Although the L 13 Blanik are not driven by engines but only by gravity, the team shows many maneuvers in mirror flight – that means the leader machine flies supine, while the second aircraft performs only half a span below it in normal attitude mirrors the flying figures.

The gliders will take to the skies above the Hinterstoisser air base with the help of a Flying Bull Extra 300 L, which will bring the two Blanix aircraft to their starting altitude in a sensational double tow.

Originally designed in the Czech Republic, built for flight training of the former Eastern armies, the Blanik L 13 became the most widely built glider in the world.

The designer Karel Dlouhy and his team produced the first Blanik in 1956. The formerly state-owned Czechoslovak Aircraft Works LET produced some 2,700 units of the cantilever shoulder-wing aircraft at its Kunovice plant before production ceased in 1978.

The two aircraft used here were manufactured in 1972 and 1965. Excellent flight characteristics and the robustness of this aluminum two-seater allow the wide spectrum from beginner training to demanding aerobatics.

The home base of these two aircraft is the military airfield Aigen/Ennstal (LOXA). In the course of the modification in spring 2011, our OE-0739 was exchanged for a “younger brother”. The aircraft currently in use are registered in the Austrian aircraft register with the registration numbers OE-0758 and OE-5733.

For AIRPOWER22, the team has come up with something very special – certainly unique and absolutely worth seeing!