Kārlis Irbītis

Kārlis Irbītis
Born	(1904-10-14)October 14, 1904 Lāde Parish, Kreis Wolmar, Governorate of Livonia, 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)
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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

VEF I-16

• 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
• 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

• Media related to Kārlis Irbītis at Wikimedia Commons
• Latvian Academy of Sciences: Inventors of Latvia — Karl Irbitis Archived 2015-10-21 at the Wayback Machine