Mikoyan and Gurevich MiG-8 Utka

09/30/2010. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "This unconventional canard (tail-first) aircraft was built in the Mikoyan and Gurevich OKB and was assigned the bureau number MiG-8, which gave the impression it was a production type. Part of the design of the Utka (Duck) was assigned to students of the VVA (Voynno-Vozdushnaya Akademiya, Military Air Forces Academy) at Zhukovskiy, under Colonel G.A. Tokayev. There was no connection with MiG OKB's normal work, except in the important respect that it confirmed low-speed behavior of slightly swept wings and one of unusual configurations which might be suitable for future jet fighter.

The two spar strut-braced high wing had a Clark-YH airfoil, a constant chord, a 12% thickness/chord ratio, a sweep of 20°, and an anhedral of -2°. It was fitted with two triangular Scheibe fin/rudder surfaces, tested both at 55% span (pictured) and on wing tips, and it was tested with a wide variety of flap, slat and wing tip configurations. The extended nose carried the fixed tail plane with tabbed elevators. The tricycle landing gear was fixed, the main wheel spats were later removed and a new nose gear was fitted with same size as main units. The pilot was seated in the front of the three-seat cabin.

The airframe was of wooden construction, with wing and control surfaces covered with fabric. Power plant was an 110 hp (derated from 145 hp) M-11F five-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, driving a fixed-pitch wooden propeller of 7 ft 8.9 in (2,36 m), the cylinder-head helmets were soon removed. Two aluminum fuel tanks in inner wings held a total of 51.52 gal (195 l). The aircraft was first flown by A.N. Grinchik on November 19, 1945. Few problems were encountered, but there was much tinkering, eventually the under fins were enlarged and the slats removed. The aircraft showed outstanding stability and a refusal to spin. It was used as OKB hack for many years, its ultimate fate is unknown."