BZ-4 Zuk
Encyclopedia
The BŻ-4 Żuk ("Beetle" in Polish) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
four-seat light helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
built in the 1950s. Although it pioneered a novel rotor and transmission system, it never entered series production.
Design and development
Work on the BŻ-4 Żuk began at the research institute Główny Instytut Lotnictwa - Main Aviation Institute in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
in 1953, under the leadership of Dipl. Ing. Bronisław Żurakowski, who had earlier designed the experimental BŻ-1 GIL
BZ-1 GIL
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Glass, Andrzej. "Śmigłowiec BŻ-1 GIL" . Lotnictwo, 2/2005. ISSN 1732-5323.* Green, William and Gerald Pollinger. The Observer's Book of Aircraft, 1958 edition. London: Fredrick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1958....
helicopter, the first successful rotating-wing aircraft built in Poland. Due to the delicate political situation in postwar Poland (Soviet influences and centrally planned economy), progress was slow. The main object was to produce a simple and inexpensive general use light helicopter. Its purpose was also to develop and test the novel rotor and transmission system, which eliminates vibration and improves control. Initially it was designated GIL-4.
The BŻ-4 Żuk was based on a single main three-blade rotor powered by an indigenous one 320 hp 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 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-1Mil Mi-1
The Mil Mi-1 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 575 hp Ivchenko AI-26V radial. It entered...
, that had already started in WSK PZL-Świdnik
PZL
PZL was the main Polish aerospace manufacturer of the interwar period, based in Warsaw, functioning in 1928-1939...
. The prototype was damaged during landing on 31 August 1959, and despite being repaired, it was not used again. Two additional prototypes were not completed.
One damaged and incomplete prototype is preserved in the Polish Aviation Museum
Polish Aviation Museum
Polish Aviation Museum is a large museum of old 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 Austria-Hungary in 1912, is one of the oldest in the world...
in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
.