The Beriev Be-8 (

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

/DoD reporting name "Type 33",

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

reporting name "Mole"), was built by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Beriev OKB in 1947. It was a passenger/liaison

amphibian aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes (flying boats a ...

with a layout similar to the

Be-4 The Blue Engine 4 or BE-4 is an oxygen-rich liquefied-methane-fueled staged-combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin. The BE-4 is being developed with private and public funding. The engine has been designed to produce of thr ...

but substantially larger and heavier. It was a single engined

parasol wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

ed aircraft, with the wing installed on a thin pylon and a pair of short

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

s. Compared to the Be-4, the Be-8 was equipped with retractable

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, with cockpit and passenger cabins heated by an engine exhaust heat exchanger. The Be-8 was intended as a

civil aircraft Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

and carried no armament. First flight was on 3 December 1947, demonstrating good performance and of the two prototypes, one was demonstrated during the 1951 Soviet Aviation Day at

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

. One of Be-8 was equipped with

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

s, developed at TsAGI. These "Underwater Wings" were installed on landing gear struts and raised the aircraft above the water, well before the aerodynamic lift could support the aircraft. As a result, takeoff was much easier and imposed less punishment on the hull from the waves. Despite being very effective during take-off, the hydrofoils resulted in increased drag and a reduction in maximum airspeed. Construction of retractable hydrofoils was not ready, and the concept did not find practical applications.

Specifications (Be-8)

References

* Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995''. London: Osprey, 1995. . {{Beriev aircraft Be-0008 Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Flying boats 1940s Soviet civil utility aircraft Amphibious aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1947