VZLU TOM-8

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TOM-8
VZLU TOM-8.JPG
RoleTraining aircraft
National originCzechoslovakia
ManufacturerVZLU
First flight23 April 1956
StatusPrototype

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.

Contents

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, [a] 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, [b] 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

Performance

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. 1 2 3 4 "VZLÚ TOM-8 OK-08, výr. č. 4". Vojenský Historiký Ústav Praha (in Czech). Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Němeček 1956 , p. 656
  4. Němeček 1956, pp. 656–657
  5. 1 2 Bridgman 1958, pp. 133–134
  6. Gunston 2005 , p. 529
  7. 1 2 Němeček 1956, p. 657