In any case, I thought the RF4 had a VW engine and they are normally converted to dual ignition for aviation use - edit, I see the RF4 was at least initially a CofA aircraft with a single mag and might still be?
I have a Turbulent which is a lovely aircraft to fly. It is just very different from anything I had flown previously, Pipers, Cessnas, similar beasts. At first I missed all the dials, levers and flashing lights in the bigger aircraft. Now I have grown to enjoy its simplicity. I am in the wilds of Wales and don't miss having a transponder at all. A few years back I used to hire a C152 from Blackbushe which didn't have one either. After a year or two of flying the Turbulent, when I had to sit in an IFR equipped 172 to revalidate it felt like sitting in a mini airliner. I was quite overwhelmed for the first few minutes. I often think that private pilots fall into two categories: retired airline pilots who like to fly cubs and off duty IT consultants who like to fly mini airliners. I started in the latter category (though not an IT consultant), but have found my tastes change.
There are two reasons to have a transponder. One is to help you. The other is to help other people.
The two problems I've had due to being transponderless were being made to fly complex patterns in a RMZ, and in the 152 having a radio failure. It would have been nice to be able to set 7600 on a transponder. The ATC in the RMZ sounded thoroughly stressed as she had one of the Airbus guppy thingies arriving not far away and I'm guessing I didn't give a good radar return as IIRC I had to do some climbs/descents as well. I found the experience quite interesting but I think it would be unfair on ATC if you were in a busy airspace and took up that much of their attention on a regular basis. There are doubtless some safety benefits to transponders in busy airspace. In Wales I very rarely see another aircraft on a flight, let alone come close to one. Flying spamcans round Scotland and Wales I also often found that my radio/transponder signal disappeared behind high terrain so I end up getting stressed making blind calls and worrying that people will be worrying about me disappearing from their screens, or hearing people tell me that I have disappeared from their screens and can't hear my reply. I have a satellite Personal Locator Beacon.
Personally if I were in your situation with some glider experience I could really see the appeal of a decent RF4. There's lots of fun to be had well clear of airspace. The questions I would be asking would be more to do with the other group members and maintenance. Who does it? Are they competent? My own experience is that there's often something to be fixed on an aircraft of this vintage and if you do need any new parts they will have to be fabricated which will be expensive if someone has to do it professionally.
Last edited by abgd; 26th Nov 2019 at 00:01.