Light · ICAO IS28

Iar IS-28M2

The IS-28M2 is the definitive Romanian IS-28 motorglider: a full redesign that gave the two occupants side-by-side seating and semi-retracting tricycle undercarriage folding back into the wings, unlike the tandem-seat IS-28M1 it replaced. First flown on 26 June 1976 and shown that year at the Farnborough air show, it found export customers in Britain, Canada and the United States through Romania's ICA Brasov and later IAR factories. A 1982 military derivative supplied to the Romanian Air Force, the IS-28MA, used a different engine and undercarriage arrangement, keeping the two variants clearly distinct despite their shared ancestry.

Iar IS-28M2, example photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Claudiu Nelega · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Did you know?

The definitive IS-28 motorglider: side-by-side seating and tricycle gear folding into the wings, replacing the tandem M1, exported to Britain, Canada and the US.

Specifications

Length7.5 m (25 ft)
Wingspan17 m (56 ft)
Height2.1 m (7 ft)
Persons on board2
Maximum take-off weight0.7 t
Range240 NM (444 km)
Service ceiling16,500 ft (5,029 m)
Optimum ceiling13,000 ft (3,962 m)
Rate of climb610 ft/min (3.1 m/s)
Take-off distance160 m (525 ft)

Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.

In CatchFlights

In CatchFlights the Iar IS-28M2 starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.

A catch counts for the manufacturer Iar, the IS-28M2 family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.

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