Moskalyev SAM-6
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| SAM-6 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | experimental |
| National origin | USSR |
| Manufacturer | GAZ-18, Voronezh |
| Designer | Aleksandr Sergeyevitch Moskalyev |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | early 1934 |
The Moskalyev SAM-6 was an experimental design intended to test the suitability of monowheel undercarriages, lighter than conventional gear, on tailless aircraft.
The wooden SAM-6 had a conventional tail on its short fuselage but its low wing had, in addition, Scheibe-type, oval wingtip fins and rudders. Sprung skids on their underside provided the lateral stability that its central undercarriage did not.[1]
It was powered by a 65 hp (48 kW), three cylinder M-23 radial engine mounted in the pointed nose of its deep fuselage and had a single seat, open cockpit.[1]
Development
For its first flight, made in early 1934, the SAM-6 had a long, non-retracting central ski rather than a wheel, and tail ski rather than a skid, both mounted on vertical shock-absorbing struts. The trials were reasonably successful and the main ski was replaced by a wheel in a trouser fairing. No reports from tests with this landing gear are known but by late 1934 the SAM-6 had been modified into the more conventional SAM-6bis, which had two fixed, trousered mainwheels. It also had a second, tandem seat in an enclosed, instrumented cockpit.[1]