Praga E-55
| Praga E-55 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Multipurpose aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1949 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Praga E-55 is a Czechoslovak multipurpose aircraft that only existed as a prototype .
development
The E-55 was created in response to a 1947 demand for a light multi-purpose aircraft that should be suitable for transporting the sick , dropping parachutists and as a touring aircraft . In addition to several, unrealized projects, Aero also developed the Ae-50 as a parallel design. In 1949, the prototype known as the XE-55 made its maiden flight. Although the specification provided for the four-cylinder version of the Walter Minor as the drive, it was equipped with its more powerful six - cylinder version . In 1950 the aircraft was handed over to the Aviation Research Institute in Prague , where testing continued as the V-11 . The E-55 completed 106 test flights in 26 hours from April to June. Subsequently, as a K-64 , it was subjected to military aptitude tests with the Air Force , which apparently turned out negative, because no instructions for series production were given. Instead, the model received the civilian license plate OK-DMA on October 29, 1951 and was handed over to the paramilitary mass organization Svazarm, which used it from the following year at the Prague Aviation Club as a parachute jumper and for towing gliders . The last detectable flight took place on June 29, 1953 from Mladá Boleslav airfield .
An unrealized agricultural variant with a 250 kg chemical container was developed in 1951 and called the E-55H .
construction
The E-55 is a strutted shoulder wing whose fuselage essentially consists of a generously glazed nacelle, to which a tail girder is attached in the upper rear area and at the end of which there is the horizontal stabilizer with two rudders on both sides in end disks. At the rear of the gondola there are doors that can be folded away at the side, which are intended to make it easier for people to get out of the car when skydiving or for loading a stretcher. The landing gear, designed in a nose wheel arrangement, was not kept retractable.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| Passengers | 2 |
| span | 11.50 m |
| length | 8.50 m |
| height | 2.85 m |
| Wing area | 17.6 m² |
| Wing extension | 7.5 |
| Empty mass | 640 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 990 kg |
| Wing loading | 56.2 kg / m² |
| drive | an air-cooled six-cylinder in - line engine |
| Type | Walter Minor 6-III |
| power | 118 kW (160 PS) |
| Top speed | 165 km / h |
| Cruising speed | 150 km / h |
| Landing speed | 60 km / h |
| Rise time | 5.25 min at 1000 m |
| Service ceiling | 4020 m |
| Range | 455 km |
literature
- Hans-Joachim Mau: Czechoslovak aircraft from 1918 until today . Transpress, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00121-3 , p. 126/127 .
- Wilfried Copenhagen: Praga E-55 (ČSR) . In: Fliegerrevue . No. 1/1979 , p. 40 .
Web links
- Praga E-55. Retrieved August 17, 2017 (Russian, history, dates, photos).