Jurgis Kairys

His engineering and piloting skills were recognized when he was asked to work with the Sukhoi Design Bureau to develop the Sukhoi 26, 29 and 31 series of completely new aerobatics aircraft using new ideas future to dominate the Unlimited World Aerobatic Championships. This was achieved with the aircraft winning many championships from the European Championships to the World Grand Prix of Aerobatics piloted by Kairys and the Russian team members. This legacy continues to this date with the Su31 winning again in the 2003 WAC in Lakeland, Florida.

His most famous stunt is flying inverted under a pedestrian bridge (height 7 meters) over the Nemunas River wash in Kaunas on September 2, 2000, (nicknamed Ultraflight). He also flew under all bridges over the Neris River in Vilnius on September 18, 1999, (nicknamed Flight of the Century).

Jurgis Kairys (born May 6, 1952 in Krasnoyarsk) is a Lithuanian aerobatic pilot and aeronautical engineer. He has won many awards for his flying and has invented several maneuvers, including the "Kairys Wheel." He helped develop the Sukhoi Su-26, -29, and -31 aerobatic aircraft, and also has manufactured his own aerobatic aircraft, called the "Juka."

Jurgis Kairys was born in Krasnoyarsk, on May 6, 1952, where his parents were deported by Soviet authorities. However, the family was able to return to Lithuania when Kairys was still a small boy. His interest in flying started at an early age when watching planes landing and taking off at an airstrip near his home in Lithuania. He became an airframe engineer and was able to start flying aerobatics at the Kaunas Flying Club. His talents and determination were obvious and he soon became a member of the elite national team.