09/03/08

A bit of background. The LAK-12 is a Lithuanian-made open class ship very similar to the ASW-17, the Nimbus IIC, and the Jantar 2A / 2B. They share the basic configuration and airfoil, the susceptible but excellent climber Wortmann FX67K150 and 170. Unlike the former, however, the LAK's wing comes in 2 pieces, not 4 or 6. This means that the wings are heavy and the trailer is long. To a large extent it has contributed to the plane's not very good reputation. This is quite unfair since with a bit of practice and common sense the plane is NOT difficult to (dis) assemble. In fact, with proper rigging dollies it can be done by one person without too much drama.

At first I thought I had royally screwed up by buying this thing. It was dirty and stained from disuse, I had heard that it was horrible to rig, and who knows how it flew. But I took it one step at a time. First the whole plane was cleaned, polished and waxed. Then the trailer was cleaned, washed, I replaced the struts that hold the clamshell open, fixed the solar fan and corrected various wiring issues. After that I fixed some rash it had on the belly in front of the landing gear, and gave the wingtips proper skids instead of the atrocities it had. Now became time to seal all control surfaces, put a racing ID in the tail and under the wing (I chose "ee" -in lower case- since this is essentially a smaller version of my other plane, "EE"), give it an annual inspection and go for a ride.

Eight months after the purchase, I flew it. Some observations were immediate: It is an absolutely wonderful and easy plane to fly - even full of water. The Russian instruments suck, in particular the alleged flight computer. The 24V system is of the devil and has got to go. It needs winglets.

In the next 2 months I flew it 70 hours, most of them cross country. Now the panel has a proper flight computer, GPS, and variometer, the abominable OEM wiring harness has been exorcised and is in the trash where it belonged to begin with, the interior is slowly being re-done, and the panel will be re-done in carbon fibre sometime soon.

I only have good things to say about this plane. It climbs very well, even when fully ballasted, it is far easier to fly that the Jantar 2A (the landing flaps help), and it doesn't hurt that JD measured a glide angle of 50:1, greater that the factory claims, when he tested Eduardo's LAK for Soaring Magazine.

(Gallery has 24 pix.)

Starboard wing polishing.

View of the LAK’s wing and trailer in Rich’s hangar.

Fuselage at home.

There were some gouges. Now there is Kevlar.

The thing looks like a freakin’ missile.

Fuse just pulled out of the trailer.

The fuse alone looks wicked.

Cockpit and OEM instrument cluster. UGH!

Tail feathers hang neatly in the trailer.

The trailer is very nice and functional.

The trailer is very nice and functional.

Strange view of the nose after first assembly.

Cockpit area sans seat pan.

Cockpit area without flooring panels.

Detail view of the CG hook.

Detail view of the CG hook from outside.

Getting ready to aviate.

Getting ready to aviate.

Getting ready to aviate.

Short final for Rwy 16.

Short final for Rwy 16.

Pic after the maiden flight.

After a long flight.

After a long flight.

This occurred in Rich’s hangar.

Minor underbelly repairs. It is still an unexplained miracle how the trailer fit in the driveway.

Not part of the original recipe, but it should do the job better than the E-glass it replaced.

Notice the CG hook installed directly in front of the wheel well.

Notice the CG hook installed directly in front of the wheel well.

Those landing flaps are cool!

Photo by Bill.

Those landing flaps are cool!

Photo by Bill.

Photo by Lew.

Notice the strange polarization of the canopy. This is perhaps the last annoyance that remains; one that I won’t be able to solve.

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Starboard wing polishing.

This occurred in Rich’s hangar.