Chinese Nanchang CJ-6A
Red ALert's CJ-6A: Our CJ is a 1985 model direct from the Chinese Air Force. This aircraft was pain stakingly restored to better than new condition.
Features: We carry on board a full two pipe smoke system. We incorporate an on board dual cockpit video system for recording flights for media or fantasy flights.
History: The study of evolution in
aircraft design can be as fascinating as Darwin's studies. The development of
the Yakovlev Yak-18 and the Nanchang CJ-5/6 provide an
example.
Revisions of the Soviet Union's basic Yakovlev
UT-2M trainer in 1943 included the enclosing of the tandem cockpits and the
replacement of a tailskid with a tailwheel. The new variant, designated the
UT-2MV, provided the basis for the Yak-18 prototype,
first flown in 1945, when the dust of the last WWII battle had hardly
settled.
With an all-metal structure and mixed
fabric/metal covering, the aircraft went into production in 1947, with a
comparatively small engine. Built in large numbers as a "tail dragger," the
plane was redesigned as the Yak-18U in 1955, with
increased wing dihedral, longer fuselage and partially-retractable tricycle
landing gear, for use as a jet pilot primary trainer. Despite significantly
increased weight, the plane used the same old Shvetsov M-11FR radial engine as
the prototype, with predictably disappointing performance. But after it was
given a new engine, the 260hp Ivchenko AI-14R radial, in a revised cowling, it
served for many years as the primary trainer in the Soviet Union and many client
nations, under the designation Yak-18A. There were
other variants, sometimes in quantity, such as the
Yak-18P, a single-seat aerobatic aircraft that first
flew in 1961.
Manufacture of the Yak-18 trainer was
suspended in 1967 with 6,670 of all versions built, many for export. However, in
that same year, production was begun on a significant redesign, the Yak-18T,
which was virtually a new machine, a four-place sport/touring aircraft, with
side-by-side seating for the pilot(s) and passengers. Production of the Yak-18T
continued into the 1980's, with more than 1,000 built.
Like many popular
aircraft, the Yak-18T has a certain Phoenix-like quality. Thus, the
independently operated Smolensk aircraft factory resumed production of the plane
in 1993.
NANCHANG CJ-5/CJ-6
Built under
license in China, the basic Yak-18 was known as the Nanchang
CJ-5. Produced at the Nanchang Aircraft Factory from
1954 through 1958, the design showed deficiencies for jet pilot training that
led the Chinese to independently revise the basic Yak-18 design to feature a
retractable undercarriage, with the main gear folding inward toward the
fuselage, and the nose wheel retracting backward into the fuselage. The wings
were revised to have prominent dihedral, but, like the Soviet Yak-18A redesign,
the CJ-6 retained the 145hp M-11ER radial engine with similarly disappointing
results when it first flew in 1958. Revised power, in the form of an Ivchenko
AI-14R engine, didn't solve the problem, which called for further redesign of
the aircraft. Finally, in 1961, an improved CJ-6A
gained approval and was produced from 1962 until 1965, using a 285hp Quzhou
Huosai HS6A engine. More than 1,800 CJ-6As were produced, including those
exported to nations such as Albania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tanzania and Zambia
under the designation BT-6. An armed version, the
CJ-6B, was produced between 1964 and 1966, possibly
equipped with a 300-hp HS-6D engine, according to some
sources.
More than 10,000 of all types are believed to
have been produced. Both the Yak-18 and the Nanchang CJ-6 have become popular
with pilots worldwide who appreciate the sturdy qualities, reliability and
personality of these old warbirds. [History by Kevin
Murphy]
Engine: One 285-hp Quzhou Huosai-6A HS6A
radial piston engine
Specifications (CJ-6A):
Engine: One 285-hp Quzhou Huosai-6A HS6A radial piston engine
Weight: Empty 2,200 lbs., Max Takeoff 3,080
lbs.
Wing Span: 33.4 ft.
Length: 27.75 ft.
Height: 10.7
ft.
Performance:
Maximum
Speed: 230 mph
Ceiling: 17,000
ft.
Range: 450 miles
Armament: None
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ou `ai6A HS6A
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