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Our Glasflugel Hph 304C This is our 3rd season operating it as a club glider, and so far we are very pleased with it. Like all glassfibre types, the 304 has more inertia and higher stall speed than the trainers we use. This is the principal point of the briefing we give to pilots new to the aircraft. Airspeed control is the most important thing. In our club, new 304 pilots must be competent in the L-13, including spot landings with and without the use of flaps. Although the L-13 does not do a good job of simulating the higher wing-loading of the 304, it shares with the 304 the characteristic that it will not tolerate mishandling of the spoilers near the ground. Pilots who understand this are ready for the 304. Our glider (Nr. 47) is still in as-new condition, and there have been no maintenance issues so far. I am aware of no factory service bulletins. There is no lifetime limit in the Czech type certificate, the US type certificate, nor the manual. This is a concept unfamiliar to us. In the US, an aircraft is legal to fly forever as long as it passes its annual inspection. Lifetime limits seem to be an Australian invention. Please send us all of your Blaniks when you are finished with them! As for options, we made mostly good choices: Waterballast, of course. The hydraulic disc brake is expensive, but we figure it will pay for itself one of these days in an off-field landing. The Tost drum brake is nearly worthless, in my opinion. We did get winglets, which probably have more influence on resale value than on performance. We have the "tall pilot" instrument console, with the cutouts for the knees. This was a mistake. Tall pilots have problems fitting, but not with their knees. The normal instrument console should be ordered in all cases. We did not get two tow releases. I am not sure it this was wise. I cannot make up my mind. The second release is expensive. We did install an undercarriage warning buzzer, using magnetic reed switches on the control rods. This is a good idea for a club ship, I think. Rick Sheppe |