Questions to DG Flugzeugbau
A cry for help for our own sake
Isn’t email is wonderful:
You can sit down at any time, put your questions into words and send them directly to the manufacturer. You don’t have to ask some secretary to put you through, and you can get really angry if you haven’t received a reply within a week.
A truly marvellous thing!......., However,
you probably cannot imagine what this now means for our team:
DG Flugzeugbau is a responsible company, providing support for about 5,000 aircraft types - among them 4.000 of Glaser-Dirks and Rolladen Schneider. Even if the individual owner does not have that many questions, the number of emails we receive day in day out soon adds up.
In the old times, pilots usually tried to solve their problems by consulting the manual or by talking to fellow flyers. Writing a letter to the manufacturer constituted quite an effort and meant having to wait for an answer. But these days, sending an email is so much quicker, isn’t it? And that’s why we receive hundreds of email queries from glider pilots every day …
and that isn’t even the end of it:
Then there are thousands of model aircraft flyers and builders.
And “of course” you need specific information from the manufacturer if you have a large scale model of an LS1 or a DG-400!
And how many hobby engineers do you think there are who constantly reinvent flying, and come to us with the most bizarre ideas, asking for our opinion or support?
And so it goes on – all day long. It is more than we can cope with, and our engineers are going down with all flags flying!
Every glider pilot first asking DG whenever there is something they want to know, is of course the result of our open, customer-oriented information policy. It is something we can probably be proud of – We only have ourselves to blame then, don’t we?
I do hope, however, that you will understand if, for the sake of this open information policy, I now have to put the brakes on. Otherwise, we simply would not get round to any constructive work.
So, here I would like to establish a few ground rules, which we will apply when answering your queries:
- When you like to ask any technical question to us, please be aware of the ident-number of your Service Agreement. You will be asked for it. In mails please write the ID-No into the reference-line.
- If you have a special technical question, please register in our new forum and ask this question there.
The idea behind this forum can be read here. - Please look at our website before you send your query. One of the many articles there may well already have an answer for you. There is a search function on the homepage, and that is where you should start.
-
Queries from DG and LS owners:
First, please consult your aircraft manual. If you cannot find the answer there, please make a posting in the a.m. forum -
Queries concerning the purchase of a new aircraft:
… will of course be answered forthwith by our sales department. -
Queries concerning repairs:
If you need a spare part and are not quite sure what exactly it is you need please ask our warehouse.
Checking with us is cheaper than having the wrong part delivered.
For older gliders you also will need the ID-number of your Service Agreement.spareparts(at)dg-flugzeugbau.de
Here you can find a list of the most common spare parts for the different types of gliders
If, on the other hand, you want to carry out a repair yourself – in your club workshop for instance – but aren’t quite sure how to go about it, I’m afraid we can’t tell you. It is quite out of the question that we provide repair tips without having seen the aircraft, if only for reasons of liability.
We cannot make you an offer based on just a photograph, either. One really has to see the aircraft in order to do serious business. Please contact our Customer Service and arrange a visit to Bruchsal! -
Queries concerning aircraft modifications:
The situation is similar to that of repairs. If you want to develop your own engine, or if you want to install an open fireplace
in your cockpit, you will need the approval of those responsible for the type support. If we apply for such an approval we always incur costs. Just send me your application, and I will then decide whether we want to join in or not.
The same is true for ideas that are completely new in aviation.
weber(at)dg-flugzeugbau.de -
Queries from model aircraft enthusiasts:
There is a special page for model aircraft enthusiasts.
Apart from that, we provide individual data sheets with an abundance of details for all our aircraft.
Other questions also can be asked in our forum.
We are only able to answer individual questions going beyond that if you are prepared to pay us for our time.
Profile coordinates are definitely out. -
Queries from students/trainees etc.:
We cannot do your course work for you. We are quite happy to give you a brief response to a specific question, but we do not have the time to deal with complicated issues.
It would be quite a different matter if you wanted to write your thesis with us. In that case, you could always ask us whether we are interested in the subject. Please write to the following address: - As far as other matters are concerned, I hope you will understand that the response you receive from our staff is sometimes a little brief.
I can assure you that this is not out of a lack of politeness. It is a sign of their increasingly desperate attempts to cope with the daily flood of emails.
What is it again people always say in such situations?:
Please bear with us!
This really is the only way!
- friedel weber - 
translation Karin Hulseman
Once more:
The Index-Page has a very powerful "Search-Function"
and here again are the Technical Notes