Kārlis Irbītis Explained

Kārlis Irbītis
Birth Date:	14 October 1904
Birth Place:	Lāde Parish, Kreis Wolmar, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (Now Latvia)
Death Place:	Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
Nationality:	Latvian
Known For:	VEF I-16
Occupation:	Airplane designer
Awards:	Bronze medal from the Latvian Aeroclub (1938) McCurdy Award for the VSTOL CL-84 project (1970)
Signature:	Karlis Irbitis signature.png

Kārlis Irbītis (October 14, 1904, in Lāde parish, Governorate of Livonia – October 13, 1997, in 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 aircraft. 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

• Irbītis I-1 Sprīdītis – sport, single-seat / Nikolajs Pūliņš & Kārlis Irbītis (P.2, I.1) 1925
• Irbītis I-2 Ikars / N. Pūliņš & K. Irbītis (P.3, I.2)
• Irbītis I-3 – by Herberts Runka^[1]
• Irbītis I-4 Vanadziņš / A.S. ″Christine Backman″
• Irbītis I-5 Ikars II – trainer 2-seat by Nikolajs Pūliņš
• Irbītis I-6 Gambija – trainer single-seat by Nikolajs Pūliņš
• Irbītis I-7 Zilais Putns – trainer single-seat by Nikolajs Pūliņš
• Irbītis I-8 Zilais Putns II – trainer 2-seat / Nikolajs Pūliņš & Kārlis Irbītis
• Irbītis I-9 Kaija – monoplane / Valsts Daugavpils Arodskola
• Irbītis I-10 Vanags – by Riga Aviation Club / Valsts Daugavpils Arodskola 1935

VEF Factory

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

Other

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

External links

• • Latvian Academy of Sciences: Inventors of Latvia — Karl Irbitis

Notes and References

1. Web site: Herberts Runka . LatvianAviation.com .