VZLU TOM-8

The TOM-8 was a prototype Czechoslovak single-engined two-seat training aircraft of the 1950s. It was designed by the VZLU, the Czechoslovak national aeronautic research institute for the Czechoslovak Air Force, with a prototype flying in 1956, but production plans were abandoned in 1960.

TOM-8
Role Training aircraft
National origin Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer VZLU
First flight 23 April 1956
Status Prototype

Design and development

In the mid-1950s, the Czechoslovak Air Force had a requirement to replace its Aero C-11 trainers, a licence-built version of the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-11. The design of the new aircraft was allocated to a team at the VZLU,[lower-alpha 1], led by Karel Tomáš, who had previously served as chief designer for Tatra's aviation department, and later for Zlín, where he designed the Zlín Z 26 trainer.[2][3]

The resulting design, designated TOM-8 after Tomáš, and also known as the L-8,[3] was a low-winged monoplane of all metal construction,[lower-alpha 2] powered by a single 235 hp (175 kW) Praga Doris C air-cooled six-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine. Student and instructor sat in tandem in an enclosed cockpit, with the student in the front seat, and were provided with dual controls. The aircraft had a retractable tricycle landing gear.[5]

The first TOM-8 made its maiden flight on 23 April 1956,[2][3] but development was slowed by engine problems, and plans for production at the Moravan Otrokovice works (where Zlín aircraft were built[6]) were abandoned in 1960.[2]

One TOM-8 is preserved at the Kbely Aviation Museum.[2]

Specifications

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958–59[5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 9.37 m (30 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 10.93 m (35 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
  • Wing area: 17.255 m2 (185.73 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 6.94:1
  • Empty weight: 1,060 kg (2,337 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,380 kg (3,042 lb) (normal)
  • Fuel capacity: 180 L (40 imp gal; 48 US gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Praga Doris C air-cooled six-cylinder horizontally opposed piston engine, 175 kW (235 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller, 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) diameter

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 285 km/h (177 mph, 154 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 240 km/h (150 mph, 130 kn) at 1,000 m (3,280 ft)
  • Range: 720 km (450 mi, 390 nmi)
  • Endurance: 3 hr
  • Service ceiling: 6,050 m (19,850 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 5.41 m/s (1,065 ft/min)
  • Take-off distance to 20 m (65 ft): 455 m (1,493 ft)[7]
  • Landing distance from 20 m (65 ft): 430 m (1,410 ft)[7]

Notes
  1. Czech:Vyzkummy a Zkusebni Letecky Ustav, the Czechoslovak national aeronautic research institute.[1]
  2. The first prototype had a steel tube structure, but it was planned for later aircraft to have a monocoque fuselage.[4]

References
  1. Gunston 2005, p. 491
  2. "VZLÚ TOM-8 OK-08, výr. č. 4". Vojenský Historiký Ústav Praha (in Czech). Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. Němeček 1956, p. 656
  4. Němeček 1956, pp. 656–657
  5. Bridgman 1958, pp. 133–134
  6. Gunston 2005, p. 529
  7. Němeček 1956, p. 657
  • Bridgman, Leonard (1958). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958–59. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.
  • Gunston, Bill (2005). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers (2nd ed.). Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3981-8.
  • Němeček, Václav (16 October 1956). "Představujeme vám letadlo TOM-8". Křídla vlasti (in Czech). Vol. 1956 no. 21. pp. 656–657. Retrieved 2 August 2020.


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