Kārlis Irbītis

Kārlis Irbītis

Born	(1904-10-14)October 14, 1904 Lāde Parish, Russian Empire (Now Latvia)
Died	October 13, 1997(1997-10-13) (aged 92) Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	Latvian
Occupation	Airplane designer
Known for	VEF I-16
Awards	Bronze medal from the Latvian Aeroclub (1938) McCurdy Award for the VSTOL CL-84 project (1970)

Kārlis Irbītis (October 14, 1904, Lāde parish, Governorate of Livonia – October 13, 1997, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada) was a Latvian aeroplane designer.

His greatest successes, for the VEF Factory, were the sports plane VEF I-12 (1935) and the monoplane VEF I-16 (1939), used as a fighter. After World War II, when he had emigrated to Canada, he was the designer of the experimental Canadian vertical landing and take-off aeroplane, the CL-84 (1950).

Aircraft Designed by Kārlis Irbītis

VEF I-16

Irbitis I-1 Spriditis – sport, single-seat / N. Pulins & K. Irbitis (P.2, I.1) 1925
Irbitis I-2 Ikars / N. Pulins & K. Irbitis (P.3, I.2)
Irbitis I-3 – by Huberts Runka
Irbitis I-4 Vanadzins / A.S. ″Christine Backman″
Irbitis I-5 Ikars II – trainer 2-seat by Nikolajs Pulins
Irbitis I-6 Gambija – trainer single-seat by Nikolajs Pulins
Irbitis I-7 Zilais Putns – trainer single-seat by Nikolajs Pulins
Irbitis I-8 Zilais Putns II – trainer 2-seat / Nikolajs Pulins & Karlis Irbitis
Irbitis I-9 Kaija – monoplane / Valsts Daugavpils Arodskola
Irbitis I-10 Vanags – by Riga Aviation club / Valsts Daugavpils Arodskola 1935

Factory VEF

Irbitis VEF I-11 – sport (low-wing distance racer)
Irbitis VEF I-12 – trainer 2-seat, converted to single-seater
Irbitis VEF I-14 – sport (low-wing racer)
Irbitis VEF I-15a – trainer military single-seat
Irbitis VEF I-15b – bomber
Irbitis VEF I-16 – fighter
Irbitis VEF I-17-1 – trainer military 2-seat
Irbitis VEF I-17-2 – trainer military 2-seat (engine Shvetsov M-11)
Irbitis VEF I-18 – sport trainer by Latvia Aeroclub
Irbitis VEF I-19 – fighter (prototype for Lavochkin La-5)

Other

CL-84 – world’s first successful tilt-wing aircraft / Canadair 1965

External links

Latvian Academy of Sciences: Inventors of Latvia — Karl Irbitis
Media related to Kārlis Irbītis at Wikimedia Commons

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