PIK-19
The PIK-19 Muhinu was a light aircraft developed in Finland in the early 1970s for use as a glider tug and flight trainer.[1] It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration, with an enclosed cockpit and fixed, tricycle undercarriage.[1] Its construction was of composite materials throughout,[2] a novel approach at the time. When the PIK-19 flew for the first time in 1972, it was only the fourth aircraft in the world made of these materials.[3]
The project was undertaken as a joint venture by the Finnish government and the Helsinki University of Technology.[3] Its "PIK" designation belongs to a sequence of designations applied to the aircraft designed and built by the university's gliding club, Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho, although this was not a project by the club.[3] Design work commenced in 1969 under the leadership of Jukka Tervamäki, Ilkka Rantasalo and Pekka Tammi and the prototype flew on 26 March 1972.[1] Plans for production in series were never realised,[4] and the single prototype was the only example ever built.[1] Over the next 21 years, it accumulated 5217 hours of flying time and some 40,000 glider tows.[3] It was destroyed in a crash in June 1994 when the engine failed at low altitude.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e "PIK-sarjan lentokoneet"
- ^ "Finnish Newcomer" 1979, p.1900
- ^ a b c d "Projects in Various Organizations"
- ^ Taylor 1989, p.726
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