Skydiver grabs glider's tail fin as they fly at 100mph

Red Bull at work. Those are nice gliders, Chezch built L-13 two seat metal gliders. They are nice flying gliders.

Too bad the world wide L-13 fleet is grounded now. $15K market value now scrap aluminum. I think only the L-13AC (Acro) are still flying.
The L-23 is also still flying.
 
ajstoner21 said:
Why is the L-13 fleet grounded?
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Spar failure on winch launch. Factory asked for log book data on all models for ratio of winch vs aero tow and also dual vs solo flight and hours of acro as a percentage of total flight hours. Those records did not exist as they weren't required to be kept. Can't meet the factory requirements, can't get released to fly.

Also the design of laying up layers of metal for the spar, rivet, and then more layers and more rivets. Not possible to check for internal cracks in the buried layers with buried rivets. No eddy current, no X-ray.

Various fixes have been proposed, but not approved yet. Last I heard was one fix could cost $35K. The glider would still only be worth $15K to $20K after the repair.
 
there is an AD approved in Europe for return to service. It is not cheap and involves major rebuild/replacement of the spar carrythrough. Nothing has been approved in the US yet.
 
Wow, that's a bummer. Lot of clubs probably only have good old Blaniks. That's what I got my PPG, CPG and CFIG in (and the wings never fell off)
 
yea it really put a bunch of clubs in a bind. my old club in Iowa has reverted back to their old 2-22. Many other clubs have scrambled for 2-33s and the like. prices on 2-33's have jumped at least 25%
 
Our club L-13 is now sitting, disassembled, in a barn. We did manage to find a 2-33 just before the price jumped. After it had been mothballed for 17 yrs it was finally put back into service a couple weekends ago.
 
Funny thing is I'm pretty sure the bits that failed are identical(just newer) on the still legal to fly L-23s. In some ways I wouldn't mind seeing the L-23s get grounded as well then maybe America could move on to glass 2 seaters...
 
ClimbnSink said:
Funny thing is I'm pretty sure the bits that failed are identical(just newer) on the still legal to fly L-23s. In some ways I wouldn't mind seeing the L-23s get grounded as well then maybe America could move on to glass 2 seaters...
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i've been told that the -23's have a different carrythrough.

i'm pretty sure all the clubs that have the $$$ to buy glass 2 seaters have already done so.
 
tonycondon said:
i've been told that the -23's have a different carrythrough.

i'm pretty sure all the clubs that have the $$$ to buy glass 2 seaters have already done so.
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Ours has stuck with metal due to stupid old bastards and not $.
 
I think the latest SSA report sated there were about 90 L-13s in the US. For a lot of clubs that may have been their only 2seat trainer. Some clubs had 2 or 3 L-13s. Training stopped while they scrambled for dollars to find any 2seater they could afford.

Our trusty 2-33 has been in the area since it was new, and the club bought it over 22yrs ago. It's trained a lot of pilots. We do have a Grob 103 for advanced training and those students that do not fit inthe 2-33.
 
Any guesses on if the L-13 fleet will ever fly again? Seems like the only way they'll be allowed off the ground will be after modifications to the spar structure or the addition of reinforcements. I know that one method has been proposed and is waiting for approval, but I understand that the fix will cost more than the gliders are worth. I wonder if some club that has several L-13s and a couple of mechanics as members might be able to make the repairs and save on the cost of labor. If that happens, maybe some of those clubs might buy up L-13s cheap, repair, and resell them?
 
Depending on the required mods. I would thing the clubs would have A&P's that could hook them up with the needed repairs.

I would.
 
n20junkie said:
Depending on the required mods. I would thing the clubs would have A&P's that could hook them up with the needed repairs.

I would.
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One proposed "mod" that has not met factory or AESA approval required the wings to be opened and spar reinforced plus skin reinforcement to spar along the underside. The estimated cost was $10-$15K and added significant weight plus possible change to the airfoil.

All this on a glider that was valued at about $15-$17K before they were grounded.
 
BillTIZ said:
One proposed "mod" that has not met factory or AESA approval required the wings to be opened and spar reinforced plus skin reinforcement to spar along the underside. The estimated cost was $10-$15K and added significant weight plus possible change to the airfoil.

All this on a glider that was valued at about $15-$17K before they were grounded.
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I think that estimated cost was for just the parts? I can't remember if that even included the labor.
 
Skylane81E said:
that's where I found it;)
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Pete and I have a very good friend who flies out there. Its one of the largest clubs in the US, good equipment and good facilities. Hopefully Pete will be taking the Ka-6 there next summer for the Region 6 contest!
 
tonycondon said:
yea it really put a bunch of clubs in a bind. my old club in Iowa has reverted back to their old 2-22. Many other clubs have scrambled for 2-33s and the like. prices on 2-33's have jumped at least 25%
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I recall the wing in the L-13 being firmly attached on the glider intro flight you gave me in 2006.
 
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