Moskalyev SAM-6

The Moskalyev SAM-6 was an experimental design intended to test the suitability of monowheel undercarriages, lighter than conventional gear, on tailless aircraft.

Design
The wooden SAM-6 had a conventional tail on its short fuselage but its low wing had, in addition, Scheibe-type, oval wingtip fins and rudders. Sprung skids on their underside provided the lateral stability that its central undercarriage did not.

It was powered by a 65 hp, three cylinder M-23 radial engine mounted in the pointed nose of its deep fuselage and had a single seat, open cockpit.

Development
For its first flight, made in early 1934, the SAM-6 had a long, non-retracting central ski rather than a wheel, and tail ski rather than a skid, both mounted on vertical shock-absorbing struts. The trials were reasonably successful and the main ski was replaced by a wheel in a trouser fairing. No reports from tests with this landing gear are known but by late 1934 the SAM-6 had been modified into the more conventional SAM-6bis, which had two fixed, trousered mainwheels. It also had a second, tandem seat in an enclosed, instrumented cockpit.

Variants

 * SAM-6: Original configuration with central mono-skid/wheel main gear. Single-seater with open cockpit.
 * SAM-6bis: Conventional, twin mainwheel gear and a second seat in enclosed cockpit.