Blanik L-13 Update

As you know, our Blanik L-13 is grounded by an Airworthiness Directive from the FAA. This action was in response to the grounding of the glider in Europe by the controlling authority, EASA.

The German engineering firm AD&C has developed a modification to the glider which has been approved by EASA, with the result that modified Blaniks are now allowed to fly in Europe. All that remains is for FAA to follow suit.

Responding to an inquiry from Andy today, the USA Blanik dealer replied with this status report, which isn't very encouraging:

The FAA sent yet another engineering stress analysis request to the developers of the German repair kit rather than accepting that which has already been approved by the European FAA counterpart, EASA.

This adds an extra complication which may require additional time and expense. If and when there is progress on the side of the FAA we will put an announcement in the News section of our website.

Sorry I don’t have a more positive news to report.

Sincerely,

BLANIK AMERICA, INC.
Vitek Siroky

The whole sordid tale is here.

The bottom line is that we will keep our glider in storage until we hear from the FAA. It could be a very long wait.

Source