Schleicher K7
{{Short description|German two-seat glider, 1960}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=K7 Rhönadler | image=File:Navijak-k7.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Glider | national origin=West Germany | manufacturer=Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co | designer=Rudolf Kaiser | first flight= | introduced=1960 | retired= | status=Production completed | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=550 | developed from= Schleicher Ka-2 | variants with their own articles= Schleicher ASK 13 }} |
The Schleicher K7 Rhönadler is a West German high-wing, two-seat, glider that was designed by Rudolf Kaiser and produced by Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co.{{Cite web|url = http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?PlaneID=182|title = Ka-7 Schleicher|accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Activate Media|year = 2006|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111117093614/http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=182|archivedate = 17 November 2011}}{{cite journal|last=Said|first=Bob|title=1983 Sailplane Directory|journal=Soaring Magazine|date=November 1983|id=USPS 499-920|publisher=Soaring Society of America}}
Often referred to as the Ka-7 or K-7, the US Federal Aviation Administration type certificate officially designates it as the K7.{{Cite web|url = http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/53f76bd8653231df8625748e0055efc5/$FILE/7g3.PDF |title = Type Certificate Data Sheet No. 7g3 |accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Federal Aviation Administration|authorlink = |date=February 1961}}
Design and development
The K7 was intended as a two-place trainer with good performance, a rare combination in trainers of its time.
The K7 is constructed with a welded steel tube fuselage, covered in doped aircraft fabric covering. The wing is a wooden structure with a doped fabric covering and employs a Goettingen 533 (16%) airfoil at the wing root, transitioning to a Goettingen 533 (14%) section at the wing tip. The wing features powerful dive brakes. The landing gear is a fixed monowheel. The earlier Ka-2 variant has a plywood monocoque fuselage.{{Cite web|url = http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html|title = The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Lednicer |first = David |authorlink = |year = 2010}}
After 550 had been built, the K7 was superseded in production by the Schleicher ASK 13.
The K7 can be converted into a K7/13 with a conversion kit to lower the wing to the mid-wing position and installation of a one-piece canopy, rendering the aircraft similar to the ASK-13.
Operational history
A K7 was flown to a new world multi-place glider speed record for flight around a {{convert|500|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} triangle of {{convert|84|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} in 1964 in South Africa.
File:AAFC cadets with a glider.jpg being taught how to operate the Ka-7 in 2010.]]
A K7 was assigned to 2 Wing AAFC and used to train Australian Air Force Cadets 228 Squadron at Bundaberg from 2007 to 2014.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aafc.org.au/what-we-do/gliding/|title=Gliding|last=|first=|date=1 January 2018|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=20 April 2020}}
Variants
;Ka-2
:Early version with a plywood monocoque fuselage
;K7
:Main production version with a steel tube fuselage.
;K7/13
:K7 converted to a mid-wing arrangement, plus a single piece canopy, to resemble an AS-K 13
Specifications (K7)
File:600 BWSFG 20020928 108.jpg
File:Schleicher K7 C-GALN wing recovering.jpg
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Sailplane Directory, Soaring and FAA Type Certificate 7g3, and The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde{{cite book|last=Shenstone|first=B.S.|title=The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs dans Le Monde|year=1958|publisher=Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue|location=Zurich|pages=9–13|edition=1st |author2=K.G. Wilkinson |author3=Peter Brooks|language=English, French, German}}
|prime units?=met
|genhide=
|crew=one
|capacity=one passenger
|length m=8.15
|span m=16.0
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=17.56
|aspect ratio=14.6:1
|airfoil=root: Goettingen 533 (16%), mid: Goettingen 533 (14%), tip: Goettingen 533 (14%)
|empty weight kg=282
|max takeoff weight kg=484.5
|more general=
|stall speed kmh=59
|never exceed speed kmh=200
|never exceed speed note=
- Rough air speed max: {{convert|130|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on}}
- Aerotow speed: {{convert|130|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on}}
- Winch launch speed: {{convert|100|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on}}
|g limits=+4 -2
|glide ratio=26:1 at {{convert|83|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}
|sink rate ms=0.70
|sink rate note= at {{convert|67|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}
|wing loading kg/m2=27.34
}}
See also
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|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
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Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite web|url = http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?PlaneID=182|title = Ka-7 Schleicher|accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Activate Media|year = 2006|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111117093614/http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=182|archivedate = 17 November 2011}}
- {{cite journal|last=Said|first=Bob|title=1983 Sailplane Directory|journal=Soaring Magazine|date=November 1983|id=USPS 499-920|publisher=Soaring Society of America}}
- {{Cite web|url = http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/53f76bd8653231df8625748e0055efc5/$FILE/7g3.PDF |title = Type Certificate Data Sheet No. 7g3 |accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Federal Aviation Administration|authorlink = |date=February 1961}}
- {{Cite web|url = http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html|title = The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |accessdate = 23 July 2011|last = Lednicer |first = David |authorlink = |year = 2010}}
- {{cite book|last=Shenstone|first=B.S.|title=The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs dans Le Monde|year=1958|publisher=Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue|location=Zurich|pages=81–87|edition=1st |author2=K.G. Wilkinson |author3=Peter Brooks|language=English, French, German}}
{{refend}}