ASK13 sail plane

As an aircraft builder and scripter myself I thoroughly enjoy this little glider. Handling and crossings are smooth, the controls are intuitive, and the cockpit detail is excellent with gauges that are easy to read. The critiques I have are mostly nit-picks and none of the quirks I have found that keep me just shy of a five star review do I feel could not be ironed out in latter iterations. In short Rene has done an excellent job on a very difficult task and is well deserved a pat on the back. I hope to see more offerings like this in the future.

Been enjoying this glider a lot. It flies very well with glide characteristics that will make any real life glider pilot feel at home. Traveling around is easy yet challenging as you have to be smart about catching thermals to optimize your altitude and airspeed. Landing is as easy as breathing yet fulfilling when you grease the touchdown.

I truly adore this craft, and the only thing I would've loved to seen is perhaps the ASK21 with self launch, but honestly if that gets made I'll be buying it too.

So much of the experience of glider flight is here and as seamless as it can be in Second Life. If you have the Kimiko glider already this one is very different and does not feel like a repeat at all. One thing that makes this sailplane fun is the anticipation of what the next sim holds. Over every border is a new surprise and a chance to explore even a familiar route in a new way.

Once you are towed to altitude entering a new region is like playing a mini game. That 'mini game' is finding the thermal on your map hud and circling it or passing it depending on your intended course. The thermals stay the same as long as the region terrain does, so it's possible to memorize routes.

While all this is happening you are sitting in a very well modeled aircraft listening to your adjustable vario and the wind. The handling is very good, but landings can be jarring if you overuse your spoilers. For a challenge there is a 'race mode' which introduces a ceiling and tow limit.

The plane warns of ban lines and the hud shows you where there is land that allows build.The scripting is such that even with a passenger , intentionally flying carelessly, and into very laggy sims over a long distance, the plane never got stuck.

If I have to say something negative so this does not seem like a 'friend review', the hud sometimes delays re-starting far enough into a region that the thermal is shown behind the position of the plane. This delay helps keep the plane crossing borders easily and you can just turn around and ride the thermal anyway.

For pilots who like taking off and landing from abandoned land and non-airports-this plane can do it. There's usually someplace coming up that you can get a thermal and have room to circle. Oceans often have thermals that are not worth chasing, so make sure you get your altitude over terrain. I can only give 5 stars.