LS8a Wing Extensions

[Mike Williams]

I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
not.

Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
be?

MW

[Andy[_1_]]

On Mar 19, 8:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
> I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> not.
>
> Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> be?
>
> MW

I know someone that bought a new LS-8 and paid for 18m provisions
intending the buy the 18m tips later. When he followed up later he
was told he could not buy and fit the 18m tips even thought he had
paid for the provisions. I think he was told they had to be fitted at
the factory or not at all.

I assume that the tips are not interchangeable between gliders but I
don't own one and can't be sure that is true.

Andy (GY)

[Papa3]

On Mar 21, 8:34*am, Andy > wrote:
> On Mar 19, 8:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
>
> > I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> > From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> > not.
>
> > Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> > be?
>
> > MW
>
> I know someone that bought a new LS-8 and paid for 18m provisions
> intending the buy the 18m tips later. *When he followed up later he
> was told he could not buy and fit the 18m tips even thought he had
> paid for the provisions. *I think he was told they had to be fitted at
> the factory or not at all.
>
> I assume that the tips are not interchangeable between gliders but I
> don't own one and can't be sure that is true.
>
> Andy (GY)

Not sure if this answers the question, but...

When I bought my LS8-18 new back in 1999, I was told something
similar; ie. if you plan to use the 18M tips then you need to have
them "fitted". Since I was planning to get them regardless, it
didn't really matter to me too much. Now, unfortunately, I don't
recall whether there was a stipulation that the fitting be done at the
factory.

I can see how it might require some fiddling at the root rib of the
extension. There are a bunch of pins that all have to align (aileron
drives, fore and aft pins, pin on the spar extension, and threaded
locking collar), and the tolerances are fairly tight.

If I happen to run across another LS8 with 18M tips, I'll try to swap
and report back.

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)

[Mike Williams]

On Mar 20, 11:34*pm, Andy > wrote:
> On Mar 19, 8:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
>
> > I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> > From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> > not.
>
> > Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> > be?
>
> > MW
>
> I know someone that bought a new LS-8 and paid for 18m provisions
> intending the buy the 18m tips later. *When he followed up later he
> was told he could not buy and fit the 18m tips even thought he had
> paid for the provisions. *I think he was told they had to be fitted at
> the factory or not at all.
>
> I assume that the tips are not interchangeable between gliders but I
> don't own one and can't be sure that is true.
>
> Andy (GY)

Thanks.,...

[Mike Williams]

On Mar 21, 8:04*am, Papa3 > wrote:
> On Mar 21, 8:34*am, Andy > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Mar 19, 8:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
>
> > > I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> > > From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> > > not.
>
> > > Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> > > be?
>
> > > MW
>
> > I know someone that bought a new LS-8 and paid for 18m provisions
> > intending the buy the 18m tips later. *When he followed up later he
> > was told he could not buy and fit the 18m tips even thought he had
> > paid for the provisions. *I think he was told they had to be fitted at
> > the factory or not at all.
>
> > I assume that the tips are not interchangeable between gliders but I
> > don't own one and can't be sure that is true.
>
> > Andy (GY)
>
> Not sure if this answers the question, but...
>
> When I bought my LS8-18 new back in 1999, *I was told something
> similar; ie. if you plan to use the 18M tips then you need to have
> them "fitted". * Since I was planning to get them regardless, it
> didn't really matter to me too much. * *Now, unfortunately, I don't
> recall whether there was a stipulation that the fitting be done at the
> factory.
>
> I can see how it might require some fiddling at the root rib of the
> extension. * There are a bunch of pins that all have to align (aileron
> drives, fore and aft pins, pin on the spar extension, and threaded
> locking collar), *and the tolerances are fairly tight.
>
> If I happen to run across another LS8 with 18M tips, I'll try to swap
> and report back.
>
> Erik Mann
> LS8-18 (P3)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks....

[Herb]

On Mar 21, 7:04*am, Papa3 > wrote:
> On Mar 21, 8:34*am, Andy > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Mar 19, 8:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
>
> > > I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> > > From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> > > not.
>
> > > Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> > > be?
>
> > > MW
>
> > I know someone that bought a new LS-8 and paid for 18m provisions
> > intending the buy the 18m tips later. *When he followed up later he
> > was told he could not buy and fit the 18m tips even thought he had
> > paid for the provisions. *I think he was told they had to be fitted at
> > the factory or not at all.
>
> > I assume that the tips are not interchangeable between gliders but I
> > don't own one and can't be sure that is true.
>
> > Andy (GY)
>
> Not sure if this answers the question, but...
>
> When I bought my LS8-18 new back in 1999, *I was told something
> similar; ie. if you plan to use the 18M tips then you need to have
> them "fitted". * Since I was planning to get them regardless, it
> didn't really matter to me too much. * *Now, unfortunately, I don't
> recall whether there was a stipulation that the fitting be done at the
> factory.
>
> I can see how it might require some fiddling at the root rib of the
> extension. * There are a bunch of pins that all have to align (aileron
> drives, fore and aft pins, pin on the spar extension, and threaded
> locking collar), *and the tolerances are fairly tight.
>
> If I happen to run across another LS8 with 18M tips, I'll try to swap
> and report back.
>
> Erik Mann
> LS8-18 (P3)

Eric and All,

As I recall from about 10 years ago, the wings of the LS8 (my friend
Peter Pfoertner has serial #2) and those of my LS8-18 are completely
different. As was common for the LS6-18, the 8-18 wing was built in
molds that were creating a one-piece long wing. The 1.5 meter long
tips were then cut off - of course through the shell only. Hardware
for the quite sturdy tip extension is very different than the fixtures
to put winglets on a pure LS8. The spar for the 8-18 is reaching all
the way to the outside to connect into the extensions, the wing is
heavier.
This makes it very questionable to me that a glider built as a 15m LS8
can be extended to 18m. Besides, why would you want to do it? The
8-18 is not competitive against pure 18m flapped gliders and has a
pretty steep penalty when flown in Sports Class due to its handicap of
0.885. You really need to carry lots of water to make the glider run
well at high speeds. I rarely fly mine with the long wings, mainly at
the end of the season when N. Illinois thermals are even weaker than
usual.

Herb, LS8-18, J7

[Bela[_2_]]

On Mar 19, 9:06*pm, Mike Williams > wrote:
> I'm trying to find out what LS8a will take the 18m wing extensions.
> From what I've read, the "Pre DG" Ls8a will and the "Post DG" will
> not.
>
> Anyone know what serial number range or year manufactured that might
> be?
>
> MW

Mike,
during 2001 I spent a week at the Rolladen Scneider factory. They
must have had 40+ trailers parked, waiting for 18 m wing extention
fit. I was told they are custom fit for each LS8, including mine
which is S/N 8388 (late 2001 delivery).
Bela