There is a ASW-20 (A model I think) in a Komet trailer for sale at my home airport. It has been sitting outside in the trailer unflown for 9 years. Thoughts/opinions ?
The ASW-20 is a lovely glider with good ergonomics and performance. Yes, it has flaps but they’re just another flying control and if you understand what they do and how you should use them, they are of great benefit. The “A” models allow > +45deg deflection in the ultimate landing setting, which produces a fair amount of drag to go with the lift. Add in effective air brakes and you can fly pretty steep approaches to short landings, which is genuinely useful if the need arises. Due to the flexible wings, it rides turbulence well and is nice and stable in a thermal.
There is no compulsion to use the most aggressive flap setting if it isn’t required and the glider will land perfectly well even in neutral flap; there are all sorts of “omigod” stories regarding the “legendary” and “dangerous" short field performance but having flown “A” models, I regard it as a useful extension to the flight envelope and fairly benign if you know what to expect and are in practice.
In terms of stalling/spinning, the ’20 will do both with a bit of provocation but if you’re used to doing that kind of thing in powered light aircraft, you’ll find the vast majority of gliders quite sedate, due to the comparatively long spans/fuselages and lack of torque/slipstream effects. I have yet to spin a soaring glider (as opposed to an purpose-built aerobatic one) that was anywhere near a lowly C150 in excitement. The problems appear when you fly close to or outside the CofG limits but you had that one coming, didn’t you?
The downsides of an early model ’20 are:
a) It’ll be fairly old by now but if it’s been properly maintained, this shouldn’t be an issue.
b) Manually connected controls after rigging. Quite a few people have left the gene pool because of this.
c) The gelcoat may not be in the best condition. Due to the flexible wings and the type of gel/thinners Schleicher used, it tends to crack/craze a lot.
If it has been sitting in a trailer for 9 years with no attention, I’d be very worried about the state of well, everything! If it was in Arizona, it’d probably be OK. Most other places, definitely not. The ASW-15 had an issue with fungal growth in the spar when mistreated - the ’20 has less wood in it but there still might be some ply in the spar roots in-between the glass, I can’t remember. Modern machines are all carbon/aramid now. If the trailer wasn’t completely sealed, insects have made nests in the pneumatic plumbing and small mammals have probably nibbled their way around the wings and fuselage, having a go at any wiring en-route. If it wasn’t liberally greased after its last flight, I’d expect all the exposed metal to be well rusty and any bearings to be in poor condition. If the instruments were left in there, I’d be surprised if any of them worked.
In short, I’d avoid it. There are probably well loved examples around which although more expensive, will not need much spending on them. It might be worth pulling this one out of the trailer and having a sniff but bring someone who knows sailplanes and preferably maintains/repairs them for a living...