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Showing results for tags 'Belyaiev BP-2 1934'.
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A build from 10 years ago: What about another beautiful sailplane? First flight,1934!! Victor Nikolaevich Belyayev was part of a group of visionary designers that created innovative, ahead of their time planes. The BP-2, or TsAGI-2 was a high-efficiency, 20 meter span sailplane that used a variation of the “Babochka” –butterfly- wing. It was practically a flying wing, with “positive arrow”. As usual, not much exists around regarding this beautiful design, but I got enough from the Net to build the model. This plane seems to have been flown with and without a horizontal stabilizer mounted on top of the two fins. Some changes in the painting can be also detected. A year later another variant was created, the BP-3 or TsAGI-3, a two-place machine with changes mainly in the area of the “tail” and with the “centroplan” with a remarkable dihedral. Savvy modelers would have already noticed the resemblance with another plane from the same designer, the DB-LK twin-fuselage project of the WW-2 period. This is a relatively simple project, but you have to pay attention and aim for a sound engineering. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy scratching these designs. It takes me no more time than a normal kit (after a little practice, of course) and my potential subject horizon widens immensely. You can see the parts breakdown in the accompanying images. The “centroplan” actuated as the main “anchor” part to which all other sub-assemblies were attached. The pod, as said before, was provided with an interior and a minuscule vodka flask for the comfort of the Russian pilot in case cold weather has to be faced. Gliders/sailplanes are a growing segment of the modeling subject spectrum, which is a welcome alternative to what you usually see -again- in at the shelves in hobby stores and contests. This one in particular offers a daring design, a strong appeal and a relatively easy engineering. I am sure you can find many more.
