[LASS Soaring] That heavy ass Blaster II ...is awesome :-)

[Ben Wilson]

I'll give you that the Blaster is a "good thing" for DLG.  It's 
plentiful and the price-point is real competitive.  Kudos to Kennedy for 
putting it out there.

But as far as "two ounces either way won't put an extra minute per toss 
on the board" - I'd have to disagree with you there.
Maneuverability, nimbleness, ability to tightly thermal - those things 
are really, really important on any sailplane, and especially on a DLG. 
The wing on the new Blaster is extremely heavy.  The hot DLG in Europe, 
the Aspirin, has a full-carbon wing that weighs less. 

A heavy wing is not a good thing on a DLG.  You've got a lot of forces 
being exerted at launch, and with a reduced pylon and a heavier wing, 
I'm not sure that they'd be robust enough.   Waiting to hear back on that.

BUT - you'll be able to buy one at Toledo!  I wish I could say that 
about the XP-5 :)



GordySoar at aol.com wrote:
> /Neat lookin' design, but....  the wing is almost 2 ounces heavier than
> the XP5!  167g compared to the 110g of the XP5 wing./
> // 
> // 
> It is also 'bigger' more stab and rudder than the Xp5.
>  
> The question will be which one ends up putting more wood on the wall?
>  
> When I posted the Carbon tube idea for the Supra/AVA routing of the 
> pushrods, I got a bunch of posts back wailing about adding weight 
> behind the CG. A valid point, but not one of the guys who posted me 
> have yet to score above the bottom third in any contest.
>  
> I have found that focusing on foils, and weight distracts pilots from 
> thinking more about what puts points on the board (time and landings).
>  
> I've never owned a scale, well okay I owned one for about a day then 
> sold it....but I do manage to take wood most places I go.
>  
> Weight is a factor in all considerations and certainly in DLGs, but 
> two ounces either way won't put an extra minute per toss on the board, 
> or lose one.
>
> The XP5 is a purest sailplane, and if I were a DLG guy, I'd own them 
> for sure, but for 90% of the guys at your DLG contests, XP5 or Blaster 
> won't make a difference.
>
> Here's why the Blaster is the best thing to happen to DLG....more guys 
> will play because they are supposedly ARF (we all know it takes the 
> same amount of building for both).  They think they can buy an 
> advantage, or at least have a competitive ship that is almost ready, 
> just add servos, and the other misconceptions....all good things for 
> DLG :-)
>  
> So IF I were a DLG competitive guy I would be on the RC Groups raving 
> about any good thing, any redeeming feature of the Blaster 2 ;-)
>
> If they sell a bunch there will be a Blaster 3, lighter and stiffer ;-)
> Gordy
> NOT buying one :-)
>
>
>
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