The VT-16 Orlík was designed by Jiří Matějček and is a
high-wing monoplane of all-wood construction, except that the skin is stabilized with
polystyrene foam. Its wing has a single spar structure with a forward torsion box; the whole wing is
plywood skinned and foam filled, allowing the
ribs to be comparatively widely spaced. In plan it is straight-tapered with blunt tips; there are 3° of
dihedral. It has conventional plain
ailerons and
spoilers at mid-
chord, which extend both above and below the wing. At the time of its first flight in August 1959 it was a
Standard Class glider with a span. Later aircraft had and spans but it was the 16 m version that went into series production. The
fuselage of the Orlík is a semi-monocoque of deep oval cross-section, tapering to the tail. The single-seat
cockpit, placed just ahead of the wing, is covered by a side-hinged
blown canopy. Its tail is conventional with a straight-edged, ply-covered and foam-filled
all-moving tailplane, fitted with an
anti-balance tab, mounted on top of the fuselage and ahead of the small
fin which is constructed in the same way. The
fabric-covered,
balanced rudder is broad and taller than the fin, reaching down to the keel. Overall, the vertical tail has almost upright straight edges and a blunt tip. The Orlík has a fixed, semi-recessed
monowheel ahead of the wing
leading edge, assisted by a small tail bumper. ==Operational history==