Top speed 185 km/h Length 8.33 m | Wingspan 19 m First flight April 6, 1962 | |
The Civil Aviation Department BS-1 Bharani was a tandem seat trainer glider designed and built in India in the early 1960s.
Contents
Design and development
Several Civil Aviation Department aircraft were named after divisions (nakshatra) of the zodiac used in Hindu astrology; Bharani (भरणी) is one of these, literally meaning "the bearer". The glider named after it was a wood framed aircraft, covered with fabric and plywood. It had a high cantilever wing with a single spar, ahead of which ply covering formed a torsion resisting box. Behind the spar it was fabric covered. The leading edge was straight and unswept but forward sweep on the trailing edge both tapered the wing in plan and resulted in a forward sweep of 1° at the spar. The wing had 1° of dihedral, wooden plain ailerons and wooden air brakes which opened above and below the wing.
The fuselage was a wood framed, ply covered semi-monocoque. The tandem cockpit was ahead of the wing under a two piece canopy which merged into the upper wing, assisted by a small transparency in the leading edge to improve upward vision from the rear seat. The forward part hinged sideways and the aft part rearwards. It had dual controls and instrumentation; oxygen supplies could be fitted if necessary. The tail unit had a straight edged, ply covered fin with a full, rounded, fabric covered rudder. Apart from some ply covering on the inner part of the tailplane the horizontal surfaces were also fabric covered. The leading edge of the straight tapered tailplane was well ahead of that of the fin.
The undercarriage was a fixed single monowheel, without a brake but assisted by a rubber-sprung nose skid which had a steel underside that could be replaced if damaged. There was also a small tail skid which was sprung with tennis balls.
The first flight was on 6 April 1962. No Civil Aviation Technical School designs were produced by them, though some were produced by external companies provided with full plans by the School. No production of the Bharani had been reported by late 1963.
Specifications
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1964/5
General characteristics
Performance