Subject: Re: MiG-8
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "Boris Krotkov" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 21:52:10 -0700

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you have never been hurt; and
Dance like no one is watching!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Boris Krotkov" <[email-masked]>
To: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 3:19 AM
Subject: MiG-8

> Hello Steve
>
> Here is the article and pictures on MiG-8. One archive
> contains "in progress" pictures and you can use them
> if you wish. I'm sending little pictures, but if you
> think that pictures too small - I'll send you big -
> just let me know.
>
> All the best from Russia.
>
> Boriss
>
>
> __________________________________________________
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> Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone.
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>
> "The Ugly Duck"
> ("a duck" is the Russian nickname for all canard aircraft type)
>
> The MiG-8 was designed at OKB-155 under an initiative order. A.I.Mikoyan
wrote in the project's explanatory note: "...the "duck"-type aircraft was
projected and constructed as an experimental airplane with the purpose to
check the stability and controllability airplanes of a given type in an air
and to check a work properties of the very swept wing. The plane has a
pusher propeller that enables a check up on the controllability of the plane
on low speeds, when the wing has no a flow from the propeller. It is of
interest for aircrafts with only jet engines installed".
>
> It was the first plane of such type built in the USSR. The type "duck" has
a number of advantages: during the flight of a plane of such type on the
large angles of attack (AOA), the breaking of the flow at the stabilizer
automatically deduces the plane to less AOA that reduces danger of
spontaneous transition over the critical area and then to spin. Besides the
stabilizer creates additional lift power unlike a normal type planes. The
basic disadvantage is a de-stability influence of a nose part of the
fuselage.
>
> The work on the project began in February, 1945. N.I.Andrianov,
N.Z.Matiuk, A.A.Tchumachenko, etc. took part in the work. After testing in
the wind tunnel, TsAGI gave some additional recommendations, for example to
install the fixed slats before the very first flight.
>
> The maiden flight of the MiG-8 was on August 13, 1945 (test-pilot of OKB
A.I. Zhukov). The tests passed from August 28 until September 11, 1945,
test-pilots A.I. Zhukov and A.I. Grintchik from LII (Flight Research
Institute) took part in  tests. The tests  showed that the plane has
satisfactory longitudinal and excessive cross stability. For conformity of
these stabilities, the wings were re-installed with 1-degree negative
dihedral, and vertical tail rudders were bent to the fuselage side on 10
degrees by their top ends.
>
> Under the recommendations of the Flight Research Institute after the first
stage of tests, rudder tails were reinstalled to the middle of a wing, the
rudders were equipped with compensators, the elevator was equipped with
trimmer, and the new nose wheel (500x150) was installed.
>
> After the first flight of the modified plane on February 21, 1946, it was
found out that temperature of oil was unsufficient because of absence of a
cowls on the cylinders. The cowls were installed back to the cylinders
again, but in the next flight (February 28, 1946), it was found out that
temperature of oil exceeded that allowed. The plane was sent for modifying,
in which the cooling of the engine was improved.
>
> After the completion of the works on the engine temperature regime, the
plane was taken back to the Flight Institute for tests continuation. During
the tests, the plane was subjected to modifying again - slats were removed,
and then the downward bent wingtips were installed. The tests were finished
in May 1946, having shown good flying, piloting and operational qualities.
In particular, A.I. Grintchik  found out an interesting feature: the plane
very reluctantly entered into a spin and came out of the spin just after
releasing of control stick ("like a cork from a water" - according to the
test-pilot).
>
> Upon termination of the program of flying tests, the airplane was used as
a light transport plane of OKB for some years. The operation  confirmed its
air-worthness and simplicity of the maintenance, all these characteristics
were at the level of the well-known Po-2. In all of the MiG-8 flights, there
was no failure or precondition to flying incident.
>
> The basic characteristics of MiG-8:
> Length, m ............................................. 6.8
> Wingspan, m ....................................... 9.5
> Height, m ............................................. 2.475
> Diameter of the propeller, m ............. 2.35
> The maximal speed, km/h.................. 215
> Takeoff speed, km/h........................... 103
> Landing speed, km/h........................... 92
> Length of takeoff, m............................. 238
> Practical range of flight, km ............... 500
> Weight of the empty plane, kg .......... 746
> Fuel tank, kg ....................................... 140
> Flight weight, kg ................................. 1150
>
> The radial engine is air cooling M-11F, 110 bhp with a two-blade wooden
> pushing propeller having a constant step.
>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> About a model
>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> I would like to have purchased this model after having accidentally
watched the footage about flight of this "Duck". As far as I know there is
the only model of the "Duck" (resin kit, Unicraft, Ukraine), and it is too
expensive for me, so I've decided to make it from the wastes of my "aircraft
factory" (I have enough modeling rubbish to build a pair of Boeing 747's in
> 1:24). The good drawings were found in my "attic". The drawings are from
an old
> "Modelist-Konstruktor" magazine (the issue itself was not kept), which
were scanned and printed out in scale 1:72. The engine from NeOmega was
ordered, and the work started.
>
> The skeleton of the fuselage was glued from sections of thick sprues, bent
on a lighter, then  covered with thin and narrow plastic strips, gaps were
filled in with CNA super glue and sanded to proper shape and smoothed (up to
holes in places - then back to the beginning and start again). The skeleton
of a chairs was made of a thin nickel wire, seats and backrests are from
pieces of  sprue (on which number of a part were written) and painted with
Humbrol Matt Brown. If one rubs this after drying, it begins to shine "in
places" and looks very much like leather. The interior was painted with
plywood color and the inside frames were added, these were made from
stretched sprue.
>
> Wing, elevator and vertical tails were cut out from the top of the
fisherman's bait box (soft and thick plastic - about 3-mm). After sanding it
to the necessary shape, stretched sprues were added atop of the wings and
tails for an imitation of ribbing. When these sprues were covered with plain
plastic glue, they melted a bit, and after some sanding became a very
similar to that was required.
>
> After cementing the wing, tails, stabilizer and fuselage, all of plane was
painted with a white enamel primer. All rough spots were filled with putty
and sanded, and the gear and under-wing struts were added. The windows were
fitted, but the pieces of clear plastic, which were cut from "Coca-Cola"
bottle,  looked bad (maybe because of a difference in thickness, maybe in
other reason). After meditations the wide strip along both boards was cut
out. Two bent pieces of clear plastic (from the same bottle) were inserted
into this opening. Gaps were filled with super glue, then all clear windows
got a coat of "Future"on the inside and good sanding outside. After
polishing, windows were masked using scotch tape.
>
> The radial engine M-11 resin kit from NeOmega was painted with Humbrol
Black Metal. The engine cowls were cut from thin plastic sheet. The fairings
of the main gear wheels were made of bent thick sprue with two pieces of
plastic, glued onto both sides. The wheels were just cut out from pieces of
thick plastic. Compensators, Pitot tube, and nose leg strut made from
stretched sprues.
>
> The paint scheme was not so difficult, overall cream (at least should be,
but I'm afraid I added too much red to my mix) and dark red on the nose,
wingtips, and tails. The panel lines were cut with a No. 11 blade and were
washed with India ink. Pieces of the scotch tape were removed from the
windows and the entire model got a coat of "Future". Contrary to my
suspicions there was no need to add the nose weight.
>
> The model represents one of the intermediate versions of the plane - with
vertical tails in the middle of the wings, already without leading edge
screens, but yet without the bent wingtips.
>
> Special thanks to Caz Dalton for editing the text and to Anton Tsupka for
delivering the NeOmega's engine and old kidding about "how about to build a
model out of sprues only?".
>