Slovakian LSA Makes a Mark in the FAI Records

Czech pilots Jirí Pruša and Eliška Kudjová snagged a record for the international aeronautical federation using their trusty Shark 600 last August, beating the record for "Distance in a closed circuit without landing" by a substantial chunk of change.

The team stripped their plane down to the bones, foregoing shoes in their effort to minimize wasted weight aboard. The former record was set at 1,036.073 kilometers by Hungarian Krisztian Dolhai in 2020.  They beat his record by a substantial 876 kilometers, not too shabby for their second attempt at setting a record. They made their long-distance box pattern between the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, and Germany, racking up a total of 9 hours and 22 minutes of flight time. The team was quite content when they hit the 1,036-km marker, noting they had "plenty of fuel to make a substantial gain on the previous record." Their ultimate total sits at 1,912.2 clicks, adding them to the books until someone can best their record in turn.

"The weight was a very important aspect to consider," said Ji?í. "To set an FAI record we had to be two in the cockpit and the Shark 600 has two 75 litre tanks. The total weight of the aircraft, crew and fuel could be a maximum of 600 kg. So given the weight of the crew, we could take approximately 140 liters of fuel. To reduce drag, Ji?í gave the Shark a good polish before take-off! On a closed circuit trip, fuel is difficult to estimate as you cannot plan for headwinds and must leave safety margins." The Shark 600 used by the team requires at least 8 liters of fuel aboard at landing, further adding some complexity.

The team was accompanied on some legs by fellow Slovakian aircraft from the Shark company, making an overflight of their aircraft's birthplace with a few of its siblings flying wingman. Later on, in Poland, the local Shark distributor gave them an escort, too.

FMI: www.fai.org