck does the driving. Needless to say it's an amazing learning experience. I'm getting wonderful footage (like a few feet off the ridge at 100 kts, thermalling in snow showers, etc.) and Karl is great at explaining many aspects of soaring. Martin is helping me with the shooting and crewing. Thanks to him and to my Duo partners for making this possible.
We are flying in the open class with a couple of Nimbus 4s and a Nimbus 3. The tasks are long and demanding. The days have been very interesting. For complete information go to the SSA site and under contest go to Region 2 FIA and read Charlie Spratt's reports. They're a great way to follow what's going on in the contest.
I'm not quite sure what it will become in the end, but perhaps we can show a cut of it at our first B&GBSC social (Bigger & Greater Boston Soaring Club!) in the winter.
See you at the field. Let's merge and make this club fly!
--Juan
GPS LOG!
A 383 miler from Sunday - lots of fun and a great soaring day for New England.
DJ