The BŻ-4 Żuk ("Beetle" in Polish), formerly known as GIL-4, was a Polish four-seat light

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

built in the 1950s. Although it pioneered a novel rotor and transmission system, it never entered series production.

Design and development

Work on the GIL-4 began at the ''Główny Instytut Lotnictwa'' - Main Aviation Institute (GIL), in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1953, under the leadership of Dipl. Ing.

Bronisław Żurakowski Bronisław Żurakowski (26 June 1911 – 4 October 2009) was a Polish engineer, aeroplane constructor, and Glider (sailplane), glider test pilot. Personal life Bronisław Żurakowski was born in Makiejowka. He was a brother of test pilot J ...

, who had earlier designed the experimental BŻ-1 GIL helicopter, the first successful rotating-wing aircraft built in Poland. Progress was slow. The main object was to produce a simple and inexpensive general use light helicopter and to further development of the novel rotor and transmission system, which eliminates vibration and improves control.Cynk 1959, p. 72. The BŻ-4 Żuk was based on a single main three-blade rotor powered by an indigenous Narkiewicz WN-4 piston engine in a fuselage made of a steel frame, behind a cabin section. It had an open frame rear boom structure and a fixed four-wheel undercarriage. Main rotor was atypical, for it had a smaller upper steering rotor and was fitted with an automatic stabilization system, of the Hiller principle. The cabin had four doors with two front seats and a rear bench. There were two fuel tanks, 220 L in total. Four main variants were planned: a passenger version accommodating a pilot and three passengers, an ambulance variant carrying pilot, one

stretchers A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

and an attendant, an agricultural variant carrying pilot and spraying or dusting equipment and a dual control trainer.

Testing and evaluation

The first prototype of the BŻ-4 Żuk four-seat helicopter was manufactured and displayed publicly in the Polish Aviation Day Exhibition in August 1956. Due to a long program of ground testing and fixing faults, it flew first only on 10 February 1959 and completed 17 flights for a total of 3 hrs, 40 minutes. The Żuk was still in the development stage when further work was cancelled in favor of the licence production of the

Mil Mi-1 The Mil Mi-1 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 32", NATO reporting name "Hare") was a Soviet three- or four-seat light utility helicopter. It was the first Soviet helicopter to enter serial production. It is powered by one Ivchenko AI-26V radial ...

, that had already started in WSK PZL-Świdnik. The prototype was damaged during landing on 31 August 1959 and despite being repaired, was not used again. Two additional prototypes were not completed. BZ-4 Zuk PICT0053

One damaged and incomplete prototype is preserved in the

Polish Aviation Museum The Polish Aviation Museum () is a large museum of historic aircraft and aircraft engines in Kraków, Poland. It is located at the site of the no-longer functional Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport. This airfield, established by Austr ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Specifications (BŻ-4)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Babiejczuk, Janusz and Grzegorzewski, Jerzy. ''Polski Przemysł Lotniczy 1945-1973'' (in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo MON, 1974. No ISBN. * Cynk, J.B. "Pictorial Museum of Polish Aviation." ''Air Progress'', Fall 1959. * Krzyżan, Marian. ''Samoloty w Muzeach Polskich'' (in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łącznośc, 1983. . * Green, William and Pollinger, Gerald. ''The Observer's Book of Aircraft, 1958 edition''. London: Fredrick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1958. * Lambermont, Paul. ''Helicopters and Autogyros of the World''. London: Cassell, 1958.

External links

Photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bz-4 Zuk 1950s Polish civil utility aircraft 1950s Polish experimental aircraft 1950s Polish helicopters Aircraft manufactured in Poland Aircraft first flown in 1959 Single-engined piston helicopters