The Chernov Che-25 is a four-seat, twin engine

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 ...

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

built in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the 1990s. The Che-27 is an enlarged, five seat version.

Design and development

The Che-25 is very similar in general appearance to earlier Boris Chernov designs such as the two seat Korvet and the Chernov Che-23 but is a four-seat aircraft, with both span and length increased. It has an unswept, straight edged constant chord wing made from riveted

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

, with a single

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

. Lateral (roll) control is by full span

flaperons A flaperon (a portmanteau of flap and aileron) on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufacture, while ...

and stability on the water is maintained by downturned

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

tips which act as simple floats. The

is braced by a single streamlined

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 ...

on each side to mid

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, assisted by

jury strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in c ...

flying wire In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s and a central section cabane. The twin engines are mounted above the wing

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

. They can be either

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-certified aircraft operating ...

UL-2V air and water cooled, twin cylinder

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

s or

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

ULS water cooled four stroke

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

s. The Rotax 582s are mounted uncowled and drive a two bladed

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

but the 912 installation is cowled, with three-bladed propellers. The Che-25 has a flat sided, two step hull formed from a vacuum moulded

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

sandwich. The integral

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

forms a

cruciform tail __NOTOC__ The cruciform tail is an aircraft empennage configuration which, when viewed from the aircraft's front or rear, looks much like a cross. The usual arrangement is to have the horizontal stabilizer intersect the vertical tail somewhere ...

with a swept, tapered, straight edged fin initially carried a

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ...

, though the Che-25M variant with its higher

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

abandoned the balance. The underwing cabin has dual controls and is entered via gull wing doors. There is a water rudder attached just aft of the rear step. The optional land undercarriage has mainwheels on mid-fuselage mounted legs, which rotate forward through 90° to allow water landings, and a tailwheel fixed to the water rudder. The Che-25 was built by the student design bureau SKB-1 and first flew in 1995. It appeared in public in September 1996 at the

Hydroaviasalon Hydroaviasalon or in full International Exhibition and Scientific Conference on Hydroaviation (russian: Гидроавиасалон, translit. ''Gidroaviasalon'') is an international airshow on hydroaviation held in Russia. It's held every even ...

show in

Gelendzhik Gelendzhik (russian: Геленджи́к) is a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Gelendzhik Bay of the Black Sea, between Novorossiysk ( to the northwest) and Tuapse ( to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sprawls for along t ...

. The Che-25M was displayed at the 1999

MAKS airshow MAKS (russian: МАКС, russian: label=short for, Международный авиационно-космический салон, Mezhdunarodnyj aviatsionno-kosmicheskij salon, "International Aviation and Space Show") is an international air ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Current production plans are not known.

Variants

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2009-10 ;Che-25: Original version. ;Che-25M: Raised tailplane, rudder balance removed. ;BD-205: Chinese version of Che-25 marketed by the

Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin Institute of Technology (; abbreviation: HIT or ) is a public research university and a member of China's elite C9 League and a member of the University Alliance of the Silk Road. HIT is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Doubl ...

. ;Che-27:"Practically indistinguishable" from Che-25M with the same engine choices, weights and dimensions but longer, a wider wheel track due to splayed undercarriage legs and five seats. First flown June 2003 and exhibited at the Moscow Aerosalon in August 2007. ;State Avia SA-1:Che-27M2 marketed by State Avia.

Specifications (Rotax 912)

References

http://www.sama.ru/~chernovb/che25.shtml {{Chernov aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Amphibious aircraft 1990s Soviet and Russian civil utility aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1995