Originally Posted by
Olympia 463
All of the above points to the folly of buying these glass ships which if not 'fragile' are hard to restore to original condition when broken. To have to write off a glider costing tens of thousands because the tail boom cannot be fixed is ridiculous.
Hands up any one who has seen this kind of nonsense with a K13 or equivalent (if so name your two seater). I've never even seen a K13 with a broken off tail.
Seems I have come full circle on this thread.
Glass ships are not especially fragile, and there is normally no problem restoring to original condition
as long as you know what you are doing and follow a suitable repair schedule.
Exactly the same applies to a K13 (or any other glider) - if you have damage the repair has to be done correctly. Of course the insurer might decide that the cost of the repair is too great compared to the hull value.
The K21 I saw that needed the tailboom rejoining was the victim of a two instructor flight that went wrong (who has control?) resulting in a very bad field landing.
With a K13 it can be bent, and I cannot imagine there are not limits for how bent is acceptable. Possibly they can be straightened, but possibly not.
However I suspect that K13 production had ceased by the time the Viking procurement was underway, and it's just as well as they might well now be being consigned to the scrap heap with potential glue problems in the wings.