Recently the most famous Lithuanian acrobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys has performed incredible thing: the flight of Su-26 under the pedestrian bridge with wheels up. In official history of civil aviation this trick was performed for the first time.
There are some people in Lithuania who make the world to remember our small country for a long time. These people are sportsmen, astonishing the world with their achievements and results. These people represent Lithuania in various competitions providing the opportunity to know more about Lithuania. Some politicians repeatedly say that basketball is the best ambassador in Lithuania. Not only basketball, but also cycling makes Lithuania known. Acrobatic flying also make people to know where is Lithuania, what kind of people live there.
Recently the most famous Lithuanian acrobatic pilot
Jurgis Kairys has performed incredible trick first time in official history of civil aviation: the flight of Su-26 under the pedestrian bridge with wheels up. The distance between the bridge and water is only 12,88 meters. Water line is 38 meters width. This performance was called Ultra Flight 2000 and took place in second big Lithuanian city Kaunas. As Kairys flew above the Nemunas, all viewers were sitting along the banks of the river. This was quite dangerous because just after the bridge the river is curved. As some police officials said, there could be more than 100 000 people gathered, so security was the main headache of Lithuanian Civil Aviation Association. This flight was observed by two times Formula-1 champion Mika Hakkinen.
Such kind of flights is becoming some kind of tradition. Some time ago, Jurgis Kairys flew under a bridge in Vilnius over the Neris. Later there was a quite dangerous flight through ten bridges over the Neris. Before Ultra Flight 2000 Kairys was training together with LNK News announcer Graþina Sviderkytë and flew under the bridge with her in his two places plane. These difficult and dangerous tricks are the proof of Kairys skills and capabilities. He is FAI (
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) Grand Prix Champion and so far keeps the first place of acrobatic pilots ranking. He was given this name in China competition where he showed some incredible tricks: the death wheel in the Devil's Cave and the movement called cobra (the plane from horizontal position suddenly turns to vertical and again to horizontal. This figure looks like standing cobra snake).
Kairys is recognized as professional all over the world. He is the author of several new figures. Others still cannot perform some of them, except Jurgis himself. He is famous for making the plane spin like helicopter; also he can do some figures of jet fighters.
Jurgis was born in Krasnojarsk, Siberia, 1952 in the family of Lithuania exiles. He finished secondary school in Lithuania and afterwards studied in Vyborg technical aviation school and St. Petersburg civil aviation academy. The first big achievement: European champion in 1981. He is not only pilot, but also aircraft engineer. He all the time develop Su-26, Su-29 and Su-31 planes, recognized as several inventions in aviation co-author.
As a person Jurgis is very simple, straight thinking person without boasting about his achievements. He always keeps smiling and joking giving interview to Lithuanian and world mass media.
Due to these people, the possibility that world will know Lithuania increases very much. Not only basketball players, who are bigger stars just because their sport is accessible to masses, bring Lithuania's name to the world, but also such crazy and dangerous sport as acrobatic flying makes people to remember this small Baltic state.