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Jim
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 Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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On 9 Jun 2005 05:57:34 GMT, Ian Cant
<REMOVE_TO_REPLY.iancant (AT) inreach (DOT) com> wrote:
| Quote: | My Russia works out at about 7 lbs/sq ft. Last September
I shared a thermal with a Sparrowhawk - it was turning
tight and climbing just a shade better than me. And
it's probably a little faster in cruise as well. To
my mind a 'serious cross-country ship' in the West
needs to carry 'serious landout and safety equipment'.
How much space and weight can the Sparrowhawk offer
when you're sitting in the cockpit ?
Ian
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The cockpit is very roomy, and the instrument panel lifts up with
the canopy.
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Jim
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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On 9 Jun 2005 06:45:35 -0700, "Willie G" <ecolor (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote:
| Quote: |
M B wrote:
Something of an engineering marvel, in my opinion.
Haven't flown one yet, but the idea of a 145# or so
glider with that kind of no-flap performance is
simply mindblowing to me.
What kind of performance? I am still waiting on an
independent flight test of this ship.
The idea of an 11 meter ship with 36:1 glide ratio
seems unrealistic. I also wondered how a 150 pound
sailplane would have any penetration into the wind.
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Isn't it the wing loading, rather than the gross weight of the
aircraft, that is a factor?
| Quote: | $22k vs. $35k is enough to make some tilters (like
me) consider other options.
I briefly considered this ship until I saw the price vs
performance. With instruments and trailer, this comes
out to $40k, for that I can buy that's two used libelles
that can really go 38:1.
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jdsoar@wans.net
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:30 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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In January both Dean Carswell and I performed a number of test
flights with the Sparrow Hawk at Caddo Mills, and we both were quite
pleased with it. The results will appear in Soaring soon.
It was very easy to fly, and to prove that, I somehow made 8 perfect
(in my opinion anyway) landings in a row. My wing loading was 5.15 psf,
but that included the 25 lb BRS parachute system.
Dick Johnson
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M B
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:37 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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The PW-5 has performance and materials and
weight within 30% of quite a few other gliders, including
the Russia and Grob 102 club.
If you are aware of a glider which has more than
a dozen produced by the factory which is within
30% of the performance and empty weight of the
Sparrowhawk, I would love to read about it. Please
post this info or e-mail it to me.
The Carbon Dragon seems the closest (and I also
consider it an engineering marvel) but the
difference is there is no factory producing a
finished glider in any noticeable quantity.
To my knowledge it is a
onesy or twosy amateur built glider.
<flame suit on>
It also gets its
performance by use of flaps, which I (being
a tilter) consider cheating...
:P
At 11:00 09 June 2005, Gk wrote:
| Quote: |
Something of an engineering marvel, in my opinion.
Pleaseee, if SH is an 'engineering marvel' then constructor
of Pewee
should get a Nopel prize...
Mark J. Boyd |
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Eric Greenwell
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:30 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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Ian Cant wrote:
| Quote: | To
my mind a 'serious cross-country ship' in the West
needs to carry 'serious landout and safety equipment'.
How much space and weight can the Sparrowhawk offer
when you're sitting in the cockpit ?
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There is plenty of room behind the cockpit for the tiedowns and
emergency kit you'd want to carry, and the 5-10 pounds of weight won't
be a problem, except for the heaviest pilots with the BRS option installed.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA
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Brian Iten
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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I am curious if anyone has performed spin testing with
the Sparrowhawk yet and I don't mean from owners who
say it recovers fine when they only had the first indication
of a spin.
Brian
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Brian Iten
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:43 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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Sorry, I meant to say first indication of a stall before
it broke into a spin....
Brian
At 18:54 09 June 2005, Brian Iten wrote:
| Quote: | I am curious if anyone has performed spin testing with
the Sparrowhawk yet and I don't mean from owners who
say it recovers fine when they only had the first indication
of a spin.
Brian
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Eric Greenwell
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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Willie G wrote:
| Quote: | What kind of performance? I am still waiting on an
independent flight test of this ship.
The idea of an 11 meter ship with 36:1 glide ratio
seems unrealistic. I also wondered how a 150 pound
sailplane would have any penetration into the wind.
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It's not 150 pounds when it's flying, but with the pilot, typically a
BRS, instruments, battery, etc, it's between 350 and 400 pounds. That,
and the small wing area give a 5 to 6 pound/sg ft wing loading. It's not
a "floater".
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA
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hombres@direcway.com
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:48 am Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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All,
Thanks for the information and sharing your thoughts. I would really
like to thank Eric Greenwell for taking the time to write the articles
in Soaring Magazine. I look forward to reading the Dick Johnson report
in the near future. Now time to schedule a trip to the northwest and
take a look for myself.
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Yurek
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:10 am Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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Eric Greenwell <flyguy26e (AT) charter (DOT) netto> wrote
| Quote: | It's not 150 pounds when it's flying, but with the pilot, typically a
BRS, instruments, battery, etc, it's between 350 and 400 pounds. That,
and the small wing area give a 5 to 6 pound/sg ft wing loading. It's not
a "floater".
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Definitely, the wing loading is important, not the only weight of the
glider.
When we know that the Silent-2 with its 663 pounds of MTOW (298 lbs of
empty weight) and 7,0 lbs/sq ft, reaches L/D of 39:1, also the figures
given for Sparrowhawk seem to be realistic.
Is it possible to fly cross-country with an ultra-light glider ?
After flights of Leonardo Benetti-Longhini, reaching with the Silent-2
a 627 km free distance, the definitive answer was given by Dave
Stevenson jr, who pushed with the same glider the FAI DU world record
of distance on 904 km ! 
(http://records.fai.org/gliding/pending.asp - file ID 11488)
Yurek
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hombres@direcway.com
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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When I saw the record set by the Silent 2 I went to the web site so
that I could compare specs. They seem similar which is encouraging. Was
Dave's flight a ridge run ? I live in Texas so most of my flying will
be theraml lift . Anyway I may be out west soon I am going to go take a
look, seems like a fun little glider.
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Eric Greenwell
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: Sparrowhawk Ultralight |
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[email]hombres (AT) direcway (DOT) com[/email] wrote:
| Quote: | When I saw the record set by the Silent 2 I went to the web site so
that I could compare specs. They seem similar which is encouraging. Was
Dave's flight a ridge run ? I live in Texas so most of my flying will
be theraml lift . Anyway I may be out west soon I am going to go take a
look, seems like a fun little glider.
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Part of it was ridge running, but the majority of it was a downwind
dash. The URL for his flight trace and barogram is
http://tinyurl.com/9ger2
What a great flight! I've never flown that far, even in my ASH 26 E.
Dave has flown the SparrowHawk a number of times, so you might want to
call him about his impressions. Dave also flies a Ka-6e and an Elfe.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA
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