Lehtovaara PIK-16 Vasama

PIK-16 Vasama
Role	Glider
National origin	Finland
Designer	Tuomo Tervo, Jorma Jalkanen and Kurt Hedstrom, students at the Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho (PIK)
Introduction	1961
Status	Production completed
Number built	56

The Lehtovaara PIK-16 Vasama (English: Arrow) is a Finnish mid-wing, single-seat, FAI Standard Class glider that was designed by Tuomo Tervo, Jorma Jalkanen and Kurt Hedstrom, who were students at the Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho (PIK) and produced by Lehtovaara.^[1][2]

Design and development

The PIK-16 is constructed from wood, with a fibreglass nose. The 15.0 m (49.2 ft) span wing employs a Wortmann FX-05-168 (14% modification) airfoil at the wing root, transitioning to a NACA 63 (2)-165 at the wing tip. The wing features dive brakes.^[1][2][3]

A total of 56 PIK-16s were built. The aircraft was not type certified but it did become the second most exported Finnish glider, surpassed only by the later PIK-20 series.^[1][2][4]

Operational history

The prototype PIK-16 set a Finnish national record for a 300 km (186 mi) triangle course of 86.6 km/h (54 mph) before it had even finished flight testing.^[5]

The design won the OSTIV prize at the World Gliding Championships held at Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina in 1963, finishing third in the standard class.^[1][2]

Variants

PIK-16a

Prototype with a V-tail.^[3][5]

PIK-16b

Revised design with a cruciform tail, four built by the Finnish Aeronautical Association at the Jämi Flying School.^[3][6]

PIK-16c

Third version^[3]

Aircraft on display

• Finnish Aviation Museum^[4]

Specifications (Pik-16 Vasama)

Data from The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde Volume II^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 5.97 m (19 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 15 m (49 ft 3 in)
• Height: 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in) at cockpit
• Wing area: 11.7 m² (126 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 19.2
• Airfoil: Root: Wortmann FX-05-188 (14% mod), tip:NACA 63₂ 615
• Empty weight: 166 kg (366 lb)
• Gross weight: 281 kg (619 lb)

Performance

• Stall speed: 62 km/h (39 mph; 33 kn)
• Never exceed speed: 250 km/h (155 mph; 135 kn)
  
• Rough air speed max: 180 km/h (111.8 mph; 97.2 kn)
• Aerotow speed: 150 km/h (93.2 mph; 81.0 kn)
• Winch launch speed: 140 km/h (87.0 mph; 75.6 kn)
• Terminal velocity: with full airbrakes 235 km/h (146 mph; 127 kn)
• g limits: +7 -4 at 160 km/h (99.4 mph; 86.4 kn)
• Maximum glide ratio: 34.5 at 86 km/h (53.4 mph; 46.4 kn)
• Rate of sink: 0.59 m/s (116 ft/min) at 73 km/h (45.4 mph; 39.4 kn)
• Wing loading: 24 kg/m² (4.9 lb/sq ft)

See also

Related lists

• List of gliders

References

• "Sport and Business". Flight International. 23 August 1962. p. 280. Retrieved 12 April 2013. 
• Shenstone, B.S.; K.G. Wilkinson (1963). The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde Volume II (in English, French, and German) (1st ed.). Zurich: Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue. pp. 74–75. 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to PIK-16 Vasama.

• Activate Media (2006). "PIK-16 Vasama Lehtovaara". Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
• Lednicer, David (2010). "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". Retrieved 1 July 2011. 
• Finnish Aviation Museum (2009). "PIK 16c Vasama". Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
• "Sport and Business". Flight International. 17 August 1961. p. 212. Retrieved 12 April 2013.