The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-8 ''Utka'' (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-8 «Утка», "duck") was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

experimental aircraft. Built of wood, the aircraft was designed and built in 1945 to test the novel canard configuration. It also used a tricycle undercarriage, the first used by the

OKB OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...

. It was modified to test a variety of

vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, s ...

and

wingtip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

configurations and was later used as a liaison aircraft for many years by the design bureau.

Design and development

Nicknamed ''Utka'' ("duck"), as the word ''canard'' (referring to its small forward wing) is French for "duck", and with the Russian aeronautics term for a canard wing being described as a "duck" scheme (схема "утка"), the MiG-8 was an experimental aircraft designed and built by the

to evaluate the stability and handling of the canard configuration in conjunction with swept wings. This design has benefits in a jet-powered aircraft as it leaves the rear of the fuselage clear of interference from the jet's exhausts. To test the concept the MiG-8 was powered by a

Shvetsov M-11 The Shvetsov M-11 is a five-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced in the Soviet Union between 1923 and 1952.Gunston 1989, p.158. Design and development The Shvetsov M-11 was designed under a 1923 competition in the Soviet Union f ...

five-cylinder

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

, with a

pusher propeller In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

Operational history

The aircraft was used as a

testbed A testbed (also spelled test bed) is a platform for conducting rigorous, transparent, and replicable testing of scientific theories, computational tools, and new technologies. The term is used across many disciplines to describe experimental rese ...

for developing the swept wing of the

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

, and afterwards continued to fly as a communications/utility aircraft for the

. Being made of wood and fabric, it was very light and reportedly a favorite among MiG OKB test pilots for its docile, slow-speed handling characteristics.

Specifications

References

Bibliography

* Gordon, Yefim and Komissarov, Dmitry. ''OKB Mikoyan: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft''. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing, 2009 * Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995''. London: Osprey, 1995

External links