It’s been a long wait, but my new Jonker Sailplane JS3 has finally arrived. My dealer rep, David Coggins, drove it across the country and helped me get acquainted.
The first day we slowly assembled and reviewed all of the gear in the trailer. Then I took 3 flights. The first two were a practice flights to get familiar and to practice landing. The third flight I decided to go soaring. I worked 3 or 4 thermals, and got to 14,000′ MSL (no oxygen, so couldn’t go up higher). The largest number on the averager for thermal strength was nearly 1500 fpm. I’d take that that number any day.
The second day we practiced with the sustainer jet engine on the ground. Then I took a high tow and practiced flying with it. I then took another pattern tow to practice landing. Then we decided to go soaring together, so I towed out toward mineral peak, connected and waited for David to arrive in Jim Lee’s JS1. We soared together for nearly two hours. I came home and we put the sailplane away in the trailer. I probably won’t get a chance to soar again until the spring, but it sure was fun to get these flights into it.
Please click into this gallery for close up pictures:
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