Ka 6 stalls and spins in circling low for lift

A student pilot was fatally injured when a Ka 6 stalled and spun into a rapeseed field while circling low for lift after a winch launch at Laucha; the glider was destroyed. He had searched for lift west of the field, then moved south and circled right at about 150-200 m. After a few turns without climbing it dropped into a spiral and hit the ground almost vertically after two to two-and-a-half turns, with no recovery seen. The speed fell below the minimum in the turn, and the spin was not recovered. Little recent experience on the type — his first Ka 6 flight of the year, after mostly flying the more docile K 8 — contributed.

1. Low thermal search after a winch launch: After a winch launch from Laucha for a student solo, the pilot searched for lift west then south of the field, circling to the right at about 150-200 m.
2. Little experience on the type: He had flown the Ka 6 only three times before, last the previous September; that morning he had flown the more docile K 8, which has longer control throws than the Ka 6.
3. Circles low without climbing: After a few right-hand circles at about 150-200 m the glider gained no height.
4. Speed decays, stalls in the turn: The speed fell below the minimum in the turn and the wing stalled.
5. Drops into a spin, no recovery: The glider dropped into a right-hand spin and no recovery was made.
6. Spins in after about 2.5 turns: After two to two-and-a-half turns it struck a rapeseed field south of the airfield almost vertically; the student pilot was fatally injured and the glider destroyed.