Tom,
Thanks for the update. Russia Sales are doing very well. Last winter we had a slow sales period (its the off season you know), but this winter we have a waiting list. I'm afraid production will fall behind demand this year- but hey, that's a good place to be if you're selling them. We expect to sell 16-20 gliders this year. There are 44 Russia's built and 34 of those are in the US. Also, we survived the economic crisis in Russia just fine.

We've been making a point of the Russia design improvements. Each model year the design gets better, stronger, and simplier. Still being certified as an Experimental Category allows us to make design changes and improvements. Once you get that Type Certification, you are fairly locked into the design. We recently looked at AC-4 #001- the original from the world class design competition in Orlinghausen, Germany. Quite a difference from the gliders currently being delivered.

Most sales now are the C model with retractable gear. It get's "near std cirrus" performance and people are glad to pay the extra few bucks for the retract model. Most of the A and B customers are opting for the wing root fairings (which give it solid 33:1 performance for an extra $750).

You page has been useful to pilots trying to compare ships. There is no other page on the net like it. I appreciate your invitation to round out the details.
 

Stats:
First, you may want to treat the AC-4a as having fairings standard. Most people order that options and it gives quite a performance improvement. To be fair, the PW-5 should have the D. Johnson seals as standard (which brings its performance up to advertised values). The AC-4a base model is $19,000 and the performance kit with fairings is an additional $750.

There are two Russia enclosed trailer designs. One for $4700, and the low profile one for $5900. Most people are ordering the low profile one so we may drop the 4700 dollar model. An open trailer is also available for $2700. Other manufacturers have raised their trailer prices too- PW-5 trailer is $7500 (whether you order thru SZD or Peak Soaring), the Junior Trailer is $7500. Not sure about the Blanik TV-1 trailer.

Peak Soaring (the new PW-5 distributor) has run some promotions on the PW-5 prices, but the fine print is it's without instruments or some other basic stuff. I believe their price is either $19,500 or $20,000. SZD posts their PW-5 price as $20,000.

The AC-4 has a gross weight increase to 605 lbs, and an empty weight of 300 lbs. The retract gear model is 330 lbs. Wing weight is now 80 lbs. Max wing loading is 7.3 lbs per square foot.

The Russia comes with a Special Airworthiness Certificate, I believe the row category of "Airworthiness Cert" should have "Type" and "Experimental" instead of Yes and No. It's a bit confusing for some.
 
 

Summary Section:
1-34, Can you really get a good one for $15,000?
L-33, no comments

AC-4
Russia Sailplanes now has a pretty good parts inventory and we've been around long enough to have a good network going. Also, we've shipped over a dozen enclosed trailers by now. Also, we have shipped 4 retractable gear models. Yes the styling inside is spartan, but it has improved somewhat over early model years (but still not our strong suit). It has also been in the US since 1993 and is currently flying in 6 clubs.

Junior,
I wouldn't classify the Junior as a great performer. It has a stated L/D of 35:1, but actually gets about 33:1. Furthermore, it's wings are designed to have a low stall speed and be very strong, not for performance. It's light wing loading gives it performance very similar to the L-33. Has automatic control connections though. Note: the Junior's performance is well known through testing. I've got some test flights from Germany if you're interested.

PW-5,
Well it is certainly as easy to fly as the AC-4, if not easier. It is a great climber- outclimbing just about everything in the sky without flaps. I wouldn't call it solid. It's resale value is suspect- there are currently 5 PW-5 for sale that have been listed for a while. It really doesn't have very good "legs". Performance is almost exactly the same as a K-6 and a bit better than a 1-36. It is visibly worse than a AC-4 or L-33 in the high speed range. The only modern glider to not have automatic control connections! What's up with that.
 

Conclusions:
I don't want to nitpick you conclusions, they are yours....

but, here's mine
In the low speed range, all five of these gliders will perform about the same, except the PW-5 will outclimb the rest of the pack. It floats like a leaf.

In the high speed range, the PW-5 floats like a leaf and falls behind. The 1-34 is probably intermediate, while the Junior, L-33, and Russia are a bit better. Putting fairings on the AC-4 gives it a noticable advantage

L/D really doesn't matter much. When you're thermalling, minimum sink and thermalling speed is important. When you're finding the next thermal you should be going 60-70 knots, therefore sinkrate at 70kts is important. The only time I fly at best L/D speed is under a weak cloud street.

The Junior is a nice glider, but you still have to deal with a heavy wing and a 15 meter wingspan. Given the price, I'd jump to a standard class ship- what does the Junior offer that a Pegasus or DG101 does not (except automatic control hookups)

The L-33 is a great ship. It's owners are a happy bunch, and it is a proven ship. Vitek is a nice guy, too. Russia's and L-33s are seldom sold (the owners like them too much). It handles nice and is appropriate for all but the newest pilots. Nicely engineered. Most people who buy a Russia had the L-33 as their second choice.

I'm convinced the Russia is a great ship, or I wouldn't be doing so much work Pro Bono to champion it. Aside from being a great value, it is well built, well designed, safe, a cinch to rig, fun fun fun to fly, has great visibility, and a variety of performance options to give it near std Cirrus performance (remember, all of those old 15 meter gliders- cirrus, ASW-15, Libelle, 1-35, Astir CS, DG-101, etc- only get 36:1 or 37:1 L/D).

If price were no object, the order for me would be
AC-4....L-33....Junior....PW-5....1-34
 

Chad Moore