A life for the sport of soaring Rudolf Kaiser Sept. 10, 1922 - Sept. 11, 1991. Rudolf Kaiser has perhaps more than any other sailplane designer left his distinctive mark on the soaring scene. His designs have proven themselves during half a century all over the world. He passed on last September just one day after his 69th birthday, following a long illness. Recognized as the "K" in the Schleicher type designations, he will live on through his designs from the Ka through the ASK 23. Rudolf Kaiser was destined to take over the family owned butcher shop in Coburg. But flying was much closer to his heart, especially soaring. He obtained his C-Diploma at the age of 20. After the war, while flying was forbidden in Germany, he studied house construction, and graduated in 1952. This knowledge, along with considerable self studying, led to the design and building of his first glider, a small single seater which he called the Ka-1. It was completed in his home in 1952 while he was still honing his design skills. His next glider, the two-seat Ka-2, was created for Alexander Schleicher, the sailplane manufacturer in Poppenhausen. This high wing forward swept trainer introduced a totally new concept in sailplane design. Next came the Ka-3, a modified version of his first glider, but with a steel tube fuselage, followed by the popular Ka-4 trainer, better known as the "Rhönlerche". Rudolf Kaiser made his talents available to Egon Scheibe from October 1953 to April 1955. Here he designed the legendary "Zugvogel" which remained the Ka-5 in his personal register. The "Zugvogel" featured a laminar airfoil and was the best performing production sailplane in the world at the time. By now, Rudolf had his Silver C, which he obtained in his little Ka-1. For his Gold C he needed something better, so while still working for Scheibe, he again started building a sailplane for himself; the Ka-6. It featured a monocoque plywood fuselage, tapered wood/fabric wings and a clean smooth outline. It crested the wood construction era, and later earned the OSTIV prize for the best new design in 1958. After Schleicher put it in production it became the most popular Standard Class sailplane, winning two World Championships (1960 and 1963), and it continued to dominate the winners lists at contests all over the world for ten years! 1368 Ka-6's were built. Several are still flying, still it is hard to find someone willing to sell you one. Its excellent flying characteristics have become the standards that other designs are compared to. The Ka-6 not withstanding, Rudolf Kaiser's greatest contribution were in the field of trainers and intermediate sailplanes. The Ka-7 (511 built), Ka- 8 (1212) and ASK-13 (645) are familiar to soaring pilots everywhere. The lesser known ASK-18 is currently in production in Argentina. Two motorgliders, the ASK-14 and 16 completes his diversified product line. The introduction of fiber reinforced resins in sailplane production did not deter Rudolf Kaiser who, unlike most of his contemporary colleagues, eagerly adopted this new technology. Based on the considerable experience of the Schleicher company, and with the encouragement of his well known colleague Gerhard Waibel he designed the ASK-2l two place trainer, which was test flown in 1978, and is still in production. A natural consequence was a single place club ship to complement the trainer. Thus the ASK-23 was born; a modern glass ship with the good performance and docile characteristics of his earlier wood and fabric designs. The ASK-23 was test flown on October 20th, 1983. With the completion of the certification process, at the age of 61, Rudolf Kaiser retired, leaving his niche in the design department to Martin Heide. Rudolf Kaiser was interned near his home town of Coburg. Many well known designers and pilots honored him with their presence. With his passing, the international soaring fraternity has lost a large and dominating designer, although a quiet, humble and gentleman. We owe him much and we thank him for all. that he has done. Peter F. Selinger via Jan Scott (Reprinted from the Bungee Cord, the newsletter of the Vintage Sailplane Association)