Libelle

On Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 2:19:54 AM UTC-5, Mike C wrote:

Steve needs a Std Libelle... :-)

LOL!
Dang it! It is no win the "Canceled. Not Sold" section. And I was just about ready to make him an offer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlxif61eGw

Yeah hello all I'm the Brian Hutchinson that bid on the Libelle mentioned here. Found out at least supposedly that the tail boom had been sheared off. Damage history. I didn't follow through with purchase as such. Not because I wouldn't fly the ship with a professional repair having been conducted but because it seemed that was a deal breaker for most people. I understand that the soaring community is relatively small and that particular planes are more well known than the pilot that flies them. For anyone who cares I'm 32 and want severely to fly sailplanes. I am very low income and have been looking for planes to "flip" where I can then use any profit to fund training. It's pretty hard where I live to get a job and cost of living is one of the highest in California or the United States for that matter. I've seen discussions where in there was a back and forth on the costs of Soaring with some adamant that soaring is expensive and a rich mans sport while others confirm that the costs can be reasonable and on par with many other recreational activities. Not to get into symantics of cost of soaring or owning ones now sailplane all of you that want soaring as a status symbol you're safe with me don't worry... As for my desire to own a sailplane as a instrument to enjoy flying with Ive since found another Libelle for an even better price than the one I won the auction for on eBay but sadly it seems to have been also involved in an accident. I'm however going into extensive research in an attempt to determine airworthiness and if the ship can be determined as airworthy I'm not going to be "flipping" it unless it's while I'm flying the ship. And well there called loops and rolls not flips.

I don’t see why it would be a deal breaker. If the fuse has been broken and repaired it is not an issue. I have fixed several fuses, that have been either completely separated or simply broken. It is one of the easiest things to repair

So which libelle did you buy?

Contacted the Lancaster Airport on the off chance they still had the Libelle. Said it was in Canada now. I was offered a price of 1,500 on a Libelle that had a damage history. The known damage is a shattered canopy and a crushed leading edge in one wing approximately 3 inches deep and 3 inches wide from striking a tree or fence post. Unknown if there is any other damage to fuselage such as landing gear damage or boom damage. The pilot reported hearing "cracking in the wings" when he was upset by turbulence and became inverted in flight causing his head to strike and crack the canopy is what was reported to have happened. I'd really like to own a Libelle sailplane and thought maybe if I registered it as experimental I could have it repaired for a resonable cost. If it wasn't repairable it could be cosmetically brought back and would make a museum piece. Biggest problem I have is logistic of transport. I live in California and the ship is on the East Coast. I told the guy that I was probably gonna have to pass. If any of you know a good reason why I should pick this Libelle up and or could help me with getting it to California let me know. Thanks.

Weird for me to specify the Libelle as sailplane? I'm making payments on a Viking Dragonfly and well... I thought maybe at 1,500 if the ship is damaged severely structurally I could remove all components such as water ballast system and control components selling those and the trailer donate the airframe as a static display model to an aircraft museum.

Found a Libelle 301 for an asking of 8,000 that needs work but no damage history. It's my understanding that the 201 is preferable to the 301 though because of an improved airfoil, debatably materials not that balsa is bad, and better air brakes? Am I off base in this info? The 301 has flaps though as well no? I've seen a retrofit kit that improved the air brakes on another ship. Is that not possible on the Libelle too? Anyway I know a bit on these but not everything. To be honest I'd like to pay the 1,500 to just take the thing apart and see how it was made. I've never even seen one of these in person. I welcome comments, advice, and support. Thanks!

301 had flaps and better performance than 201.
Several mods available, Google Schumann Libelle.