Welcome Schempp-Hirth Owners,
Yankee Composites is honored to be the new US Representative for Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH. For the last 15 years, M&H Soaring has been the exclusive US Representative. Now that Monty and Heinz have passed on the role of Shempp-Hirth representative to me, we will continue to work closely together to ensure a smooth transition for our customers.
In early October, my wife Sarah and I had the good fortune to visit Kirchheim unter Tech. During a very busy 3 days touring the factory, it was amazing to observe the step-by-step assembly process. Guided by a charmingly enthusiastic Tilo, it was a special opportunity to meet the employees and see where every part of the glider is built.
The most important rooms at the factory for all of our current US glider owners are the spare parts rooms. I spent a fair amount of time with the two spare parts guys and already have been calling them in the evening arranging orders for customers and determining which spare parts I will have on hand here in Warner Springs.
The current plan is to save owners money by shipping in bulk orders. I have pre-purchased some items to help decrease downtime. If you need an order sooner than the bulk order will arrive, that will always be possible. In that event, you can expect the shipping cost to be around 100 Euro. I have the expertise to offer technical help with your Schempp-Hirth sailplanes, and I will work closely with Schempp-Hirth to get you the answers I don’t know. Yankee Composites is a repair station located in Warner Springs, CA. It will be our pleasure to personally service your glider. One of our technicians, John Henry, trained at Schempp-Hirth in the service department for seven months last year. Our Chief Inspector, Rick Anderson, has been working on aircraft for the past 50 years.
We have a new website with a streamlined order form to ensure the correct part is ordered. Please use the online form, which is easy accessible on your mobile phone or desktop computer. Your parts cannot be ordered until you fill out all the required fields and attach a picture. I am easily available by phone, email, and text to assist you and answer questions: garret@yankeecomposites.com (760) 533-4081 is my cell phone.
I will continue to send a quarterly newsletter, for which you can sign up on our website. The newsletter will feature content similar to my contributions to the Wings and Wheels newsletter and Soaring Magazine. Additionally, it will include Schempp-Hirth owner specific items, maintenance topics, and guest writers.
A little about me:
I have been in Soaring my entire life. I have over 10,000 hours in sailplanes thanks to a lifetime of living on gliderports while my parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. I started instructing the day after my 18th birthday and am the Chief Flight Instructor at Sky Sailing. I graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor’s degree in Professional Aeronautics. I have represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005 and coached the Juniors in 2015. I represented the US Open Class team in 2008, 2010, as a back-seater in 2018, and the Club Class team in 2014. I have won three US National Championships. I am the manager of Yankee Composites, a repair station, and the exclusive US Representative for Schempp-Hirth Sailplanes. I live in Warner Springs with my very beautiful, remarkably clever, and extremely patient wife and two very precocious daughters.
est Regards
Garret Willat
Yankee Composites FAA Repair Station Y8QR517Y
Sky Sailing Inc
31930 Hwy 79
Warner Springs CA 92086
(760) 782-0404
service@yankeecomposites.com
Garret Willat,
Glad to hear you are the new US Rep for Schempp-Hirth gliders. My wife (Marlene Nelson) and I have a Ventus 2b that we acquired from Dean Gradwell in 2013 that we both fly. It’s a great ship. Our home base is in the Seattle area. We belong to Puget Sound Soaring Association, a relatively small glider club that has been operating for over 30 years out of a grass airstrip near Enumclaw, WA at the edge of the Cascade Mountains within reach of Mt. Rainier on good days. We also fly with the Seattle Glider Council in Eastern Washington out of Ephrata, WA during the summer season.
I need your help on couple of parts for our Ventus 2b (N872, s/n 93). The instrument panel gas strut is getting weak, and barely holds the instrument panel up, especially in cold conditions. I need to replace it. I had ordered a replacement from M&H Soaring previously (at least 6 mo ago), but never received it. Can you please order for me? I’d like to replace it when doing the annual inspection in early March. Also, need to replace the thin gasket material around the base of the canopy on the fuselage. It’s coming apart. Do you have this foam material in stock that would work?
I will try your website to order these as soon as I get photos to help… glider is in hangar a few miles away for winter storage.
Best Regards,
Curt Chenoweth
4519 134th PL SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
425-502-2470 (cell)