This is an interesting piece of news from the helicopter industry: STRATFORD, Conn.,- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), today announced an agreement to acquire Schweizer Aircraft Corp., a privately owned U.S. company specializing in the...

I'm gearing up to make a couple sets of water ballast release valves for HP-24 kits, and I'm curious if there might be any interest in them as retrofits for other gliders. I've seen some really goofy setups where you have to manually connect hoses inside the fuselage, with awkward arrangements of...

Just FYI, we're convening another one of our Akaflieg gatherings at our Arnold, CA 95223 workshop 21 through 27 January 2017. As at previous such events, we have dorm-style accommodation at a rustic cabin (with WiFi, of course), with catering and a guest speaker in the field. We charge $75/day,...

There is still room for a couple more attendees at the Spring 2017 Akaflieg at Arnold CA 17-22 April. The Winter Akaflieg was pretty well attended, so this time we got a larger cabin. At our Akaflieg events you learn that making high-performance sailplanes from high-tech composites is something...

On Friday, November 24, 2017 at 7:30:09 PM UTC-8, Steve Muhli wrote: I am planning on going to the SSA convention in Reno in 2018 to check out the new stuff... We'll have a customer's HP-24 there, you can try it on for size. Also, it's EAB, so we can easily customize to suit. --Bob K.

I'm considering tooling up to make replacement canopy transparencies for existing sailplanes, or at least to have them made for me. I've seen a few requests for G103 canopies, so I thought I'd start there. What I am thinking of is precision stretch-formed transparencies made over internal mandrels...

On Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 11:51:03 AM UTC-8, kinsell wrote: https://onenewsnowcom... https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/onenewsnow/

HP Aircraft is hosting another of its "Akaflieg" build sessions at our Arnold CA facility from 27 January through 2 February 2020. At this session we'll be installing wing internals (spars, ribs, control system parts) in a new set of all-carbon wings for HP-24 sailplane. We might also be making a...

At 23:55 05 April 2020, Gregg Ballou wrote: ...Yearly flu has a higher body count... Quick update: In the six months since the first US deaths in early February, deaths from Covid-19 are now around 150,000. --Bob K.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Brad, let me know if you want 6mm or 8mm and I'll send you the extra one. Just FYI there are still slots available in the Akaflieg we're planning for 21-27 January 2017. It looks like that session will be dedicated to making wing skins for 24-06. We also have...

For those who have been following the HP-24 kit sailplane project, on Saturday 25 June we did the first flight of Doug Gray's w/n 24-03. The flight itself was unremarkable; the controls were effective and well harmonized and glider showed good stability throughout the tested regimes. The test...

Anybody know who was the high bidder on the Stemme S10 that got submerged in the Florida hurricane? Thanks, Bob K.

Earlier, "Brian Glick" wrote: The foam gets water logged... Quite, quite unlikely. The foam used in sandwich core composite construction is closed-cell foam that does not admit water beyond the first layer of cells. And even that layer is sealed by the sandwich skin so...

Some type-specific sailplane canopy resources in the US: Aircraft Windshields, Inc, in my experience the best in the aircraft transparency biz: Los Alamitos, CA, no Web site --Gliders various, just ask (incl. 2-seat Lark, I think) --Custom tooling and acrylics ThermoTec (Ray Poquette), advertises...

On Feb 3, 5:27*pm, "Karl Striedieck" wrote: For all you Spratt watchers, Charlie received a new kidney today (Tuesday). Standby for progress reports. That's great news! And now you've got me wondering if Charlie's good fortune is related to this CNN...

I'm looking to develop a standard O2 cylinder installation for the HP-24 sailplane kit, and I'm curious what size cylinders people generally have installed these days. These days a lot of folks seem to be using EDS systems which seem to offer very good efficiency at turning pressurized gas into...

Hi all, I'm looking for any information I can find about a sailplane pilot named (I think) Hutch Hutchins. Last I heard, he flew in Southern California, and he once owned a Ventus. Is he still around? Where did he fly? I'm trying to track down a piece of soaring lore that he was allegedly involved...

Hi RAS, For the next two weeks, I am offering a discount on the basic HP-24 sailplane kit. Here's what you get and here's how it works: * You get the basic HP-24 15-meter sailplane kit with all-carbon structure, 500 lb empty weight and 825 lb gross weight, retractable 500x5 undercarriage,...

Does anybody know where the prototype HP-18 ended up? I have lost track of it. I checked the FAA database, but there is no useful information there. Thanks, Bob K.

At 23:55 05 April 2020, Gregg Ballou wrote: ...Yearly flu has a higher body count... Quick update: Some time in the next few days, US deaths from Covid-19 will exceed 250,000. That's in about 9.5 months since the first death reported in early February. At that run rate...