The ICA IS-28 is a two-seat sailplane produced in Romania in the 1970s. An all-metal aircraft of conventional design with a T-tail, it was originally produced with 15-metre wings, but in 1973, production shifted to the IS-28B with 17-metre wings and numerous aerodynamic refinements. These included a smaller tail with decreased dihedral, decreased dihedral on the wings, and redesigned fuselage contours. This version first flew on 26 April 1973 and was subsequently produced in versions with flaps (IS-28B2) and without (IS-28B1). Around 100 had been built by the early 1980s, with a substantial number sold for export. On April 7, 1979, Tom Knauff and R. Tawse set a world record with the IS-28 B2 glider, covering a distance of 829 kilometres on a predetermined out-and-return course from the Ridge Soaring Gliderport in Julian, Pennsylvania.
The ICA IS-32 is an open class high-performance metal two-seat sailplane produced in Romania in the 1970s. A refinement of the IS-28B, it shared most of that aircraft's fuselage, mated to new wings and empennage. This new wing had a span of 20 metres, featuring interconnected ailerons and flaps, Schempp-Hirth-type airbrakes. It had no provision for water ballast. The monowheel undercarriage differed from the IS-28 in being fully retractable.
The LAK-9 Lietuva was an open-class competition sailplane produced in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It was based on the LAK BK-7 that had been produced in small numbers since 1972. Like it, the LAK-9 was a conventional sailplane design with a high-set cantilever wing and a conventional empennage. The landing gear consisted of a retractable monowheel and a tailwheel, and construction throughout was of fibreglass.
The PIK-19 Muhinu was a light aircraft developed in Finland in the early 1970s for use as a glider tug and flight trainer. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration, with an enclosed cockpit and fixed, tricycle undercarriage. Its construction was of composite materials throughout, a novel approach at the time. When the PIK-19 flew for the first time in 1972, it was only the fourth aircraft in the world made of these materials.
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