Somewhat by chance I met the owner of a 1964 Schleicher K8B that had been sitting for six years on its trailer, in a shed. He was about to loose his storage, and it would go outside in the weather last Saturday. I offered to take the aircraft off his hands. Expecting a somewhat dilidated and neglected glider, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be in pretty good overall nick. I hope it will be flyable in some weeks, just needing lots of paperwork, some overdue AD’s, a general clean-up and grease-up, and some fabric and paint rework here and there plus new tyre, battery, etc. Since I already have too many vintage gliders at hand, it will be coming up for disposal soon so it can be appreciated and flown at a new home. One more glider saved from certain decay…
(picture as in workshop now, and photo of some years ago taken from the web)
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th May 2013 at 17:44
yes – a HUGE WELL DONE
By: ericmunk - 30th May 2013 at 17:23
That is the website of the new owner of the aircraft as of today, it left the airfield a couple of hours ago. They plan to do about 200 flights a year with the K8, mostly with young student pilots, so it has found a new home where it is ready to be flown again on a regular basis. To think of only a few weeks ago when she was about to be left outside, and now this. I hope they will enjoy the ship as much as I did in the short time I owned it…
By: ericmunk - 26th May 2013 at 18:23
Pictures taken at Lemelerveld?
You know your airfields.
By: GliderSpit - 26th May 2013 at 17:43
Pictures taken at Lemelerveld?
By: l.garey - 26th May 2013 at 13:07
I wish it were me, Eric, which it’s not! My next gliding experience is the meeting (8 and 9 June) for the 100 years of aviation at Challes-les Eaux in the French Alps, where I did quite a bit of gliding in the 1970s.
By: ericmunk - 26th May 2013 at 12:35
Thank you. It’s been a bit of a joint effort. The previous owner saved it from being outside in the weather a year ago, and when he lost his storage, I was able to step in. A little bird tells me this glider may be off to a new owner soon to do some serious flying…
By: l.garey - 26th May 2013 at 07:28
Well done Eric
By: GliderSpit - 25th May 2013 at 21:28
Looks great!
By: Fouga23 - 25th May 2013 at 19:28
Lovely!
By: ericmunk - 25th May 2013 at 19:26
Pic.
By: Fouga23 - 25th May 2013 at 19:04
Pics?
By: ericmunk - 25th May 2013 at 18:31
And she flies. Very well I may add, with four flights of total 4 hours+. Very nice handling, quiet, draught free (if you have flown a K8 you know how rare this is) and no play anywhere. Variometer needs to be replaced though, and there’s a last radio bug to fix.
By: ericmunk - 24th May 2013 at 19:45
See you there. If you see a Dutch glider, ask around and we’ll be there. We have a tripod with the T38, so if you want to sim on a real glider, most welcome 😉
By: Soggy - 24th May 2013 at 19:37
I hiope we might get chance to ‘get under your feet’ then – we are just long retired glider pilots now having our soaring fun in Flight Simulator: www.ukvga.org – you’ll recognise us, we wear anoraks :apologetic: and we’re meeting up there. Hope you have a great week.
By: ericmunk - 24th May 2013 at 19:15
Good luck with a sale! May I ask, will you be taking anything to the VGC Rally at Lasham?
We’ll be four pilots taking T30A, T34A, T38. Two being open cockpits, a warm coat is actually part of the aircraft equipment. As are goggles and a cap, gloves, scarf, woollen socks, etc.
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th May 2013 at 13:41
SUGGEST -a warm coat
By: Soggy - 24th May 2013 at 13:31
Good luck with a sale! May I ask, will you be taking anything to the VGC Rally at Lasham?
By: ericmunk - 23rd May 2013 at 21:36
Chap here looking for a Ka-8:
Thank you. I had e-mailed him, but there was no reply. There’s one or two parties interested at the moment, but I expect it to go faster once I put it up for sale on various usual-suspect websites. I want to fly it first and am still awaiting registration paperwork in my name, which are showstoppers until then. As is the weather.
By: Soggy - 23rd May 2013 at 16:27
Chap here looking for a Ka-8:
By: T-21 - 21st May 2013 at 16:15
K-8, fantastic soaring machine even in weak thermals. Almost did my whole Silver C in 1993 missed duration by 30 mins . Went from Upwood to a field near Stradishall got my Silver C height over Cambridge. Flew 100km triangle 2 up in a K-7 but thats another story. Once did Lyveden to Upwood in late September never got above 1,200 feet all the way. Beautiful handling with a nice cockpit space. Always remember to check the centre piece wing fairing is secure on the preflight.
Sign In
May 13, 2013 at 3:14 pm