My letter addressed to the Soaring Newsletter as of OCTOBER 8, 1998

>I have for a number of years been a hang gliding pilot. I also did a lot
>of fixed wing soaring in the past ten years. The cost and direction of
>the fixed wing soaring bothers me greatly.
>
>I recently flew the Markse Monarch. This has changed my whole perception
>of flying. The light weight, the ease of auto-towing at under 25 mph and
>being able to soar easily from a 1000 ft tow has convinced me that Jim
>Marske knows a lot about the needs of the future soaring pilot.
>
>Have we also lost the fun of building ones own wing? This is not a
>difficult task nor are theories difficult to understand. When I look at
>the early years of soaring there has always been a great involvement in
>building too and I would like to see that rekindled.
>
>The web has made a lot of the information sharing very possible, then
>there is fiberglass, epoxies and even the computers that help with the
>theoretical calculations. This is a very wonderful time to be in
>soaring.
>
>But the relentless emphasis on high wing loading and competition will
>push many of the potential flyers out of the sport.
>
>The Monarch offers an inexpensive fun way to soar in conditions that
>most sailplanes would just fall out of the sky.....Then there is the
>pioneer IId that Jim developed.....!!!
>
>Have a look at Jim Marske's web site and see for yourself.
>
>
>
>--
>Matthew J. Redsell <continuo@continuo.com>
>CONTINUO Magazine 1-800-231-2489
>Web Site <http://www.continuo.com>
>Phone outside North America 607-569-2489

October 5, 1998

Dear Matthew,

The reason why soaring has left the light gliders in favour of high wing-loadings and L/D is that the light gliders provided less value for the cost. Many years ago a K8 (typical light glider) cost some 60% of the cost of a glass ship at that time, like the Std Libelle. Factory-built light gliders appear now and then, but they are not inexpensive and people soon loose interest in gliders with poor L/D and penetration.

I have owned several gliders with a couple of friends and the
economy of flying is not poor. We owned since 1977 an ASW-19, LS3, LS6 and Ventus-2, all bought new. We flew an average of 200 hours per year with these gliders and the flying included many badge and record flights and participation in an average of 3 competitions every year, regionals, nationals and international championships
and some other contests as well all over the world.

Looking at costs, we could sell every glider for more than we paid for it new. Of course, if we had invested the money on the stock market instead we had now been richer on money, but poorer in soaring experiences.

The quality of these expensive gliders is excellent. Our LS6 bought new in 1985 was purchased 2 years ago by a gliding family in our club and it is nearly as good as new after 2000 flying hours, and gives the new Ventus-2 a run for the money.

This is my opinion why gliding goes the way it does.

I think that gliders like the Carbon Dragon and Monarch are not so inexpensive if you count the number of manhours needed to build them. The useful life and the safety features, particularly compared with modern hybrid composite gliders, can't even be compared.

But if you enjoy building planes, the light gliders are certainly a way to go. When I retire, I would like to build one too!

Ake Pettersson

Thanks for your excellent reply.

At Harris Hill most members do not do much cross country and so the heavy wing loading is really not necessay, secondly the most needed trait of the typical glider at Harris hill should be just that it stays up on most any day, is easy to fly, won't stall and is easily to put together and has a high degree of safety. The monarch and pioneer series qualify very well in all aspects.

With the modern sailplane today at 1000 feet you are looking to land and the speeds one lands at are such that you want a smooth airport to put it down in. Off field landings are a real pain.

Launching too for the modern sailplane is only by aerotow.

Consider that Jim Marske has had the monarch for over 20 years, flown it a lot and done very little maintenance. Our tow vehicle only goes to 25 mph on a light day (160 lbs pull required) with a 1100 ft line and from that I get about a 1000 ft altitude which because of the sink rate gives me a soaring flight on a typical day. ( I can safely soar at 500 ft) The other gliders at the field are never able to stay up with the Monarch on a weak day. Penetration is excellent
too and surprisingly good.

I took Dave Welles, Test pilot for Schweizers, competition soaring pilot and engineer out to test these aircraft. He was amazed and offer to fly our next new Pioneer III in competition he was so impressed.

Because of the cost of certification and the FAA restrictions unfortunately these will only be available in kit form but they are very easy to build.

We are currently develping the Pioneer III which is an all composite glider with excellent characteristics for cross country. It will have the carbon spar, high aspect ratio, light wing loading and very good penetration. We have the fuselage plug made, the spar molds and rib mold done.

Thanks for your reply.

Mat Redsell