Notes on the DG505

Here are my first impressions of the DG505 which I had great fun
flying this weekend down at the Seminole Lake gliderport in Florida.

My first flight was in the front-seat in the 18m configuration.  My
instructor Knut was in the back, he told me the 505 was real easy to
fly and since we had already bought the ship I was thinking Dear God
that's what I already told everyone in the club and I hope he is right
otherwise I won't be able to return to Boulder.


When loaded for take-off the 505 rests on the nose-wheel.  If you use
a neutral stick position the nose will come up soon after the
take-roll starts - a few seconds later a slight back pressure on the
stick will get the bird off the ground. I did not notice any tendency
to PIO during takeoff.  It was very easy to control during the tow and
since Seminole lake is just above sea-level (120 MSL) the tow to 2000'
AGL behind the Pawnee seemed to take only a minute. I had put the gear
up on tow just after 1000' AGL - the gear was pretty easy to
move. Once off tow I tried a few turns - it was very responsive to
light control forces.  I tried a straight-ahead stall and the break
was benign with no wing drop. I then tried working some weak thermals
but not very successfully and then Knut said I was thermalling in the
pattern so we then we setup for landing - gear was easy to set down
and it makes a satisfying clunk sound when you push the lever
forward. This ship does have a gear-warning horn. I was using 60 knots
for landing approach - the dive brakes are very effective. The landing
technique is a nose-high minimum energy touch-down - soon in the roll
out the 505 settles on to the nose wheel. The wheel brakes are
activated by deploying full spoilers.

This flight was enough to convince me the 505 really is easy to fly
and control. What is it like in the 20m configuration ? - well I got
to try that later and it is truly Awesome!

So after lunch and little later in the afternoon we flew this time
using the 20m tips.  This flight I flew from the backseat. The
backseat has an adjusting strap that raises and lowers the seat
allowing for different pilot heights and to enable the instructor in
the back to see over the front seat pilot. With the some stronger
thermals and the better performance (approx 46/1) it was easy to work
the thermals. I thought the responsiveness was really good even with
the longer span - (probably as least as good as a DUO discus).  We
stayed up for about hour and half - (Knut needed to get back to attend
to the glider port) I thought the approach and flare was maybe just a
little easier with the longer tips.

On Sunday I flew the 505 with Bob Carl in the front again in the 20m
configuration. We stayed up in the local area for about 2 hours or so
- thermalling with a bunch of different gliders some piloted by pilots
practicing for the senior national contest to be held here in march.
We also checked out the LNAV and GPS that are fitted in this
ship. These instruments worked fine and since the terrain below seems
to be 1/3 swamp, 1/3 lakes, 1/6 trees and 1/6 doubtful meadow - it was
good to have navigation instruments working.  As far as I could tell
the varios worked accurately - no stick thermals.  Basically It was
great fun - this ship is going to be a great joy to fly in the
Rockies.


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DG505 Checkouts

It looks like we will have the ship ready to go at Boulder this
weekend Jan 31 (Bob Carl who is trailering the ship back was in the
Okie Panhandle this evening ) so hopefully we will be able to check
out club instructors by then. Our insurance for this ship is going to
require that SSB club instructors need 505 time before checking out
any member. Please contact Pedja to schedule a checkout using an SSB
club instructor.

Perhaps this weekend if we have two towplanes we can use a signup
sheet for 505 flights. We do need to be very protective of this glider
so the checkouts will be exacting - however the ship is a delight to
fly so enjoy!