The history of Flying Wings - The Chyeranovskii BICh-3

By Willie Bodenstein




The BICh-3 was flown in Moscow in 1926

Developed from the BICh-1 and BICh-2 tailless gliders designed by Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky, the BICh-3 was a tail-less powered research aircraft built in the USSR from 1926.


The BICh-3 was a tail-less powered research aircraft. Photo © wikipedia .org.

The BICh-3 was built of wood with a parabolic wing having a straight trailing edge. A central nacelle, containing cockpit and engine, was faired into a large and powerful fin and rudder. The undercarriage consisted of a trousered central mono-wheel with wing-tip skids. The BICh-3 was flown in Moscow in 1926. Tests found it to be unstable, so consequently the handling was improved, after minor modifications, enough for the aircraft to be re-assessed as safe to fly.

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 20 m2 (215 ft2)
Empty weight: 140 kg (309 lb)
Gross weight: 230 kg (507 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Blackburne Tomtit, 13.4 kW (18 hp)

Data from Wikipedia.org and Bill Gunston's "The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875 - 1995". London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
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