Single seat single engined high wing mono¬plane with conventional three axis control. Wing has unswept leading and trailing edges, and constant chord; cruciform tail. Pitch control by elevator on tail; yaw control by fin mounted rudder; roll control by spoilers; control inputs through stick for pitch/roll and pedals for yaw. Wing braced from above by kingpost and cables, from below by cables; wing profile 80% double surface. Undercarriage has three wheels in tricycle formation with additional tailskid; no suspension on nosewheel and steel spring suspension on main wheels. Push right go right nosewheel steering connected to yaw control. No brakes. Aluminium tube framework, without pod. Engine mounted at wing height driving tractor propeller. Leading edges of the wing are stiffened with polyester under the Dacron covering. Designed and built by Hans Gigax, the Microstar, which made its first flight at the beginning of 1981 and was shown by Hans at the annual homebuilders’ meet at Brienne le Chateau in France. The machine went on sale in 1982 from ASW, which has ceased to produce aircraft in Switzerland at the beginning of 1983. The Microstar was directly involved in a fatal accident in West Germany in 1982 which led the maker to stiffen its empennage by two additional tubes. Having acquired the licence to build and sell the single seater Microstar as designed by Hans Gigax, the ASW company embarked in 1982 on the production of several examples as the Microstar Mark I. The distribution seems to have been very small, but at least one Microstar was exported to France, bought by the French agent of the Swiss parent company.
Length overall 17.1ft, 5.20m. Wing span 33.6ft, 10.20m. Constant chord 4.4ft, 1.32 m. Sweepback 0 deg. Total wing area 145 sq.ft, 13.4 sq.m. Wing aspect ratio 7.8/1. Engine: Konig SC430, 24 hp at 4200 rpm. Propeller diameter 43 inch, 1.09 m. No reduction. Max static thrust 132 lb, 60 kg. Power per unit area 0.17 hp/sq.ft, 1.8 hp/sq.m. Fuel capacity 5.3 US gal, 4.4 Imp gal, 20.0. Empty weight 154lb, 70kg. Max take off weight 441 lb, 200 kg. Payload: 287 lb, 130 kg. Max wing loading: 3.05 lb/sq.ft, 14.9 kg/sq.m. Max power loading 18.4 lb/hp, 8.3kg/hp. Load factors: +6.0, 3.0 ultimate. Max level speed 50 mph, 80 kph. Never exceed speed 68 mph, 110 kph. Max cruising speed 44 mph, 70 kph. Economic cruising speed 24mph, 40kph. Stalling speed 17 mph, 28 kph. Max climb rate at sea level 250ft/min, 1.5m/s. Take off distance 65ft, 20m. Landing distance 50ft, 15 m. Service ceiling 11,480 ft, 3500 m.
The Gidroplan Che-22 Korvet (English: Corvette) is one of several parasol wing light flying boat Boris Chernov designs of similar appearance, stemming immediately from the Che-20.
Che-22
The wing of the Korvet has no sweep and is of constant chord, with 1.5° dihedral; its thick airfoil section has a thickness-to-chord ratio of 0.15. It is a single spar, riveted duralumin covered structure, apart from its full span slotted flaperons, which are fabric covered, and GFRP sandwich, down turned, buoyant wing tips which support the wings when the aircraft is moored. Later aircraft have remodelled tips which include integral miniature float bodies to provide stability at speed on the water; they may also have separate flaps and ailerons. The wing is braced to the mid-fuselage by a single streamlined strut on each side, with the assistance of jury struts. Cabane struts carry the wing over the cabin. The tail unit is a GFRP structure with a straight edged, tapered, swept fin and balanced rudder which carries the unswept, straight edged tailplane, braced from above, a little above the upper fuselage line. The elevators are split by the rudder; the port surface has a trim tab.
The three-seat Che-22 Korvet made its first flight in 1993 and achieved certification in December 2001, with significant structural, control and instrumentation revisions made along the way. It proved successful, with 80 completed by January 2011. Since 1995 Chernov’s designs have either been built by the Gidroplan (Hydroplane) Company or by Gidrosamolet.
