The LAK-12 is a
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
mid-wing, single-seat,
FAI Open Class glider that was designed and produced by
Lietuviškos Aviacinės Konstrukcijos (LAK) ( en, Lithuanian Aircraft Builders) in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and later by
Sportine Aviacija and
Sport Aviation USSR.
Design and development
The LAK-12 was designed in the 1980s as an open class racer.
The aircraft is made from
fibreglass, foam and
carbon fibre. Its span foam-core wing employs a Wortmann FX67-K-170
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
at the
wing root, transitioning to a FX67- K-150 section at the
wing tip. The wings feature both double-panel upper surface
air brakes and
flaps that can be set to -7°, -4°, 0°, +5°, +11° and +15°. Water ballast is held in the wing
leading edges and dumped through a centre-
fuselage valve. The
landing gear is a single retractable monowheel suspended by an
oil/nitrogen oleo, plus a tailskid. The cockpit
canopy is of one-piece and forward hinged.
Operational history
According to Sportine Aviacija, the current type certificate holder, 253 were manufactured over a twenty-five year production run.
In April 2018 there were 17 LAK-12s listed on the
United States Federal Aviation Administration registry, all single-place and certified in the ''Experimental - Racing/Exhibition'' category and three registered with
Transport Canada in the ''Limited Class''.
Variants
;LAK-12 Lietuva: span open-class sailplane.
;LAK-12 Lietuva 2R:Two-seat version of the LAK-12 with tandem cockpit in an extended fuselage.
;LAK-12E: Experimental span variant built in 1988 and tested in 1988 and 1989, incorporating boundary control via blowholes on the lower surface. Only one produced.
Aircraft on display
The sole LAK-12E currently hangs from the ceiling of the Lithuanian Aviation Museum in Kaunas.
Specifications (LAK-12)
See also
References
External links
{{LAK aircraft
1980s Lithuanian sailplanes
LAK aircraft
Glider aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1986