Rubik R-16 Lepke
Rubik · Hungary · first flew 1949 · glider
The Rubik R-16 Lepke (Butterfly) was a single-seat Hungarian training glider designed to follow the two-seat Rubik R-15 Koma.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × none, embedded-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 6.2 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- pod-and-boom glider with a high wing braced by inverted-V struts
- rectangular wing with slotted ailerons on the outer half-spans
- exposed monowheel with a short skid ahead of it
The wing is rectangular with rounded tips and 3 degrees of dihedral, and can be folded back alongside the fuselage. The tailboom carries a conventional tail with a narrow fin and a strut-braced rectangular horizontal tail.
Specifications
- The Rubik R-16 Lepke has a length of 6.2 m (20 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 10 m (33 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 110 km/h (68 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Erno Rubik planned a pair of trainers sharing many components, with students starting on the Koma and then flying solo in the Lepke. The Hungarian National Aviation Association chose both designs in 1948, and the Lepke prototype first flew at Esztergom in the summer of 1949.
Variants
A series of sixty-five slightly modified R-16b followed in 1952 and 1953.
Where you'll see it
The R-16b became the standard Hungarian single-seat trainer and took pilots to C-certificate level. The Lepkes were retired in the 1960s after ten years of use, and R-16b HA-1039 is displayed in the Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum in Budapest.
Related aircraft
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