Re: Plans Built Glider

[Jim Culp]

Hello Curt,

The Sailplane Homebuilders Assn of
Soaring Society of America is a natural for you, as
is
Vintage Sailplane Association.
Goto
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com

http://www.vintagesailplane.org

http://home.earthlink.net/~raulb/

http://vintagesailplanes.de/Ka8.htm


Harken to what I have to tell you, as follows:

Let me recommend to you a wonderful classic design,

the Schleicher Ka8B.
Get one and keep it flying.
They are superb.
They are resellable. You will not be disappointed.


You may find at least one K8 for sale now on tim mara's
Wingsandwheels.com website,
under used sailplanes for sale.

They appear from time to time advertised in Soaring
magazine and the SSA webite classifieds.

Prices of these sturdy robust yet nimble 15 meter span
classics of great fame and superb flying ability, with
instruments and trailer, range about $5800-$8000 .

Go for it. You can from time to time satisfy your
need and desire to build by maintaining, recovering,
or trailer building.

In the meantime, gain the appreciation of such a fine
glider by flying it. You will find ways to stay busy
on tasks you set for yourself.

Wings and control surfaces are wood, stick and gusset,
with aircraft fabric cover.

The glider is Aircraft Type Certificated. Single seater.

Generally they are licensed Standard Airworthiness
Certificate in US. Most here were factory built in
Germany, tho a few came as kits. Most are ATC STD
Airworthiness. Many clubs used them and many were and
are privately owned.

K8s, they are quite good for flying the FAI Silver
C and Gold C badges without problems. I did my Silver
C in one, and went for badge legs of the Gold C as
well.

Fuselage is robust steel tube, its shape is fabric
covered and it has a fiberglas nose cone;
horizontal tail is wood and fabric
and vertical fin and rudder being wood or wood and
fabric.

They are fixed landing gear with wheel and a nose
skid plus a tail skid. Assembly and disassembly
is easy and quick. These gliders have nose hook and
CG hook. They can be autotowed, winch launched, bungee
launched (assuming you have a suitable launch site),
or aerotowed.

Get one with an enclosed trailer, or build that yourself...ENCLOSE
D TRAILER IS IMPORTANT. You must have that.

This design is one I have flown much and I was involved
in wing recover, stick and gusset reglues inside wing,
and other maintenance. I loved it. The design is
by one of the great glider companies of the world Alexander
Schleicher Segelflugzeugbau.

Truly, I hope you will get one and keep it flying well
I will hope to hear from you on it and your badge
accomplishments with it. Feel free to call me anytime.


Dancing on clouds,

Keep it up!

Jim Culp USA
GatorCity Florida
Std Libelle

[Robin Birch]

Hi There,
Would completely agree with what Jim says. However I would say that if
you are good with wood and want an all wood machine then you could also
get a Ka6CR or Ka6E. These are all wood (give or take the odd metal
bracket). Made by the same people as Ka8s and are much better gliders.
Not to do Ka8s down as I love them and nearly bought one myself a couple
of years ago.

Again, get one that needs a refurbish and do it yourself. It'll get you
used to the "aviation way of doing things".

Ka6s are 15 metre, fuselage is plywood with wood frames and stingers.
Wings, tail plane and fin are all wood. CR is normal tail plane and
elevator, E is an all flying tail and I think a slightly improved wing
section. The E is the higher performance model.

Ka6s were described by a bloke I once met as the nearest thing to
strapping wings on your back and jumping into the air. I agree, lovely
planes, easy to fly and very very good value. One at our club regularly
does 300s.

Again, a classic design, easily re-sellable, there are higher
performance wood designs but not many (the SHK comes to mind but is a
more complex machine with its V tail).

What ever you do good luck. Building a powered craft or a glider is
something I've always wanted to do but never had the time or space.

Robin Birch
Astir CS77
Cirencester UK

In message >, Jim Culp
> writes
>Hello Curt,
>
>The Sailplane Homebuilders Assn of
>Soaring Society of America is a natural for you, as
>is
>Vintage Sailplane Association.
>Goto
>http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com
>
>http://www.vintagesailplane.org
>
>http://home.earthlink.net/~raulb/
>
>http://vintagesailplanes.de/Ka8.htm
>
>
>Harken to what I have to tell you, as follows:
>
>Let me recommend to you a wonderful classic design,
>
>the Schleicher Ka8B.
>Get one and keep it flying.
>They are superb.
>They are resellable. You will not be disappointed.
>
>
>You may find at least one K8 for sale now on tim mara's
> Wingsandwheels.com website,
>under used sailplanes for sale.
>
>They appear from time to time advertised in Soaring
>magazine and the SSA webite classifieds.
>
>Prices of these sturdy robust yet nimble 15 meter span
>classics of great fame and superb flying ability, with
>instruments and trailer, range about $5800-$8000 .
>
>Go for it. You can from time to time satisfy your
>need and desire to build by maintaining, recovering,
> or trailer building.
>
>In the meantime, gain the appreciation of such a fine
>glider by flying it. You will find ways to stay busy
>on tasks you set for yourself.
>
>Wings and control surfaces are wood, stick and gusset,
>with aircraft fabric cover.
>
>The glider is Aircraft Type Certificated. Single seater.
>
>Generally they are licensed Standard Airworthiness
>Certificate in US. Most here were factory built in
>Germany, tho a few came as kits. Most are ATC STD
>Airworthiness. Many clubs used them and many were and
>are privately owned.
>
>K8s, they are quite good for flying the FAI Silver
>C and Gold C badges without problems. I did my Silver
>C in one, and went for badge legs of the Gold C as
>well.
>
>Fuselage is robust steel tube, its shape is fabric
>covered and it has a fiberglas nose cone;
>horizontal tail is wood and fabric
>and vertical fin and rudder being wood or wood and
>fabric.
>
> They are fixed landing gear with wheel and a nose
>skid plus a tail skid. Assembly and disassembly
>is easy and quick. These gliders have nose hook and
>CG hook. They can be autotowed, winch launched, bungee
>launched (assuming you have a suitable launch site),
>or aerotowed.
>
>Get one with an enclosed trailer, or build that yourself...ENCLOSE
>D TRAILER IS IMPORTANT. You must have that.
>
>This design is one I have flown much and I was involved
>in wing recover, stick and gusset reglues inside wing,
> and other maintenance. I loved it. The design is
>by one of the great glider companies of the world Alexander
>Schleicher Segelflugzeugbau.
>
>Truly, I hope you will get one and keep it flying well
> I will hope to hear from you on it and your badge
>accomplishments with it. Feel free to call me anytime.
>
>
>Dancing on clouds,
>
>Keep it up!
>
>Jim Culp USA
>GatorCity Florida
>Std Libelle
>
>
>

