pizzano

This duster, known as the Belphegor, was in service with Poland and Russia around 1973.........:



Wonder if any of our Master builders here would even consider replicating a scaled down version.........looks like a pretty complicated aero concept.

xmech2k

The horror!!!!!



Actually, I think any really unique plane is cool. I love them. It was built to do a specific job, so you have to appreciate it. Of course, I have no idea if it was particularly successful. Have to wonder about non-prop cropduster. Must have been a good reason for it.

Edit: Well, according to Wikipedia, it was designed in Poland in response to a Russian request for a crop duster to handle the very large farms there. It said the Soviets insisted on using a jet engine and participated in the design process. The results were disappointing, and less than 180 were built. But it has the distinction of being the only jet cropduster, the only jet biplane, and the slowest jet. Pretty cool!

BroncoSquid

It looks like you could build it out of your scrap bin...Spare EDF, some wheel pants from a 1930's plane turned upside down, elevators from a cesna 172 for rudders, C-119 body and booms, main wing from any glider, a little foam for shaping. Done...

pizzano

"It looks like you could build it out of your scrap bin...Spare EDF, some wheel pants from a 1930's plane turned upside down, elevators from a cesna 172 for rudders, C-119 body and booms, main wing from any glider, a little foam for shaping. Done.."



LOL.......I guess I should have added, build and FLY.........

JetPlaneFlyer

Yep, that's one ugly beast alright. I know I've seen a plan for one somewhere but I just cant recall where. If it comes to me I'll let you know.

quorneng

An interesting design but a classic example of a bureaucratic intervention which called for a jet powered crop duster on the grounds it would be more reliable and easier to maintain that a piston engine.
That did however rather ignore the basic performance differences between even a small turbofan and a crop duster. It was not very successful, even for a state controlled economy.
Now if you want a really interesting plane this is the Lala-1, the test vehicle prototype for the PZL M15 Belphegor!

Big piston engine and a jet!

fhhuber

Turbo-fan would have been better... (sometimes called a high bypass turbine) or even better would be a turbo-prop as on the PC-9 or the modern DC-3 conversions replacing the radials with turbine driven props (turbo-prop).



The turbine jet as used is much better for high speed. Just trying to blowtorch the air into submission at the speeds appropriate for crop dusting.