N1113G
by
Frank Davis

In August of '02 I bought HP-14 N1113G from Martin Gundlatch. It was built by P.M. James and registered in 1968. The other previous owner was Les Sebald. It is based at Minden, NV.

I knew nothing of HP gliders before I bought '13G. In fact, I walked into Soar Minden one day and Marty Gundlatch said I should buy his HP. My response was that I already had a computer.

I have enjoyed it very much, but must admit that landing flaps took some getting used to. I'm a fairly low time glider pilot, however I have a bit flying experience as I'm a retired USAF pilot.

This winter (2003-04) I completed the pictured 48x32' shop in my back yard and in February brought the HP-14 home for some needed repairs. The major items are:

1. Removing the accumulated slop from the control system. I have either bushed or rebushed the clevis pin fittings on the three bellcranks for each aileron. Also rebushed and added shims to the control stick pivots.

2. Overhauling the landing gear struts. Honed, new o-rings, and added hydraulic fluid. (There was no fluid in them when I took them apart.)

3. Building a new instrument pedestal. The old pedestal was so large that I doubt I could have gotten my legs and feet out if I wanted to use my parachute. Replacing the old 3-1/8" mechanical and electric varios with a 2-1/4" Winter mechanical vario and a Tasman electric one. Replacing the old Terra transceiver (no memory, and up/down pushbuttons for changing each digit in the desired frequency - not very handy) with a MicroAir M760. Replacing a small analog voltmeter that had no calibration marks with an LCD panel voltmeter from DigiKey (.2V full scale requires 100:1 voltage divider for 20 volts full scale, and a very loosely regulated 5V power supply is also required.) I also removed a large tranponder. There is room for a MicroAir transponder if I want one in the future.

4. Replacing the old 4-point lap belt/shoulder harnesses with a 5-point system from Hooker Harness (Still waiting for it to arrive as they were just starting a move to new digs when I placed my order.) I will add an attach point for the crotch strap to the seat pan. With the HP-14's highly reclined pilot position, I'm sure I would have submarined the old belts and have ended up 4'2" tall in the case of a serious crash.

5. Rebuilding the the trolley device from which the fuselage hangs when in the trailer. It had one arm which comes through one of the wing openings with the aft canopy/turtledeck installed. It then bends back over the centerline of the fuselage above the turtledeck, and has a trolley at the end of the arm. The trolley rides in a track running the length of the trailer along the inside top. (I know this description makes absolutely no sense to you if you have never seen one.) Being one-armed and asymmetrical, it bent under load and the trolley was no longer centered over the fuselage. I added a second arm which comes out of the other wing opening and meets the original arm at the trolley attach point. I added a horizontal member between the two arms below the turtledeck, and then cut the arms into two parts above the horizontal member. A couple of plates and a clevis pin at each cuts allows it to be reassembled. The plan is to attach the lower part to the fuselage, install the turtledeck, and then attach the upper part of the trolley device to the lower.

I'm considering replacing the glazing in the foreword canopy. It is polycarbonate and quite scratched, although I don't notice the scratches much when flying. I would like to use acrylic but I may put this off till next year and get back flying.

It's wonderful having an Experimental registered aircraft. Sure keeps one out of the casinos!