LAK-12


The LAK-12 is a Lithuanian mid-wing, single-seat, FAI Open Class glider that was designed and produced by Lietuviškos Aviacinės Konstrukcijos in 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 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)