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Guten Tag everyone, First post here, so a quick introduction: I'm River, an American living in Southern Germany, flying a Scheibe Falke SF-25. My friend Gus and I run a small YouTube channel called Final Approach to Flavor—the name basically sums up our mission statement: find interesting places to fly, then find something good to eat when we get there. We recently took the Falke up to Nördlingen, which is one of those places that looks like a postcard from the air (the town is built inside a giant meteor crater—makes for a stunning overhead join). We put together a short video of the flight and the lunch stop. It's 4K, so hopefully you can see the landscape clearly. There's also a shot of a pretty fantastic Schnitzel in there, if that's your thing. Link: The Ask: The video picked up about 50 views in the first few hours, which is great for a small channel, but we're really curious what the TMGA crowd thinks of the flying content specifically. Any tips on how to better capture the cockpit view without the camera mount taking up half the screen? With the the body being fabric, it really restricts mounting any external camera. What have you all found for mounting cameras facing outward? We're not trying to be influencers; we're just two guys with a camera who really like flying low and slow in Germany and want to share it with people who get it. Thanks for having us, and we hope to see some of you at a fly-in this summer. Viele Grüße, River Final Approach to Flavor

Are still open? I'd come and fly a few hours. I am working on my plane PPL but Virus if awesome glider. And I'd like get a glider rating as well.

And some information can be found here -- Truncated copy of demand letter sent to JMB. Buyer beware! 2026.02.24 JBM Aircraft LLC truncated demand letter.pdf

Subject: Phoenix U15 (NG) – updated wing/rudder design and owner experiences with JMB? Hello everyone, I am reaching out to the Touring Motorglider community to better understand the current status of the Phoenix U15 (NG), particularly regarding any recent design updates. I have heard references to new carbon wing structures and possible refinements intended to address earlier discussions about rudder flutter and wing flutter margins at higher speeds. If anyone has recent delivery experience, engineering information, or flight test feedback on the updated configuration, I would be very interested to learn more. In particular: Has anyone taken delivery of a recent Phoenix U15 NG with the revised wings or tail surfaces? Have any formal flutter analyses or flight test results been shared with customers? Have operating limitations (e.g., Vne) changed with the updated configuration? Has anyone had recent experience working with JMB Aircraft regarding timelines, communication, or technical documentation? I continue to believe the Phoenix concept is very appealing as a high-performance touring motorglider, and I hope the recent engineering work has strengthened the overall safety and long-term support framework for owners. Any information or perspectives would be greatly appreciated, either posted publicly or via private message. Thank you very much in advance.

Thanks! And that's great, I'll make sure to keep you in mind if I'm ever in Hawaii!

I would go with Jim Lee if he is available. His email is leejim17@yahoo.com However, I have a Phoenix and am a CFIG here in Honolulu and I like to fly.

Replacing the cowling is an option. Paul Oxenham of JMB (paul.oxenham@jmbaircraft.com) is the aftersales manager and is responsive. The new lower cowl was priced at $3400 USD with shipping in the ball park of $1000. I would still need to have the holes drilled as it has to be fitted specifically for the aircraft. I have chosen the local repair option. I don't have a price on that yet. I do have enough photos of an intact cowling now. Thank you. To address Barry's question. The wind likely had a crosswind component at or near 20 kts. The AOI does give a demonstrated crosswind capability of 23kts. I was using the short wings. The landing went fine but as I slowed down the U15 began to weathervane. My instinct was to brake which made me weathervane more which made me brake more which made me weathervane more..., I ended up on the nose. Your steerable tailwheel's friction with the ground is what allows you to track straight when the rudder loses effectiveness at slower speeds. I'd love to get more data on the number of prop strikes to increase the community's awareness. The few conversations I have had indicate there are quite a number that are not discussed in this and on the Google forum. Regardless of the actual numbers, just know that the tail is light and maybe including that in your preflight brief would be a prudent reminder.

Hi Alex, Sorry to hear about your incident. For our learning, how strong was the cross wind? The handbook says up to 23 Kts but I have always had a personal limit lower than that. You are more experienced than me in tail draggers too! It would be valuable to adjust my personal limit from your exprience. Have you got the photos you were after? I will be visiting my Phoenix later this week if you still need them. Barry #21 in Australia

Drat! Oh well. Do you happen to know if your CFIG still instructs?

Nice! Do you happen to have contact info for him? I've seen his posts in this forum but I might have missed his contact info.

Sorry I just took mine out of service. Insurance was $8k a year. I had a great cfig also. Best in the Midwest. My apologies

Jim Lee in Minden is your man. He used to be the US importer for the Phoenix and is a great flight instructor.

Anyone know of any CFIGs with Phoenix experience, and/or Phoenix’s available for rental?

Does it make sense to replace the lower cowling instead?

I’ll bring this topic to the top of the list to share that I had a prop strike while landing in strong crosswind. I executed heavy breaking and can attest that at slow speeds the brakes/wheels will have enough power/traction to nose the aircraft over. I won’t go over landing technique as Jim Lee has a post in this forum that I can’t improve on but should be read annually. I’ll just add that the aircraft’s ability to counter weather-vaning in a cross wind largely depends on the weight/friction of the tailwheel especially at lower speeds where the rudder is of little effect. The more aggressively you brake, the less effective the steerable tailwheel will be. I have asked around and there are more data points on this than I knew about. I do have a favor to ask. I have to repair the lower cowling. Could you please take some pics of your beautiful undamaged lower cowls and send to me? Shots taken from below from the front and sides would be appreciated. My email is alexress99@yahoo.com Thank you!

Thanks for sharing Barry. Nice editing work.

Probably not that unusual for the American pilots, but I was very happy to recently get to over 22,000ft in my Phoenix over the Australian alps.

I know some of you US Rockies flyers are used to this, but I had some very successful wave flying recently over the Australian Alps. FL224!!

Hello, I have acquired a 1984 Vivat L-13 SW. Does anyone have inspection checklists in pdf for this aircraft? Thank you.

If the engine is not running a relay opens and cuts power to the nav/strob lights (and the 12v power outlet) Is there a way to bypass this so the lights can be tested on the ground without the engine running.