L-23 assembly

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I purchased an L-23 a few months back. I hope to fly soon. It's still tucked away in the trailer.

I purchased three wing stands from Wing & Wheels to assist with assembly.

Are there any tips out there to make the process go smoothly? I moved the wings around when we did the annual & they're quite heavy though manageable.

When installing the T-tail would a couple of step ladders be advised?

It's been over 20 years since I've done this.

Thanks in advance.

[Charles Longley]

Yeah get about 5 friends to help you. A short step ladder is helpful getting the horizontal on.

[Tango Eight]

On Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 12:52:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
> I purchased an L-23 a few months back. I hope to fly soon. It's still tucked away in the trailer.
>
> I purchased three wing stands from Wing & Wheels to assist with assembly.
>
> Are there any tips out there to make the process go smoothly? I moved the wings around when we did the annual & they're quite heavy though manageable.
>
> When installing the T-tail would a couple of step ladders be advised?
>
> It's been over 20 years since I've done this.
>
> Thanks in advance.

Just put ours together Saturday. A crew of five, one wing stand. For the wings, it's generally easiest to put the drag spar pin in first.

Four guys on the tail. One on each tip, one on the leading edge, one other whose job it is to eyeball the elevator pins (grease thoroughly!) and sockets and get everyone lined up. Ladder not required and probably just in the way. Center the trim tab and trim lever before assembly.

T8

[Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas]

Plan to remove the horizontal every 3 months to re-grease the pins otherwise it is almost impossible to remove when the grease gets old. Ask me how I know!

I've owned two L-23's and rigged them several times a year resulting in my 5 page assembly document if you request it from me in an e-mail to

Wing stands are not very useful and the wings need to be jiggled to get the drag and main pins to tap in.
Be sure to use the factory "drift pin tool" to align the spar holes before tapping in the main pin. Do not depend on wing stands.

Burt
Marfa, TX
Now training and giving free checkrides with my ASK-21 and ASK-13.

P.S.
Never push a L-23 backwards on the ground.
Never land tailwheel first -- the rubber shock thingys and then the tailwheel bulkhead will soon fail.
Beware that a front seat passenger can accidentally activate the tow release with their foot! Go look.
Make sure the gear is down and locked otherwise serious damage to the gear components will occur.
Expensive Blank parts take time to obtain.

[JC]

After having a terrible time getting the horizontal elevator off after
a season where the glider was stored outside in MN, I started using
antizieze as a lubricant. It will lubricate and prevent rust.

On Wed, 26 Apr 2017 06:07:30 -0700 (PDT), "Burt Compton - Marfa
Gliders, west Texas" > wrote:

>Plan to remove the horizontal every 3 months to re-grease the pins otherwise it is almost impossible to remove when the grease gets old. Ask me how I know!
>
>I've owned two L-23's and rigged them several times a year resulting in my 5 page assembly document if you request it from me in an e-mail to
>
>Wing stands are not very useful and the wings need to be jiggled to get the drag and main pins to tap in.
>Be sure to use the factory "drift pin tool" to align the spar holes before tapping in the main pin. Do not depend on wing stands.
>
>Burt
>Marfa, TX
>Now training and giving free checkrides with my ASK-21 and ASK-13.
>
>P.S.
>Never push a L-23 backwards on the ground.
>Never land tailwheel first -- the rubber shock thingys and then the tailwheel bulkhead will soon fail.
>Beware that a front seat passenger can accidentally activate the tow release with their foot! Go look.
>Make sure the gear is down and locked otherwise serious damage to the gear components will occur.
>Expensive Blank parts take time to obtain.


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[[email protected]]

On Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 3:36:14 PM UTC-7, JC wrote:
> After having a terrible time getting the horizontal elevator off after
> a season where the glider was stored outside in MN, I started using
> antizieze as a lubricant. It will lubricate and prevent rust.
>

We had the same trouble with our L-23 but when we switched to Aeroshell 33 grease for the fittings that took care of the corrosion problem.

Rigging our one remaining L-23 is relatively easy as its trailer has a very stable fuselage dolly (with built-in lever arm to raise and lower the fuselage so the gear can be retracted/extended) and a rock-solid wing stand. The only thing we do different from the manual is to put the drag pins in first as this seems to greatly help getting the main pin in. Be careful not to let the wingtip move too far aft when assembling as this can damage the skin at the wing root if it contacts the wing fillet on the fuselage. The job can be done with three strong people but five (two on the tip, one on the root trailing edge, one on the root leading edge and one more person to go under the wing to work the alignment tool) make it an easier job. For the tail two people on the horizontal stabilizer and one in the cockpit to hold the stick in the best position are enough. Our L-23 has the fixed pneumatic tailwheel which seems to be more rugged than the castoring one, but it is a pain in the back (literally) when it comes to ground handling. One of the L-23's we had which did have the castoring wheel did have a problem with the bulkhead that required repair. Strangely enough the L-13's which had been fitted out with kind of Mickey Mouse looking castoring tailwheel setups never gave any trouble on our somewhat lumpy grass field!