THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150337
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 65 lines
Just a week before a world-class flying competition in Oklahoma, the airplane belonging to Jurgis Kairys, a Lithuanian stunt pilot, was a collection of parts packed in a 50-foot crate at the Norfolk port.
He came to Chesapeake looking for a hangar, about six mechanics to help him assemble the plane and some airspace in which to practice. He found them at the Chesapeake Municipal Airport.
Happy to help, a team at the small local airport followed Kairys' lead and rebuilt the 1,500-pound craft.
By Wednesday, a couple of thousand feet up, he was performing flips and dips - and a barrel roll as if to wave thanks to the airport crew with his wings.
``This is how he operates,'' said John M. Beaulieu, president of Horizon Aviation, which operates the airport.
``He needs an airport near his point of entry, which in this case was Norfolk. But he couldn't do this sort of thing at the airport there - too much interference.''
Beaulieu said the Norfolk airport steered Kairys, who speaks a little English in a heavy Lithuanian accent, to Chesapeake because there is plenty of airspace above the airport.
The airport is usually used for small corporate and private planes and instruction.
``It works good - a big thank you,'' Kairys told Beaulieu after finishing a routine of about 25 minutes, which is as long as the plane can stay airborne without an extra fuel tank.
Kairys is now headed to Oklahoma, where he will perform with the best stunt pilots from around the world.
After that, he'll go to China and Japan for other competitions.
``It's a sport, aerobatic aviation,'' said Kairys, 43, who mainly taught himself in his home country and began competing in 1979. ``I want to fly. I spend all my time in competition.''
The body of his plane is about the size of a large soapbox. Called a Suchoi 26 and built in Moscow, it's considered one of the premier stunt planes in the world, able to withstand pressure up to 10 times the force of gravity. The fighters at Oceana Naval Air Station are geared to withstand only about five or six times the force of gravity, Beaulieu said.
``Five-G means his body feels like it weighs about 1,000 pounds,'' he said.
``That's a lot of pressure on your stomach.''
To get to Oklahoma, Kairys plans to ferry another fuel tank. Still, he will have to stop several times to refuel the 400-horsepower engine.
With all the flying, Kairys said there have been many close calls. Once he landed in a lake.
But at Chesapeake Municipal Airport, the maneuvers went off without a flaw, and he impressed even Beaulieu, who has been flying for 28 years and has seen many pilots come and go.
But Tom Skubic, a flight instructor at the airport, smiled and said, ``I can do all of that.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Jurgis Kairys needed the following: a hangar, someone to assemble
his stunt plane and a place to practice. He got all three at the
Chesapeake Municipal Airport.
Tom Skubic, a flight instructor at the Chesapeake airport, checks
out the cockpit of Kairys' stunt plane. After Kairys put the plane
through its paces Wednesday, Skubic smiled and said, ``I can do all
of that.'' by CNB