ASK 13 drifts off the approach centreline in a slip and mushes on recovery
A training flight in an ASK 13 ended with the glider wrecked short of the runway; both occupants were unhurt. On the second flight of the morning the student flew the approach and left the airbrakes stowed on base, so the instructor briefed and flew a sideslip on final to lose the excess height. During the slip the glider drifted right of the approach centreline, and the instructor, concentrating on height and the landing spot, saw it only at 50 to 60 m. Recovering from the slip let the nose rise and the speed decay, and the glider mushed with a hangar ahead. Close to the ground the instructor put the left wing in to miss the building.
- Second training flight of the morning: The launch was uneventful and the instructor and student flew several figure-eights before returning to land.
- Airbrakes left stowed on base: The student was to fly the approach to the glider launch point on runway 26 alone, and did not deploy the airbrakes on the base leg.
- Sideslip briefed and flown on final: The instructor briefed the slip in the air and flew it on final to lose the excess height.
- Glider drifts right of centreline: In the left slip the glider moved right of the approach centreline. The instructor, on the back seat, was fixed on height and the landing spot.
- Drift seen at 50 to 60 m: The instructor noticed the deviation at about 50 to 60 m above the ground and recovered from the slip.
- Nose rises and the glider mushes: On the recovery the nose came up, the speed decayed and the glider sank. It was level, and briefly too slow to steer, with a hangar straight ahead.
- Left wing put in to miss the hangar: Close to the ground the instructor turned slightly left and laid the left wing into the ground, which swung the glider left about its vertical axis.
- Tail into the airport fence: The tail struck the perimeter fence and the boom broke off behind the wings. The cockpit stayed intact.