Scheibe Falke - Rotax or Limbach ?

[Arclite01]

Hi

Anyone know if there is a Scheibe Falke agent in the UK, if so who ?

Anyone got views on the Rotax vs the Limbach engined versions ?

Anyone prefer the monowheel to the taildragger to the trike ?

What sort of money do these cost nowadays (new ?)

cheers

Arc

[S205-18F]

Hi Arc! Ken does limbach engines and I think maybe even the aircraft too! http://www.ukaircraftparts.com try this site may not be what your looking for but may help!

[Kerosene Kraut]

The monowheel with those -sort of fragile- tipwheels can be a bit tricky to move on the ground. If you have your own grass airfield to operate from and maybe stand-by assitance on the ground like from club members it will work. For regular aerodrome visits and taxiway use I'd clearly prefer the full undercarriage.


This is the new company that builds them now:

http://www.scheibe-aircraft.de

[ChampChump]

I had a T61A (monowheel, outriggers,) with the VW engine.
Many happy hours of cheap flying and no problems on the ground or in the air.
Not sure that helps the questioner, though.....:)

[Arclite01]

Thanks guys

I have come across Ken before and he's useful for the Falke generally and as a repairer of aircraft par excellence..............

I was interested particularly in the costs of a new Rotax Falke versus a new Limbach Falke, and issues with the Rotax operations versus the Limbach (Liquid versus air cooling I believe) - partucularly with regard to stop and start reliability in the air...........

Oh and how the two compare on the ground handling (full undercarriage versus Monowheel)

I did fly the Falke many years ago - so know the VW engined version well.

Is there a UK agent ??

And I'm not interested in aerotowing with it !

cheers

Arc

[David Roberts]

Suggest you talk to the BGA National Coach. The BGA has operated Falkes extensively for many years and know their capabilities etc.

My syndicate had a Falke 25B for many years (monowheel with outriggers). Had to dispose of it last year as too expensive C of A renewal prospect vs market value when all up together again. Have got a very economically priced S/H Venture to replace it.

The Falke gave many hours of cheap flying (fuel c. £10 p.h in last few years). Cockpit weight limitations with 2 up and some fuel was a problem for some of the heavy gang.

[Windrusher]

From limited hours in Limbach and Rotax SF25Cs, I prefer the Rotax (912-S) Falke over the Limbach (L2000EA), simply because the view of the trees on the climb-out is less disturbing. In light winds and two-up, even from a long, smooth grass strip, the Limbach is a tad weak, while the Rotax tends to reach circuit height within the airfield perimeter. Little experience of airborne restarts; on the ground, the Rotax is fussy about having the throttle fully closed, but otherwise completely fine. Both aircraft are conventional taildraggers, and both are relatively light on fuel consumption.

Windrusher

[flugholm]

Excuse me for risking some thread drift, but have you taken a look at the AVo 68 Samburo as an alternative to the Falke? I have quite a number of hours in all sorts of Falken, but I must say that the Samburo is The Better Falke. Even easier to fly, easier to taxi, roomier, available with a number of different engines, and it has a dead cool sliding canopy that may be opened in flight.

The only drawback is that you have to explain to everybody who sees it that it is NOT a Falke. ;)

[Arclite01]

http://www.md-flugzeugbau.de
What a great piece of kit !!!
How many have they built ??
And the cruncher - how much do they cost ??
Arc

[flugholm]

The Samburo went through a number if iterations. It was originally built in the 70s/80s as a side-product by Alpla-Werke in Austria (which "is a worldwide leading company in the plastics processing industry", it says on their homepage). IIRC, they built about a dozen of them - until the management decided to stop the boss's little aerospace adventure.
In the early 90s the Samburo was resurrected by Gerhard Nitsche Flugzeugbau GmbH in Unterwössen in Germany, and it was then passed on to Aircraft Philipp GmbH, also in Unterwössen. Both companies built or rebuilt a few Samburos, undertook recertification, cleared the aircraft for aerotowing, added new engines to the product line, plus different landing gear versions etc etc --- and then went bankrupt (or sort-of-bankrupt).
Now it's in the hands of M&D Flugzeugbau in Friedeburg near Wittmund. Don't know how many they produced. According to their website, it's currently available with the 100 hp or 115 hp Rotax.
The price should be roughly equal to that of a C-Falke of similar age.

[marlat]

Arclite01

The BGA's website has the following document for Scheibe which has details of a UK agent. Not sure how current the contact details are though.

www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/technical/manufacturers/scheibe.pdf

Also the June/July 2007 of the BGA's Sailplane & Gliding magazine has a review/flight test of the first Falke to be produced at the Heubach factory. It appears to have a few improvements over the current SF25C including a new canopy and cockpit arrangement.

[Arclite01]

Looks like there is no one as agent in UK then.

That Avo still looks a great bit of kit though.

Pity the website isn't in English.