Korvet-L
Different variants of the Korvet have been fitted with several different engine types; some have a single engine and some are twins. In all cases the engines are mounted over and above the wing leading edge. Twins have their engines as close together as the 1.5 m (59 in) propellers diameters will allow. Most engines have been from the Rotax range: the 37 kW (49.6 hp) Rotax 503 UL-2V and the 47.8 kW (64.1 hp) Rotax 582 UL two cylinder two strokes, the first air-cooled and the latter with mixed air and water cooling, and the 59.6 kW (79.9 hp) Rotax 912 UL water-cooled flat four. The 59.7 kW (80.1 hp) Jabiru 2200 has also been fitted. Some drive two blade propellers, though others have three blades.
The Korvet’s fuselage is a flat sided, two step hull design, built from GFRP. The cabin is completely enclosed in a blister canopy which is all transparent apart from the underwing roof, giving all round views. Entry is by upward canopy sections on each side. The flying boat can be equipped as an amphibian with short spring cantilever legs with small mainwheels, the legs rotating through 90° for water touch-downs. There is a small tailwheel below the rudder. Skis are another option.
The first delivery of a Korvet was in 1990, when a pre-production aircraft went to a forest control organization. The first production aircraft flew in 1993, four years after the prototype. After receiving Russian certification at the end of 2001 and JAR/FAR certification a few months later, the Korvet sold quite well, with 60 built by the end of February 2002. An early Korvet 582 was sold in the Philippines, then bought by the Vietnamese and used as a model for the locally built A41 Factory VNS-41. Two Korvet-Js went to Cuba in military markings in 2008. Another Korvet-J was equipped for Earth resource survey with large underwing aerials; after successful trials these aerials were internally accommodated. By January 2011, eighty had been sold, the latest to Costa Rica. Of the eighty built, seventeen were Jabiru powered.
Korvet-L
As well as selling flyaway aircraft, Gidroplan also sell kits in different stages of finish.
Che-22P1 Engine: One Rotax 582
Korvet 503 (Che-22P2) Engines: Two Rotax 503 UL Discontinued by 2013
Korvet 582 (Che-22RS) Engines: Two Rotax 582 UL Precursor to the Korvet-L
Korvet 912 (Che-22D) Engine: One Rotax 912 UL Discontinued by 2013
Korvet-J Engines: Two Jabiru 2200 Tip floats as Korvet-L Flown by 2003
Korvet-L (Che-22RS) Engines: 2 × Rotax 582 UL, 47.8 kW (64.1 hp) Propellers: 2-bladed, 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) diameter fixed pitch Wingspan: 10.53 m (34 ft 7 in) Wing area: 16.40 m2 (176.5 sq ft) Airfoil: TsAGI P-IIIA Length: 7.25 m (23 ft 9 in) Height: 2.40 m (7 ft 10 in) Max takeoff weight: 675 kg (1,488 lb) Fuel capacity: 100 L (22.0 Imp gal; 26.4 US gal) Optional enlarged tanks 130 L (28.6 Imp gal; 34.3 US gal); fuel weight 58 kg (127 lb). Maximum speed: 159 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn) Cruise speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn) Range: 450 km (280 mi, 240 nmi) Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) g limits: +3.8/-1.5 Rate of climb: 7.0 m/s (1,380 ft/min) Take-off run on land: 80 m (262 ft) Take-off run on water: 90 m (295 ft) Crew: One Capacity: Two passengers Static buoyant tips revised to include miniature hydrodynamic float extensions Flown by 2003
Korvet single Engine: One Jabiru 2200 Propeller: three blade Flown by 2008
Korvet Kabriolet Engine: one Jabiru 2200 Open cockpit version, under development in 2010
Refly Pelican Appeared at Oshkosh 2000, but not authorised by Gidroplane Engine: Two Rotax 582 UL
Chernov Che-23 Two seat version, 75 mm (3.0 in) shorter and 170 kg (375 lb) lighter empty than the similarly powered Korvet 912. Raised tailplane; combined tailwheel and water rudder just aft of rear step. One Rotax 582 UL or 912 UL; three blade propeller.
