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According to Colonel-General B Korolkov, commander of the Russian Air Force Acad- emy, and V Kazashvili, the curator of the Russ- ian Federation Air Force Museum at Monino, the first Sukhanov Discoplan 1 was built at Novosibirsk. This is believed to be the same compact single-seat glider that flew at Tushino in 1958. It comprised a one-piece cir- cular wing with a diameter of 16ft (5m) and it was fitted with an upper mounted tailfin. A pod-shaped cockpit was located below the wing and the undercarriage comprised two wheels on struts plus skids attached to the wing’s trailing edge. Sukhanov’s Discoplan II was completed in 1960 at the Lavochkin plant and it was another small glider that was designed to test new wing ideas. A third Sukhanov glider was completed during the 1959-1962 period and utilised more of a rectangular shape. The air- craft was fitted with a single tail fin and hada forward-positioned bubble cockpit. This small aircraft may have been used to test the viability of a larger manned re-entry vehicle for Russia’s space programme and there were apparently plans to follow this with a turbojet-powered version. The Sukhanov team were also involved in the design of an Avrocar-type vehicle, which appears in one poor quality photograph. In 1957, Sovietskaya Rossiya magazine briefly dis- cussed a counterpart to the Avrocar craft, cred- iting the design to Professor S Zonshtein. It was described as a ‘circular object with four ducted fans’. The vehicle seen ina picture (which may be this machine) has a bubble cockpit and is fit- ted with a single tailfin. Whether or not it per- formed any better than the Avrocar is unknown. At about the same time the Russians BICh-7A was essentially a scaled-up two- witha variable-sweep wing. Powered by one seat version of BICh-3 with a 100hp (74.5kW) gas turbine, the aircraft had an anticipated Bristol Lucifer engine and a wingspan of 41ft maximum speed of Mach 1.7 and a ceiling of (12.5m). The fixed undercarriage consisted 72,000ft (22,000m), but the performance of of two forward wheels and a tailskid. BICh-7A available engines and those under develop- had a gross weight of about 507 1b (203kg) ment suggests that these figures were some- and an estimated maximum speed of about — what optimistic. Chyeranovskii finally retired 100mph (160km/h). Little is known about fol- due to poor health and died on 17th Decem- lowing Chyeranovskii models that may have _ ber 1960. been designated BICh-8 to 13; they were probably unsuccessful or unbuilt designs. Sukhanov Discplanes The next significant Chyeranovskii aircraft A small design team (but not thought to have was the twin-engined BICh-14, which was an OKB designation) appears to have been powered by two 100hp (74.5kW) M-11 responsible for most of the circular-winged engines. It had a wingspan of 53ft (16.1m) a aircraft that were designed in the Soviet length of 19ft 9in (6m) and a gross weight of | Union from the 1950s onwards. Headed by M 4,189lb (1,900kg). Maximum speed for Sukhanov (first name unknown), this design BICh-14 was about 137mph (220km/h) and it group created a series of compact gliders, flew until early 1937, when testing was can- powered aircraft, ground-effect vehicles and celled. Chyeranovskii’s team produced vari- numerous exotic concepts. ous other small tailless propeller driven designs and these culminated in the BICh-21, an advanced monoplane intended for use in the Osoaviakhim All-Union Air Race of 1941. The aircraft was completed and flown but the project soon came to an end when the war with Nazi Germany began. In the immediate post-war years, Chyera- novskii ran an informal OKB, developing very sophisticated tailless flying wing supersonic combat aircraft with unusual configurations. How much German research influenced his design work is unclear, but the BICh-26 that emerged in 1948 was his team’s most advanced concept. This single-seat fighter proposal had a semi-triangular appearance 108 3-view drawing of the Chyeranovskii BICh-7A. Russian Sukhanov Discoplane. Bill Rose Collection Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft