BLANIK

BLANIK

Plane & Pilot

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The L13 Blanik, a widely-flown glider from 1958, evolved into the L23 Super Blanik, retaining its excellent flying and maintenance characteristics while refining visibility and handling.
The L23 Super Blanik features key improvements like a T-tail, swiveling tail wheel, and new canopy, and is approved for all flight training stages, including basic, advanced cross-country, aerobatic, and instrument flying.
Beyond the L13/L23, Blanik produces a diverse range of gliders, including racing models and motorgliders, with its gliders being exclusively used by the USAF Academy.

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The original L13 Blanik was built in 1958 and several thousands of them are flying worldwide. The two-seat, all-metal L13 evolved into the L23 Super Blanik. The new glider retains the excellent flying and maintenance characteristics of the L13, while visibility and handling are further refined. Among the many improvements are the new T-tail (to minimize damage during land-outs), the swiveling tail wheel (for easier ground handling) and the new canopy (enhancing visibility to the sides and back). The L23 has been approved for all stages of flight training from basic to advanced cross-country, aerobatic, stunt and instrument flying. Removable wingtip extensions of one meter each may be installed. The USAF Academy uses the Blanik gliders exclusively. Blanik also makes the LAK-17A in the 15- to 18-meter racing category, the LAK-17AT motorglider, the LAK-19 standard class racer, the LAK-19T motorglider and the LAK-20 two-place glider.