The Schleicher ASK 23 is a single-seat
Club Class sailplane
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...
that was built by the German manufacturer
Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co
Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co is a major manufacturer of sailplanes located in Poppenhausen, near Fulda in Germany.
It is also the oldest sailplane manufacturer in the world.
History
The company was founded in 1927 by Alexander Schleicher u ...
.
Design
The ASK 23 was the last glider to be designed by
Rudolf Kaiser
Rudolf Kaiser (10 September 1922 – 11 September 1991) was a designer of glider (sailplane), gliders who worked for Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co.
The designs of Rudolf Kaiser have proven themselves for over 50 years all over the world. His d ...
. It is an early-solo sailplane with docile handling, and was a successor to the
Schleicher Ka 8
The Schleicher K 8 (also known as Ka-8) is a single-seat glider designed by Rudolf Kaiser and built by the Alexander Schleicher company of Germany.
Design and development
The K 8 was derived from the earlier Ka 6 design as a simple single-pla ...
and
ASK 18. It is also the single-seat counterpart of the two-seat
Schleicher ASK 21
The ASK 21 is a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) two-seat glider aircraft with a T-tail. The ASK 21 is designed primarily for beginner instruction, but is also suitable for cross-country flying and aerobatic instruction.
Design and development
Th ...
with a similar cockpit layout. It uses
glass-fibre
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clot ...
reinforced plastic and 'honeycomb' as its main construction materials. It has no flaps, a nose wheel and a fixed main-wheel with a tail-skid or optional tail-wheel.
First flown in October 1983, the initial version allowed for heavy pilots, with a maximum cockpit weight of , reduced to in the later ASK23B version. 51 gliders of the original version were built, and 102 of the 'B' version.
Specifications (ASK23)
See also
References
Further reading
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External links
Sailplane directory
{{Schleicher
1980s German sailplanes
Schleicher aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1983
Shoulder-wing aircraft
T-tail aircraft