Say what? .... Yes a new VR14.
Last year was bit of a loss for me when it came to flying. Not sniveling or anything but a combination of events kind messed up my efforts when it came to flying. Things went off the rails with what seemed to be a minor injury (duffed a landing, tweaked an old work injury), then Covid in June, which turned into a foggy "Long Covid" (or what ever the hell they call the after effects?). This fouled up my recovery, left me not (IMO) sharp enough to be flying. It left me assessing what to do with season?
As it turned out the season sucked, I focused on recovery and crewing for my team and made the decision to sell my VQR and my older VR. With both gliders sold, I now had the decision to order a new wing.
At first I considered an all Dacron VQ (wanting to step back to an easier to fly and much lighter wing). But one last flight on my old VR convinced me that I really missed the track and thermal characteristics of the winglet gliders. Also, one thing I was not convinced about with the latest keel configurations from A.I.R. was the new full Carbon keel of the RACE models.
Well its a beautiful bit of engineering, I found the tail positions, linked to flap settings and upgraded sweep (forward) made the full carbon keel harder to land (at least harder for me). Given my experience, I made the decision to take on the option to order a new VR without the full Carbon keel. This option is called a VR14 (based on its certification year). The tail and sweep are much closer to the configuration of my older VR and because of improvements, nearly 12 pounds lighter and retains the older Flap/Tail compensation system. Maybe not as elegant as the New full Race setup but still a beautiful aircraft.
After some delays, stress and of course "money" the new wing arrived safe and sound (Thanks to CargoLux services Europe to Seattle, truck to Vancouver). As any A.I.R pilot will tell you.. .the sweetest sight you can see is a undamaged crate, on the vehicle and heading home!
Of course.... now all we need is some flying conditions to test out the baby... will report back when the deed is done...
