Laister LP-46 N46LP in collection of Southwest Soaring Museum -thanksDavid, Steve & Kathy

Laister LP-46 N46LP in collection of Southwest Soaring Museum since
2002

In the past week, two of you (David Derryberry and Steve Leonard)
were good enough to follow up on my old LP-46 question.

Thanks to:
Kathy Taylor SWSM, who sleuthed out the logs and existing 337 sport
canopy paperwork for me.
David Derryberry who followed up to let me know where this glider was,
and
Steve Leonard who provided the current status info.

Back in January, I tried to append this status update to my Nov 2006
Query about the location of N46LP. (Apparently there is not a way for
an author to connect a comment to his own posting.)

Here is what I tried to post January 2008:
“Just to close the loop on this-

N46LP is now in the collection of the Southwest Soaring Museum (SWSM)
in New
Mexico. On their website: http://www.swsoaringmuseum.org/collection.htm

They have the FAA 337 paperwork for an approved Sport Canopy
mod to all the LP-49s and LP-46s (which share the same type
certificate.)”

Current condition (November 2008) of N46LP:
In its trailer. Vertical tail is detached about a foot above the
fuselage (the attach point of the metal fin onto the glass fuselage),
and the fuselage is fractured a couple of feet behind the wing.
No sign of Doc Livingston’s custom sport canopy.
Per the museum, there is a logbook entry for 6/25/78, "First flight
test of sport canopy." He lists flights for about two years where he
lists either Std or Sport canopy. There is no further mention of which
canopy after 9/21/80. On that date he listed the Std Canopy, so maybe
he stopped using it at that point. He was flying out of Rosamond and
El Mirage. The owner was Chester Gordon Livingston, Palmdale, CA.
Glider's first flight was 9/27/71. Second owner was Richard Robinson,
Irvine, CA. He sold on August 17, 1996, to Glen Reiboldt, Kennewick,
WA , who gave it to the museum in 2002. Total hours are ~420.

And what about the Other Laister LP-46 (N178J) ?
Glad you asked. It is doing well in Washington State, and Bill
Schmidt has put a nice new canopy on it. How did it get from
California to Washington State? Hank Thor (designer of the BJ-1b
Duster) bought this LP-46 (N178J) in the late 1980's from a guy in
Orange County for his club. There were two LP-46s. The first is the
factory prototype for the Laister LP-49, and first flew July 4th, 1966
(same day as the first flight of the Duster prototype, which also uses
the same rotating trailing edge airbrake, in lieu of Schemp Hirth or
Schweizer-style spoilers). The LP-46 has a 46 foot wing span, the
LP-49 has the same fuselage, but a 49 foot span (15 meter) wing.
Seems to be a lot of life left in these vintage Laister gliders.

Here is the Nov 12, 2006 post to rec soaring:
Question: Location of N46LP, Laister LP-46 13.6 meter Sailplane
QUESTION:
Does anyone know the condition and whereabouts of N46LP, a Laister
LP-46 sailplane?
N46LP was the second of two LP-46s built by Jack Laister's factory.
DATA BASES SEARCHED:
I have already checked the FAA's online registration databases, the
NTSB crashed aircraft reports, etc. There are old registration
entries
for the aircraft but nothing current. The glider is "out there
somewhere" but the trail has grown cold.
ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE:
The original LP-46, N178J, is still flying quite happily in
Leavenworth, Washington at last report.
N178J was built in 1966 as the short span prototype LP-49. It appears
on the Nov 1966 Soaring magazine cover by George Uveges Link to the
cover photo:
http://soaring.aerobatics.ws/Soaring...66Nov_full.jpg
LOOKING FOR THIS ONE:
The one I'm trying to identify and locate is the *other* LP-46,
N46LP.
It has 44.5 foot span metal wing, glass fuselage, swept fin, the
shorter LP-49 style canopy, and fixed gear. Photos of it on page 27
of
the May 1979 issue of Soaring.
PREVIOUS OWNERS:
The owner in the 1970s was C. Gordon "Doc" Livingston who flew it at
El
Mirage.
The owners in the 1980s were Richard & Joan Robinson on Morris Rd. in
Irvine, California.
The trail seems to end there as the FAA's Triennial Aircraft
Registration Report was returned from their last known address to the
FAA by the Post Office as undeliverable.
I am now hoping that someone who knows where the glider itself is,
and / or who the current owner / caretaker is might respond.
Does anyone know where N46LP is now, and who owns it?
Thanks in advance.

Cam Martin
Tehachapi CA