new ASW 15B owner

[tom snyder]

Hi,

My name is Tom Snyder.  I'm a student glider pilot at the Chilhowee gliderport in East Tennessee. I've passed my written and as soon as I'm ready for the oral (next two to three weeks) I'll take my practical.
I just purchased an ASW 15B, serno 15450 . I'm picking it up pick it up next week in central Georgia.

[Johan van Ravenzwaaij]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the ASW crowd! 

I hope you will have fun with your new plane. Please post some pictures here after you picked it up.

[tom snyder]

Here is a photo of the 15B I just purchased

[Johan van Ravenzwaaij]

She is looking very nice. Is there also a Swiss Tennesssee? 

[tom snyder]

Not to my knowledge, but I like the Flag and plan on keeping it

[Johan van Ravenzwaaij]

You're right it's original 

Good luck with your oral exams and when you have got your plane; please take some pictures for my gallery.

[drwise]

Tom
Congrats on your purchase of the ASW 15b…
I’m in the process of buying one and hoped you might give me some advice/information…
It’s none of my business of how much you paid for your glider but could you advise me of a ball park figure I should expect to fork out???
Have you been pleased with it so far??? Any complaints or recommendations of what I should look out for when I go to inspect the glider???
Any other items that you might mention that would assist me in making the purchase???
Thanks for your help
David

[tom snyder]

David,

I paid $16,000.  The deal included a fiberglass trailer that makes rigging easy. It is well intrumented with a good radio, a mechanical vario, A/S indicator, altimeter and best of all a Cambridge 302 with a TE probe and PDA with glide Nav II.  The asw I purchased was one of the last ones made and has solid fiberglass spars. The acft also has a centerline aerotow hook as well as the offcenter cg hook. The acft has not been refinished but it's in good shape for its age.

I'm a low time pilot with about 180 flights and about 85 hours (I learned over the winter so many of my taining flights were .3 or .4s) I have 15, asw 15 flights each averaging about 2 hours. I find the acft to be very forgiving, stalls are gentle, it's pretty easy to keep the yaw string straight and aerotows are easy with the centerline hook - just hold the stick neutral and the acft launches itself.
The airbrakes are extremely effective and it takes a little practice to figure out how much to open them to settle gently after the roundout.  Yesterday I had to land with a gusty 15-20 kt 90 degree crosswind. The acft sideslips well and the landing was smooth.

I love the acft and look forward to each flight.  I learned in the 2-33, and transitioned into the Blanik L-13 and K7 prior to my first asw 15 flight.  I was well prepared and I actually think the acft is easier to fly than the BlaniK.  Yesterday I flew in formation with a very experienced pilot on the ridge.  He was in a ASW 20 and I was able to stay with him for about an hour, so in my humble opinion I think the performance is pretty darn good.

Where do you live?  I fly out of the Chilhowee Gliderport in East Tennessee.  If your close and you want, you are welcome to stop by and tsake a look at the acft.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask more questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

Tom

[drwise]

Tom
Thanks for the reply and all the information, it’s a big help…
Sounds like you made a sweet deal and are looking forward to many years of enjoyment in your 15…Looks like you’re well on your way in training and I’m guessing you’ve got some good instructors…Having you written and oral out of the way are big steps as I’m sure you know…If you can handle that kind of X wind, you should have no trouble with the practical…
I grew up in Knoxville and it was my home until I entered the Army in 1966…That’s where I learned to fly and it was all free….After I retired from the Army I got my civilian  fixed wing ratings CFI, CFII and ATP multi-engine land… Working as a CFI lets you build a lot of time and experience and you get paid for it… Worked as a Charter pilot until I finally retired, retired…
Hadn’t flown for a while and decided I really missed it and although I only had a few hours in gliders, of all the flying I’ve done, they were the most enjoyable…Thus I’m back in the game…
I’m currently living in Lancaster PA which is about 580 miles from Knoxville… When we visit we normally go down US 81 until just outside of Knoxville were we hit US 40…This actually takes us right by a Chilhowie, Tn. which I assume is where you fly out of ….I know there are some nice ridges in that area…The Appalachians aren’t much more than foot hills by the time they get up here but trying a XC from here to your area is one of the reasons I want to get back into gliders…
Good luck on your check ride: 1.Use your check list. 2. Stay ahead of the aircraft. 3. Above all FLY THE GLIDER!! You shouldn’t have any trouble…Even though I’ve got thousands of hours in helicopter and several thousand more in airplanes you are ahead of me in gliders, I took my first flight in a long time, last week and hope to solo in the near future…By the way that flight was just as exciting as my first ride in a Piper Cub when I was 10 years old…Seems like they all are!!
Let me know how the Practical goes and I’ll drop you a line when I solo…

Like us old helicopter pilots say…
” Keep the Fan on Top”
LTC David Wise
U.S. Army (retired)

PS: When you got your 15 was it local and if not how did that work???    You picked it up, they delivered, met half way or what???

[tom snyder]

I actually got my license in early Feb at Turf soaring in Arizona.  I went out there for a 10 day intensive course because our weather was pretty terrible.

I try to fly 3 to 4 days a week, I'm retired Navy so I have the time these days.

When I purchased the glider I went down to Georgia with my instructor who is also an A&P.  We assembled the glider with the previous owner and did a pretty thorough inspection. 

A couple of more thoughts, the previous owner of my acft had a lien, if the person you are buying from has one ensure you get a bank release because there is no title on aircraft and the FAA will issue an owners registration even if there is a lien, which could be a big problem down the road if the bank were to repo the aircraft.  The other thing to think about is the trailer. The owner of my glider never registered the trailer because he never moved it. Fortunately TN agreed to issue a title against a very old expired registration from the previous, previous owner (There is no VIN on the trailer, it was built in Germany).  If I were in a more progressive state I might not have been so lucky, East TN is pretty laid back. I forget the form number but you need to use the FAA bill of sale and have the previous owner sign it. You also need to have the owner sign the back of the aircraft owners registration. You have to provide both of the documents when you register the acft with the FAA.

Hope this helps, stay in touch
Tom








;.

[drwise]

Tom
Big help!! That’s some good info. I had already planned on having one of the local A&P look it over. I’m not sure what they would charge but it seems like it would be a good investment. Both are in current annuals. If I buy one of the gliders I’ll have to finance it and they require a lien search but I hadn’t thought about doing one if I paid cash so thanks for the good advice.
One trailer is in NC and doesn’t presently have a tag. Don’t know if it was ever registered. The other one is in WA and I’m not sure if it has a tag or not. I do know it was in Tennessee for a time so it should have been registered there. In any case I'll check.
I’ll make sure I have the FAA bill of sale form when I go and have the owner sign the back of the Registration.
I’m contacting a bank that’s in Hobbs NM and works with the SSA. I hope they have some sort of packet or checklist that they can provide.
Thank for all the help you’ve provided.

David

[drwise]

Tom
I may be in the East Tennessee area in a week or so. I'd love to stop by and see your new 15b. If you would drop me a line at drwise@dejazzd.com so we can get together..

David