These May days of 1962 entered the glorious history of the legendary Student Design Bureau of Khai with the masterpieces of light-engine aviation created by students of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute.
It was on these days that the students lifted the KhAI-19 aircraft into the sky.
And this story began like this: in 1959, the KhAI Design Bureau began its activities with the KhAI-17 aircraft project. The promising machine, which showed great promise, crashed during its second flight. However, it was she who gave impetus to the creation of a new project - the KhAI-18 aircraft. And most importantly, the experience of working on the first student aircraft demonstrated the need not only to design, but also to completely independently manufacture aircraft.
Thus, under the leadership of Valery Reshetnikov and Boris Zaslavsky, the students designed the KhAI-19 aircraft. Using the wing and tail of the KhAI-17, they assembled the KhAI-19 in just three months in 1961. The aircraft's emblem was Ivan Franko's "Stonemason" with the slogan: "Smash this rock".
The aircraft was created by students: Lyushnin, Peregudov, Gaidachuk, Sazonkin, Ligachenko, Chelombytko, Gotenov, Misan and others. It was a cantilever monoplane with an open cockpit for one person. The chassis was three-wheeled, with a steerable nose wheel. The skin was canvas, with a plywood wing tip. The M-61K engine had a power of 30.5 hp. Fuel from two 27-liter tanks was supplied by gravity. According to calculations, with a flight weight of 315 kg, the aircraft had a flight range of up to 600 km, a ceiling of 2,000 m, and a maximum speed of 140 km/h.
From May 6 to 8, 1962, Valery Reshetnikov made several successful test flights on the KhAI-19 (this moment is recorded in the photo). However, it was not possible to conduct a full cycle of tests - they had to limit themselves to a flight altitude of 50–70 m, since the motorcycle engine often malfunctioned, which led to breakage of the propeller and nose strut.
And yet, the KhAI-19 became the first machine that the Khai team built “from scratch” in the newly created Student Design Bureau.
During this period, the AS-2 air sleds were also created and successfully tested - with the same, unchanged motorcycle engine.
Meanwhile, the legendary KhAI-20 was being born...
But that's another story
