The ASW-17
I did nice flights on
board of the ASW-17 but I did not like to handle it during ground
operations. I found several design problems with this glider i.e. wheel
brake was poorly designed which resulted in a lack of efficiency, air
brakes were just not efficient. The major part of the wing
had a weight of about 120 kg which made the glider (de)rigging
synonymous as body-building.
Combining airbrakes with the landing parachute was very efficient. The release of the landing parachute is surprisingly not brutal nor violent. The only perception from within the cockpit is that the angle of attack slowly increases but the speed remains nearly constant.
Combining airbrakes with the landing parachute was very efficient. The release of the landing parachute is surprisingly not brutal nor violent. The only perception from within the cockpit is that the angle of attack slowly increases but the speed remains nearly constant.
Some technical details :
- Wingspan of 20 meters
- Empty weight : 410 kg
- Maximum weight : 610 kg
- Best gliding ratio : 48.5 at 100 km/h
Wheel Brake
A major disadvantage of this glider is the wheel brake. Many time I got it broken because it was poorly designed. It seems that some ASW-17 in the world are equipped with a Blanik wheel brake in order to increase its efficiency.
Too many times, I had to repair the wheel brake...