Russia Redan was founded 1992 but known as Gidroplan since 1995. Producing Che- 22 three-seat amphibious flying-boat (first flown 1992), developed from the single example of the Boris Chernov Che-20 two-seat homebuilt prototype that was tested 1989-1992. Che-25 four-seat derivative of Che-22 first flown 1996 but not selected for further production. Has also developed the Tsykada twin-engined very light agricultural monoplane.
This plane was built by the Milanese, Italy, firm Gibus e C. and was tested privately in 1910. Not much is known about the machine, which was a tractor biplane with a circular strut arrangement between the wings and a very high-mounted front elevator. The propeller was driven via chain by a five-cylinder Gibus engine mounted on the lower wing.
The Gibson Twinplane of 1910 was designed and constructed by Canadian merchant and businessman William Wallace Gibson, the “Balgonie Birdman”. The first heavier-than-air machine flown in western Canada (at Victoria, B.C.).
The first Canadian designed and built airplane, he also built his own engine
Following the crash of the Twinplane, Gibson resolved to build another aircraft. Although he used the same engine and some parts from the Twinplane, to pay for the new machine he had to sell his house.
The new design retained much of his original concept and used the four-wheel undercarriage with the engine mounted approximately centrally between the wheels but this time driving a single pusher propeller.
The design change was in the wings and control system. Gibson had read Sir Hiram S. Maxim’s Artificial and Natural Flight and became convinced of the value of high aspect ratio wings. So for the tandem monoplane wings of the Twinplane he substituted two sets of very narrow triplane wings (Gibson was quoted as saying ‘None of the lifting parts are over 12in (30cm) in width’), and the forward elevator was altered to a narrow-chord biplane structure. Ailerons were placed on the outer ends of the centre plane of the front set of wings. The pilot’s controls now consisted of foot pedals to operate the rudder, and a wheel to operate the ailerons when rotated and the elevators when moved fore and aft.
The Multi-plane was built at Ladner, near Victoria, on the ranch of British Columbia’s Lt-Governor Pattison, and $10,000 was reported to have been spent on its construction. It was shown at a Made-in-Canada Fair at Vancouver on 8-14 June, 1911. Its exhibition was the responsibility of Jack Woods who was associated with Gibson but whose role in the construction of the machine is not known. At the Fair, Gibson met Alexander M. Jaap of Forest, Ontario, and he joined Gibson in his experiments. The aircraft was then shipped to Kamloops, British Columbia, where it was exhibited again, and between the two exhibitions some modifications were made to the rear undercarriage.
The Multi-plane was then shipped to Calgary and taken by horse to Jack Hayes’ ranch about three miles north of the city. It was reported that, beginning early in July, the Multi-plane made a number of successful short flights, with Jaap at the controls as Gibson had promised his wife that he would not fly.
The most successful flight was the last on 11 August, 1911, and the Calgary Herald reported it as follows: ‘While attempting to make a landing from a height of over 100 feet in the air – Alex Jaap – crashed down into a swampy coulee – and narrowly escaped death. His machine was badly wrecked. Jaap, who had flown about a mile in a test flight, miscalculated the ground on which he proposed to descend, and when within 50 feet of the earth noticed that the turf was honeycombed with badger holes. He attempted to ascend – but it was tod late. His engine had stopped and refused to start again. His only chance – was to drop obliquely into the swampy ground of a nearby coulee. When the machine swooped down into the soft soil the wheels stuck in the mud and the terrific momentum literally tore the aeroplane to pieces. Had it not been for the unusual construction of the machine the motor would have fallen upon him [Jaap] and crushed his life out. As it was he escaped with a few bruises.’
After the accident Gibson announced that he would ‘rebuild my machine with pressed steel plates’ which he was going to have made in Toronto. It was also reported that when rebuilt it would be flown by P. Julien Chatel, a Calgary man who was stated to have worked with Louis Bleriot in France. The machine was never rebuilt. Thanks to the efforts of the well-known Canadian aviation historian, the late Frank H. Ellis, the Gibson engine, Canada’s first aviation engine, was located and is now in the National Aeronautical Collection at Ottawa.
Engine: One 40 hp Gibson. Empty weight: 700 lb (318 kg).
