Kharkiv KhAI-1
Kharkiv Aviation Institute · Soviet Union · first flew 1932 · airliner
A pioneering Soviet light airliner, designed by students at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, that was the first European passenger transport to fly with retractable landing gear.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | streamlined single-engine fuselage for a small passenger cabin |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- low cantilever wing with retractable main gear
- streamlined single-engine fuselage for a small passenger cabin
- unusually clean, gear-retracted profile for its era
Its smooth, gear-retracted silhouette and low tapered wing stand out sharply against the fixed-gear, strut-braced Soviet airliners of the same period.
Specifications
- The Kharkiv KhAI-1 has a length of 10.41 m (34 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 14.85 m (49 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 292 km/h (181 mph).
- Typical crew: 1-2 plus passengers.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Designed under Iosif Nyeman, head of aircraft construction at the institute, with a student team led by L. D. Arson, the KhAI-1 first flew in 1932; its retractable undercarriage and clean, low-wing monoplane layout made it markedly faster than contemporary fixed-gear Soviet transports.
Variants
Designed for six passengers but flown with five after the airframe gained weight, it was built at three plants — Kharkiv, Gorky No. 21 and Kyiv No. 43 — to a total of about 43 aircraft.
Where you'll see it
Around forty flew with Aeroflot from early 1936, opening the Moscow-Simferopol route and working scheduled passenger and mail services for the rest of the decade.
Related aircraft
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