LAK-15
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| LAK-15 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Open class sailplane |
| National origin | USSR |
| Manufacturer | Eksperimentine Sportines Aviacijos Gamykl (ESAG) |
| Designer | J. Bankauskas |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1989 |
The LAK-15, sometimes known as the LAK-15 Lietuve, was a high performance sailplane designed to set records. A one-off, it was built in the late 1980s in Lithuania, then a member of the USSR.
The LAK-15 was designed as a record breaking sailplane and so had a very large (25.6 m (84 ft 0 in)) span wing with an aspect ratio of 38.4. This was trapezoidal in plan, with 3° of dihedral. It was set at mid-fuselage, built around a single, carbon fibre spar and skinned with three-ply glass fibre/carbon fibre. There were high aspect ratio ailerons over at least half the span, with two flaps inboard. Each wing also had a spoiler and a tank for about 152 L (5.4 cu ft) of water ballast.[1][2]
The oval section fuselage, built of composites, was deepest ahead of the wing with the pilot in semi-reclining position under a long single-piece canopy. Behind the wing the fuselage was very slender and ended with an integral, trapezoidal profile fin. The LAK-15 had a T-tail, with a trapezoidal-plan tailplane carrying rectangular elevators. The fin also carried a broad, rectangular profile rudder.[1][2]
The LAK-15 landed on a retractable monowheel, equipped with a shock absorber and brake, and a fixed tailwheel.[1]