The VEF I-11 (also called the Irbītis I-11) was a
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
n
light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997.
Light aircraft are use ...
built by
VEF.
Design and development
The I-11 was designed by
Kārlis Irbītis
Kārlis Irbītis (October 14, 1904, in Limbaži municipality, Lāde parish, Governorate of Livonia – October 13, 1997, in Saint-Laurent (borough), Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada) was a Latvian aeroplane designer.
His greatest successes, for the ...
in 1936.
It was a low-wing
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
with a two-seat tandem
cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
and fixed
conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...
. On the basis of the I-11, Irbītis designed the training fighter I-12.
Operational history
On June 23, 1936, the I-11 made its maiden flight.
On April 26, 1937, it flew a flight around Latvia in hours.
See also
Related development
*
VEF I-12
The VEF I-12 was a tandem, two-seat Latvian trainer aircraft designed by Kārlis Irbītis and produced by VEF in Riga.
Design and development
The single engine, tandem, two seat I-12 was a development of the similarly laid out I-11, strengthe ...
References
{{VEF aircraft
1930s Latvian aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
VEF aircraft