We have all been out making sure the latest round of adjustments or in my case repairs have been completed. I decided to go out to flight test my repair at the SWSA club site. The new plywood ribs in the hold down area did actually fix the problem seen at the CVRC Bent Wing. After several hard launches and landings it looks like this will be the final solution for the broken Balsa ribs. During this session I handed the Sticks over to John Rodgers and let him see what this sailplane has been doing. He was pretty quiet for the first couple minutes so I had to ask what he thought since he had turned left and right (it’s a long story with his prior Topaz that he swore would not turn left), You know, had you never told me this was not a wood wing I would have never known it was not an Ultra light Euro slipper. This wing really has a great range to it and is able to cover a lot of ground. He has an Ava Pro on the way which will make a good comparison someday down the road.

Keith Finkenbiner just sent me the pictures of his Atomic which weighed in at 43 ounces ready to fly. That is 2 ounces lower than mine so he will have a nice light air machine. He is the first to use the solid coving scheme which really looks sharp. He told me just now he hopes to make a test flight this Wednesday and see what we have all be talking about.

Steve and Chris went up to the Fresno contest this weekend. Saturday was a tough one given the weather only allowed them to fly one round. Sunday was a...Continue Reading