Originally Posted by
Olympia 463
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Which brings me full circle to saying that I think the ATC would have done far better by buying K13's or something similar - KISS. Just my view. A modern plastic glider flies much the same as a T31, or a Tutor, or even a K13, it just does it a bit longer and a lot more expensively.
Just as well they didn't, if K13s were still being produced (production stopped in 1980) when they brought the Vikings. The K13s have glue issues, but more to the point all this longing for a different glider to a Viking is as naught.
The failures from top to bottom (only the cadets are guilt-free) that have grounded the Vikings would just have surely grounded the fleet whatever glider type they were. Like all gliders, K13s are only airworthy if all the paperwork is in order.
Additionally Schleicher might not have wanted to produce what would amount to 1/7 of the total K13 fleet for one buyer in a very short period of time. Doing that doesn't seem to have done Grob any good. Schleicher have full order books and no need to kow-tow to a customer who wants it all yesterday, with modifications.