LAK-16

Last updated
LAK-16
RoleSingle-seat primary glider
National origin Lithuania
ManufacturerLietuviška aviacinė konstrukcija (Lithuanian Aero-Construction) (LAK)
DesignerGintaras Sabaliauskas and Kęstutis Leonavičius
First flight6 September 1986

The LAK-16 is a single-seat, open-girder primary glider in the 1930s tradition but constructed with modern materials. It was produced in the 1980s in Lithuania.

Contents

Design and development

The Lithuanian LAK-16 primary glider was designed by Gintaras Sabaliauskas and Kęstutis Leonavičius as a successor to the LAK-14 Strazdas. For its first flight, it was fitted with a LAK-14 wooden wing but on later examples the wood was replaced with more modern materials. The LAK-16 is a high braced wing monoplane, with a simple parallel chord. Its wing is unswept and fabric covered, with broadly curved tips; on early production models it had a glassfibre single spar, glassfibre leading edges and ribs. On the later LAK-16M the wing structure is metal and is strengthened as a result. There are lobate, fabric covered ailerons which project behind the trailing edges, mounted on inset hinges. [1]

The LAK-16 has a flat open frame fuselage based on a pair tubes, steel at the front and aluminium aft. The upper tube is straight from the tail to the leading edge, after which it curves down to form the nose of the glider, joining the lower tube. This is initially parallel to the upper rear tube but turns upwards aft from below the wing, so the fuselage depth decreases towards the tail. The fuselage is divided into three bays by vertical cross members and further stiffened with three diagonal members. The wing is mounted on the upper tube and braced with a single strut on each side from about one third span to the lower tube. Bracing wires from the wing at the top of the struts run rearwards to the tail and forward to the nose to limit in-plane flexing of the fuselage. The tail, built around duralumin tube structures and fabric covered, is conventional with a straight tapered tailplane on top of the fuselage. Its separate elevators have a gap between them for rudder movement. The vertical tail is swept, with a rounded top; the rudder is broad and reaches down to the keel. [1]

The single GRP seat and headrest is mounted on the lower beam, with the pilot entitirely exposed, apart from the screening provided by a small nose fairing. The LAK-16 lands on a pair of small wheels mounted on self-sprung, cantilever GRP legs, assisted by a self-centering tailwheel. [1]

Transportation and storage is simplified by the mounting of the wing, which with bracing and aileron wires disconnected can be rotated through 90°. [1]

Operational history

The LAK-16, with its wooden wing, first flew on 6 September 1986 and production probably began in 1987. [1] Production numbers are not known, though serial numbers suggest they may have reached several hundred. In 2010, seventeen remained on the Lithuanian civil register with another in Poland. [2]

Variants

LAK-16
Initial production aircraft with GRP wing structure.
LAK-16M
Later aircraft with metal framed wings.

Specifications (LAK-16M)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1990/1, p.650-1 [1]

General characteristics

Performance


Related Research Articles

Schleicher ASK 13

The ASK 13 is a two-seater glider that was built by Alexander Schleicher. It was and still is widely used for basic training of glider pilots.

Praga E-40

The Praga E-40 was a single engine, two seat, biplane basic trainer, built in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1930s.

The Horikawa H-22B-3 is a simple, open frame, two seat primary trainer glider designed and built in Japan in the 1950s.

The Kirigamine Mita is a training glider, seating two in tandem, designed in Japan in the early 1960s. A modified version, first flown in 1966, was produced in modest numbers.

The Scheibe SF-30 Club-Spatz is a 15 m class single seat sailplane built in Germany in the 1970s and intended for club use.

The IIL IS-4 was a single seat, high performance sailplane designed by Iosif Șilimon and built in Romania in the late 1950s.

The IIL IS-8 was a two-seat sailplane designed by Iosif Șilimon and built in Romania in 1960. They served with Romanian gliding clubs.

The IIL IS-10 was a high-performance, single-seat glider, designed and built in Romania in the early 1960s. It was the first Romanian aircraft to use laminar flow airfoils.

The IIL IS-11 was an aerobatic, single seat glider, designed and built in Romania in 1959. It was built in small numbers.

The IIL IS-12 was a two-seat glider, designed and built in Romania in 1960. It had a wooden wing but a metal fuselage and was constructed in parallel with the all-wood IS-13 for comparative tests. It was later followed by the IS-13a, a version with an all-metal wing.

The Aviad Zigolo MG12 is an Italian kitbuilt introductory motor-glider first flown in 2012. It has a small engine and limited gliding performance but is inexpensive to buy and run and simple to build and fly. Kit production began in 2013 and by the following year twenty had been sold.

Rubik R-03 Szittya I

The Rubik R-03 Szittya I was a Hungarian single-seat sailplane flown in the late 1930s. The design was developed through three improving variants. though only one of each was built.

The Lampisch LS-16 was a Hungarian training glider of mixed construction. It was flown but not granted a Certificate of Airworthiness.

Rubik R-12 Kevély

The Rubik R-12 Kevély (Proud) was a Hungarian advanced training glider. It was designed to provide safe cloud-flying experience and also raised the Hungarian height gained record several times. About fifty were built and operated between 1941 and 1951.

Rubik R-16 Lepke

The Rubik R-16 Lepke (Butterfly) was a single seat Hungarian training glider designed to follow the very similar but two seat Rubik R-15 Koma in a winch-launch training programme. The Lepke provided solo experience of the techniques learned with an instructor in an aircraft with similar handling characteristics. That done, the Lepke could be used as a standard trainer to take its pilot to C-certificate level. The pair were widely used by Hungarian glider clubs post-war, with sixty-five of each produced.

The PZL M-3 Pliszka (Wagtail) was the first all-metal Polish glider. Three were built but its performance, particularly its glide ratio, was not good enough for it to be produced for Polish clubs.

The Oškinis BRO-23KR Garnys (Stork) is a glassfibre primary glider, built in the USSR in the early 1980s. Only two were completed.

The Oškinis BRO-11 was a primary glider designed in the USSR. It was produced in large numbers from the 1950s.

The Politechnika Warszawska PW-3 Bakcyl (Microbe) is a Polish primary glider developed from the PW-2 Gapa.

Politechnika Warszawska PW-4 Pelikan

The Politechnika Warszawska PW-4 Pelikan was a motor-glider variant of the two seat Polish PW-3 Bakcyl glider. Only one flew.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lambert, M. (1990). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1990-1991. London: Jane's Information Group. pp. 650–1. ISBN   07106 0908 6.
  2. ↑ Partington, Dave (2010). European registers handbook 2010. Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN   978-0-85130-425-0.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.