Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho (PIK) is the student flying club of the Aalto University. As well as a flying club, it develops light aircraft and

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

s, often on a small scale but sometimes its designs have been produced in quantity. Approximately 536 aircraft have been built by the organisation and its sub-contractors. It is similar to the

Akaflieg Akaflieg is an abbreviation for ''Akademische Fliegergruppe'', groups of aeronautical engineering students from individual German Technical Universities, pre and postwar, who design aircraft, often gliders. History Otto Lilienthal published his bo ...

s of German Universities in that students make designs with advice from staff to give practical experience before seeking employment.

History

It was formed on March 26, 1931. For the first two years, the club operated first as the "Aviation Scouts" and then as the "Polytechnic Aviation Club". It was originally part of the Helsinki Institute of Technology before the merger in 2010 with the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki to create Aalto University. The club is based at

Otaniemi Otaniemi (Finnish), or Otnäs (Swedish), is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Otaniemi is located on the southern shore of the Laajalahti bay, next to the district of Tapiola near th ...

, Espoo

Equipment

The club owns aircraft that members can rent. Currently, PIK has one motor-glider and five sailplanes:

Grob 103 The Grob G 103 Twin Astir is a glass-reinforced plastic two-seat sailplane that was developed in Germany in the 1970s by Grob Aircraft AG as a counterpart to the single-seat G 102 Astir then in production. Construction throughout is similar, ...

, DG-500, Rolladen-Schneider LS8, Rolladen-Schneider LS4,

Grob G102 Astir The G102 Astir is a single-seat glassfibre Club Class sailplane, designed by Burkhart Grob and built by Grob Aircraft. It was the first Grob-designed sailplane, with the first flight in December 1974. Grob had previously built the Schempp ...

. The gliding operation is based at Räyskälä and light aircraft are also flown from

Malmi Airport Helsinki-Malmi Airport ( fi, Helsinki-Malmin lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Malm flygplats) is an airfield in Helsinki, Finland, located in the district of Malmi, north-north-east of the city centre. It was opened in 1936. Until the opening of Hel ...

near Helsinki. It uses a PIK-23 as a tow-plane. The light aircraft operation owns a

Diamond DA-40 The Diamond DA40 Diamond Star is an Austrian four-seat, single-engine, light aircraft constructed from composite materials. Built in both Austria and Canada, it was developed as a four-seat version of the earlier DA20 by Diamond Aircraft ...

, Cessna 152 and PIK-23.

Gliders

Club members designed a series of gliders including: * PIK-1 1938; not built because of World War 2 * PIK-2 ''primary glider'' 1938; not built because of World War 2 * PIK-3a Kanttikolmonen Design started 1942, first flew 1950 (1st production PIK design) Four built * PIK-3c Kajava 1957 * PIK-4 ''primary glider'' 1944; not built because of World War 2 * PIK-5 Cumulus 1945; first flew 1946. 27 gliders built * PIK-6 1946; not built because of lack of funds * PIK-7 Harakka ''primary glider''; 57 built * PIK-10 motorized version of the Grunau Baby, flew for the first time in 1949 * PIK-12 (two-seat :Ilkka Lounamaa ;1st flew 1956) Four built * PIK-13 1953–1954 Open Class * PIK-14 1956; not built, resources diverted to PIK-3c * PIK-16 Vasama 1959, first flew 1961 * PIK-17a Tumppi Two built * PIK-17b Tintti * PIK-20 Tiu ''A, B, D, E'' * PIK-22 Two-seater, uncompleted * PIK-24 Pileus ''motorglider''; an RF-4D with wings of the PIK-20. * PIK-30 ''motorglider'' The PIK-3 was designed by Lars Norrmen and Ilkka Lounama and first flew in 1950. It became widely used in Finnish gliding clubs. 40 were built. The PIK-16 Vasama (or Arrow) was designed by Tuomo Tervo, Jorma Jalkenen and Kurt Hedström. A PIK-16C took third place in the

Standard Class Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of: * t ...

in the World Gliding Championships in 1963. It was put into series production by KK Lehtovaara O/Y which built 56. The PIK-20 "Tiu" was designed by a team led by a student, Pekka Tammi, as part of his diploma thesis from 1971 to 1973 and guided by Ilkka Rantasalo and Raimo Nurminen. The first flight was in 1973. It was produced by initially by Molino O/Y which was taken over by Eiri-Avion O/Y in 1974 but continued production. PIK-20 gliders won the first three places at the Standard Class at the World Gliding Championships in 1976. 409 PIK-20 gliders of all types were built by 1981, of which 85% were exported. The manufacturing rights for the 20E were sold in 1980 to the French company Siren.

Powered aircraft

* PIK-8 two-seater in wood construction, the design was not built * PIK-9 wooden single-seat trainer airplane. Design only * PIK-11 Tumppu A single-seater. First flew for the first time in 1953; four were built. * PIK-15 Hinu Two-seat towing and trainer. First flight in 1962. Seven built in series at Valmet * PIK-18 Sytky 1st flew 9/7/1976 Volkswagen egine * PIK-19 Muhinu Flew 1972; Only one built because a lack of a manufacturer * PIK-21 Super-Sytky 1st flew 16/5/1981 Three built *

Valmet PIK-23 Towmaster The Valmet PIK-23 Towmaster or Suhinu is a Finnish two-seater glider-towing/primary trainer aircraft built entirely out of composite materials in the early 1980s. Design and development The Finnish technology students aviation club (PIK) sugges ...

Two built. First flight 1982 * PIK-25 Varttimarkka 1st flew 21/6/2007 Two-seater designed for mass production but regulations delayed project for 22 years * PIK-26 Ultralight single-seater; first flew 10/8/1996; Four built * PIK-27 Sehinu ''glider tug'':1st flew 21/12/2006

Further information

* Rudolf H. Böttcher: PIK, eine Akademische Fliegergruppe in Finnland. Unveröff. Vortragsmanuskript. Akaflieg Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe 1980. * Vilho Harle: Vinka ja Haukka. Tampere, 1978. * Jukka Raunio: Lentäjän näkökulma III, PIK-sarjan lentokoneet. J. Raunio, 1995. .

References

{{Authority control PIK aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Finland Glider manufacturers