| BICh-11 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Research |
| National origin | USSR |
| Manufacturer | Chyeranovskii |
| Designer | Boris Ivanovich Chyeranovskii |
| First flight | early 1932 |
| Number built | 1 |
The BICh-11 (a.k.a. RP-1) (Raketnyii Planer – rocket glider) was a twin-engined tailless research aircraft designed and built in the USSR from 1931.
The BICh-11 was the first purpose-designed rocket-powered aircraft in the world. It was planned to power the BICh-11 with two Tsander OR-2 liquid fuelled rocket engines; however it was never flown with the rocket engines as they had not been proven safe for use in manned aircraft. Flight testing began early in 1932 as a bungee-launched glider with ski undercarriage. Later flight tests used an ABC Scorpion piston engine.
The 50 kg (110 lb) thrust Tsander OR-2 engines were to have been mounted either side of the central nacelle in small over-wing fairings, with large liquid-oxygen and gasoline tanks mounted forward of the engines' combustion chambers. The rocket engines were successfully bench run in 1933, but were never installed in the aircraft.
Data from Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
General characteristics
Performance
