The LAK-14 Strazdas () was a 1980s
primary glider designed and built by the Lithuanian Aircraft Construction factory. Like other LAK designs it developed the aeronautical use of
glass fibre
Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.
Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...
, foams and other novel materials. It was in production from 1981 to 1985.
Design and development
The LAK-14 was designed at LAK by Antanas Paknis, one of the organization's original design team. It was intended to succeed the
Oskinis BRO-11M, also known as the LAK-2. It was therefore in competition with the
Oškinis BRO-23KR Garnys
The Oškinis BRO-23KR Garnys is a glassfibre primary glider, built in the USSR in the early 1980s. Only two were completed.
Design and development
The BRO-23KR was designed by Bronis Oškinis and constructed by Česlovas Kisonas and K. Rinkevi ...
. It first flew in 1981.
[
The two Oškinis designs were simple, open frame fuselage primary gliders in the ]SG 38 Schulgleiter
The Schneider DFS 108-14 SG-38 ''Schulgleiter'' () is a German high-wing, cable-braced, single-seat primary glider that was designed by Schneider, Rehberg and Hofmann at Edmund Schneider's factory at Grunau in 1938, hence the designation. It ...
tradition. In contrast the Strazdas had an externally more conventional fuselage, though its construction was more advanced. One of LAK's founding goals was to develop the aeronautical use of plastics and composites, so the forward fuselage of the Strazdas, apart from a wooden nose fairing which held the launch towing hook, was built from three-ply glass fibre with foam filling. The pilot sat in a long, open cockpit with the seat back against a pedestal that supported the wing. This pedestal was part of the enclosed, round-sectioned rear fuselage structure which also included an integral fin. The tailplane, mounted high on the fuselage, had foam ribs and two-ply glass cloth skin.[
The two part, rectangular plan wing of the Strazdas was mounted high on its pedestal with 5° of dihedral. It was built around single spars, each braced to the lower fuselage with a single strut. Early development aircraft had wooden spars and ribs with glass cloth covering. Slotted, broad ]chord
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
ailerons filled the whole trailing edge.[
]
Operational history
Production began early in 1981. The first production aircraft had wooden spars but this was later replaced by integrated glass fibre reinforced polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...
resin structures. Production continued until 1985, though numbers are not known.[
]
Specifications
References
{{LAK aircraft
1980s Soviet sailplanes
LAK aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1981