The I. Ae. 38 Flying Wing Transport


Usage

 

Cargo Transport

 

Fuselage Construction

Metal

 

Wing Construction

 

Metal

 

Capacity

 

Two crew

 

Engine

4 "El Indio" engines

 

Thrust

 

4 x 500 kW (4 x 670 HP)

 

Span

 

32 m

 

Sweep Angle

 

37 degrees

 

Taper Ratio

 

4

 

 Wing Root Thickness

 

18% chord

 

Wing Rib Spacing

 

0.4 m

 

Wing Root Depth

 

6.4 m

 

Wing Area

 

132.0 m2

 

Aspect Ratio

 

7.8

 

Pilot position

 

Seated

 

Cockpit width

 

0.8 m

 

Cockpit height (from seat)

 

1.2 m

 

Empty weight

 

7800 kg

 

Payload

 

1000 kg cargo and 200 kg crew

Fuel

 

2,000 kg

 

Maximum weight

 

20,00 kg

 

Wing loading

 

151 kg/m2

 

Power loading

 

9.1 kg/kW

 

Stall speed

 

140 km/h

 

Landing speed

 

140 km/h

 

Cruise speed

 

270 km/h

 

Maximum speed (horizontal)

300 km/h

 

Maximum Speed

 

400 km/hr

 
A message came to me near the end of a working day in 1950. It informed me that an aircraft was on the way to take me to some unspecified destination. I asked a coworker to notify my wife, and soon boarded a DC 3, which departed immediately. I was the only passenger. Not until we were airborne was I informed of our destination: Santa Rosa, a private airstrip belonging to General Ojeda of the Air Ministry. The General escorted me to his home, and explained that he wanted to build a city in the middle of the orange groves there. "The oranges here are rotting on the ground, while Buenos Aires imports oranges from other countries", he said. "The problem: Transportation! No roads that can accommodate heavy trucks, and no railroad! Would it be possible to build a cargo glider with ten tons of cargo capacity, that could be snatched up by a low flying 'Lancaster' bomber, and towed the 1000 km to Buenos Aires?" I suggested that a powered flying wing with short field takeoff and landing capabilities might be a better solution. After some discussion he agreed, and the I. Ae. 38 was born.

 General Ojeda was removed from his post soon after the work started, but his successor did allow us to continue.

 The aircraft was basically a double size Ho II. The fuselage pod had double cargo doors in the rear, that could be partially opened in flight, to allow parachute drops. 30 cubic meters of cargo space were available. A vertical fin was installed on top of each wing at Y = 0.8, with a rudder that only moved in an outboard direction. Only a servo tab moved the rudder, since we had found it impossible to have hydraulic servo controls manufactured.

A fixed five wheel landing gear was attached to the pod through a system of shock absorbers, arranged and indexed to show the c/g location after cargo loading was completed. We planned to use four 750 HP "Indio" engines with pusher propellers. These were domestic engines, that suffered from continuing development troubles, and consequently, they were never delivered. Imported engines were out of the question for "prestige" reasons. We finally installed 320 HP "El Gaucho" engines instead, with severe performance penalties.

 In 1960, ten years after its conception, the I. Ae. 38 finally flew. It was demonstrated to a group of dignitaries on its first flight by test pilot Capt. Ballado.

 Afterwards, the aircraft was simply scrapped, and my employment with the Institute terminated.