Blanik L-13

On Sunday, February 5, 2017 at 7:59:38 PM UTC+3, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Sunday, February 5, 2017 at 5:35:04 AM UTC-7, Charles Longley wrote:
I had a long talk with Boise Pilot last night mostly about buying the 1-35 on Wings and Wheels. The conversation moved to his L-13 which piqued my interest. I am associated with an aerospace engineering company that specializes in serious sheet metal projects. The one picture I've seen of the factory mod looks relatively straightforward. I am trying to gauge how many L-13's are left in the US. And how much interest there is in resurrecting them.

Been a while since I looked at the issue. Before the FAA started requiring renewals there were about 190 on the FAA registry. However, a few people, clubs had multiple airframes for parts. A local L-13, before repainting, had three N-numbers showing on various locations. I'm sure several are similar, sporting wings and things from other airframes. That could be a potential issue in returning some to service. However many are still on the registry, my guessimate at the time of grounding was that about 90 were in serviceable condition. 2-3 people had just restored/repaired examples and were ready to return to service. Several had only a few hundred hours. At the prospect of recovering 2000 or more hours of service life at a reasonably recoverable cost might be of interest to a few.

The L-13 is, after all, better than the majority of training gliders in use in the USA.