--
Robin Birch

[Lennie the Lurker]

Jim Culp > wrote in message >...
> Hello Curt,
>
> The Sailplane Homebuilders Assn of
> Soaring Society of America is a natural for you, as
> is
> Vintage Sailplane Association.
> Goto
> http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com

I agree with this.
>
> >
> the Schleicher Ka8B.

I disagree with this, you have a woodworker that wants to build a
plane from scratch, not a backyard mechanic that wants to restore a
hacked out piece of ****. Your advise is useless, culp, but why did I
expect otherwise. It's apparent that the concept of wanting to build
something with your own hands is one you've never become aquainted
with.

Woodstock plans are still available, and for a fun ship, there isn't a
damn thing wrong with it except for the field snobs.

[Eggs]

Hold on there big fella!

I appreciate everyone's opinion. I might build, I might fix up, I might
forget the whole thing, but let's not get nasty with one another.

I thank one and all for their thoughtful advice and look forward to further
converstations and insight.

Take care.

Curt

[Steve]

> I appreciate everyone's opinion. I might build, I might fix up, I might
> forget the whole thing, but let's not get nasty with one another.
> Take care.
>
> Curt

If you choose to fix up, I have two wrecked K-8s you could choose
from. One, built from a Schempp-Hirth made kit, has a broken right
wing. Included with this is a fairly complete set of drawings and a
damaged ASK-14 wing from which the wood to do the spar repair can be
obtained. The other, made originally by Schleicher, landed in some
trees, trying to get back to the home field. No main spar damage on
this one, but lots of leading edge damage to one wing, a little to the
other, and lots of bent tubes in the nose. One factory trailer is
available, but you have to buy a glider project to get the trailer.

First and foremost is get in the air. Personally owned, club, leased,
or whatever. Then, if you want a project, find one that is to your
liking and enjoy the time spent working on it.

Steve Leonard
Owner, Steve's Aircraft Supply and Salvage Yard (SASSY!)
Accumulating broken gliders since 1990.

[Kimobear]

In article >,
(Lennie the Lurker) writes:

>I disagree with this, you have a woodworker that wants to build a
>plane from scratch, not a backyard mechanic that wants to restore a
>hacked out piece of ****. Your advise is useless, culp,

Well, the lurker struck again,
Trying to drive away an other person interested in soaring with his ill
manners.
He is only able to insult and berate people.
Claims he never drinks but talks like an aggressive drunk at bar closing time.
Makes you wonder.

As for calling a Ka-6 or Ka-8 a hacked out piece of ****. You show you
ignorance by opening your mouth and voicing your "opinion"

Don't let some ignorant hateful half wit take away your dreams or desires,
instead talk to people who have done one or the other (or both) and find out
what is best suited for you and go have fun.

groetjes
Kimobear
who has many fond memories of flying and working on Ka-6's and Ka-8's

[Chris Reed]

Jim is quite right that the K8 is a nice glider of its period. When I began
flying 7 years ago my club in the UK had a K8 as the first single seater,
and it was known as the "Wooden Parachute" because it was easy to fly,
robust, and had no vicious habits.

If you decide to rebuild one with a view to flying it long-term, I think the
main consideration is the kind of flying you want to do. For XC flying the
biggest drawback of the K8 is that it has very poor penetration into wind.
The report from the UK Juniors competition this year gave one's experience
of a competition finish - "A K8 is the most efficient machine for turning
height into noise". Many pilots have flown Gold distance in a K8, but the
skill level required is very high - miss out on just one thermal by going to
the wrong cloud and you could be on the ground (in the UK anyway). My plans
for next year are Gold attempts in an Open Cirrus - if I get really good, in
a few years time I might try in a K8.

But for local soaring or short XC on light wind days, a K8 would be a
pleasure to fly. My club's K8 is nostagically missed, though I think that if
we bought another one it would be used far less than the glass single
seaters.


"Jim Culp" > wrote in message
...
> Harken to what I have to tell you, as follows:
>
> Let me recommend to you a wonderful classic design,
>
> the Schleicher Ka8B.
> Get one and keep it flying.
> They are superb.
> They are resellable. You will not be disappointed.
>