The LAK-9 ''Lietuva'' ( en,
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 ...
) was an open-class competition
sailplane
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...
produced in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
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
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
.
The type came to the attention of the West when a LAK-9 was flown in the 1976 Gliding World Championships in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the first entry by the Soviet Union since 1968. Piloted by O. Pasetnik, it was withdrawn from competition due to
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
damage.
The fourth batch to be produced was designated the LAK-9M (for "Modernised"), and a
motorglider
A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...
version was also produced.
Specifications (LAK-9)
See also
References
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External links
About LAK-9 in www.lizdas.lt (lithuanian lang.
{{LAK aircraft
LAK aircraft
1970s Soviet sailplanes
High-wing aircraft
Motor gliders
Aircraft first flown in 1976