SGS 1-26 to Grob 103?

[acpilot]

It is a simple transition to go from a lower performance glider to a Grob or similar?

 

[flyalot]

Grob 103 spoilers are extremely effective. Very easy to control. Some people seem to have trouble with the landings. ie-landing hard or PIO's etc. Assume the landing attitude with spoilers cracked, Pull the boards upon main wheel touch, easy a pie.

 

[AntiJedi]

The seating position requires a bit of adjustment, too. As Flyalot said, it's very easy to PIO, and landings will take some practice.

Another big thing that you can PIO with yaw very easily, and the yaw string can get away from you sometimes when lose sight of the string while looking for traffic.

I'm fairly low time myself, but suffice to say, graduating from low perfomance to high performance is not straight forward. You have to upgrade to it using what available resources are available. I started with the 2-33 (as most all glider pilots have) and am working on soloing the G103. There's another glass ship I can fly at the club to build time in as well, but eventually, this will work out as I get my HP-18 ready to fly.

 

[flyalot]

One more bit of advice.

No matter what input you give in the stick, give the same amount of rudder. Half stick half rudder, full stick full rudder. If you practice that a few times you'll understand what I'm trying to convey.

2-33,1-26 etc all like a little inside rudder to stay coordinated while turning.

Yes, the 103 is pitch sensitive. Some people ballast up the front to lessen the effect, yet it runs out of elevator for thermalling when configured like this.

Have fun, and you paid nothing for this advice!

 

[MJG]

My experience with the 1-26 to 103 was that the 103 felt like I was driving a dump truck compared to the little ole SGS 1-26. I has more mass, therefore more momentum to deal with, seemed "heavy" on the controls. There are days when the little 1-26 seems to do better than the 103 thermal wise. Just depends on the conditions. You also are much more reclined in the Grob than the 1-26. I actually prefer sitting more upright like you do in the SGS than you do in the Grob. The 103 needs more speed obviously than the SGS and it lands a bit faster as well but with the heavier feel, I found it to be no more difficult to land than any other glider I've flown.

I too have experienced full aft stick in a thermal to make things work in the Grob, the elevator is tiny on that glider compared to the 1-26. But it rides on tow a little better as well due to the heavier weight. The Grob has very docile stall characteristics. It's hard to tell if you are even stalled, it just sorta mushes over, not much break to it.

The Grob also gives a much rougher ride on the ground. No suspension in the main wheel as I recall. I can't remember what the 1-26 has but it's so much lighter that the ground ride isn't nearly as bad.

Given the choice on an average day to which one I would fly, I'd take the 1-26 over the Grob, it just seemed to be more "sporty" to me and therefore more fun to fly.

 

[AntiJedi]

I too have experienced full aft stick in a thermal to make things work in the Grob, the elevator is tiny on that glider compared to the 1-26. But it rides on tow a little better as well due to the heavier weight. The Grob has very docile stall characteristics.

Given the choice on an average day to which one I would fly, I'd take the 1-26 over the Grob, it just seemed to be more "sporty" to me and therefore more fun to fly.

On a windy day, I'd take the 1-26 over the Grob, simply due to the smaller wingspan, and more room to allow a slip. Both ships have their advantages and disadvantages, of course. On a good soaring day, I'm inclined to take the 1-26 or even the 2-33 since the lift take them to 10K+. Otherwise, having experience in the Grob will allow to take on days with poor low lift, take a higher tow, and work lift that would just produce near-level flight for the 1-26.

As for the full-aft stick, it's really fun when you're near the forward edge of the envelope. :nuts:

 

[Captzaahlie]

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