The Chaika L-4 (чайка, ) is a twin engine

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can Takeoff, take off and Landing, land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing, though Amphibious helicopter, amphibious helicopte ...

, designed and built in Russia in the 2000s. It has sold in small numbers and remains in production.

Design and development

Several companies and groups have developed a series of designs which began at an offshoot of the Trod

Kuznetsov Kuznetsov, Kuznyetsov, Kuznetsoff, or Kouznetsov (masculine, ) or Kuznetsova (feminine, ) is the third most common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English "Smith" (derived from a Russian word ''kuznets'' that means ''blacksmith''). Men * Al ...

aircraft engine plant in

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

. Beginning with the L-3, they differ in size and engine type but all are twin engine amphibians with a characteristic V tail. The L-4 is a direct development of the L-6M, promoted by AeroVolga. Its design began in August 2004. All L-4 variants have the same layout and all are largely built of

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s. They are high-wing monoplanes with twin engines mounted close to the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

, on top of the wing. The wings have straight taper on both edges and almost square tips. The L-4 has a pair of flaps on each wing. Its hull has two steps and there are small winglets at waterlevel just aft of the

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

. The cabin extends from below the

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

rearwards to the winglets. Fixed floats under the wings stabilize the L-4 on water; it is operable with waves to 400 mm (15 in) high. The most unusual feature of the L-4 is the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

arrangement: it has twin

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

s, mounted on the fuselage and extended forward with long, curved dorsal fillets, separated at the base by the full fuselage width and leaning slightly outwards. The fins carry conventional

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

s and the single

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

is mounted upon the fin tips, extending well beyond them. Tailplane and single piece

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

together are

trapezoidal In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

; there is a

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger Flight control surfaces, control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the ...

at the centre of the elevator. The reason for the design is that the spine serves as a walkway to access the plane from behind, when moored at shore. The L-4 has a

conventional undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Ter ...

for land use, all three wheels and the water rudder being retractable. The first flight of the L-4 was in June 2005. The most recent variant, the more powerful L-44 flew in 2009.

Operational history

By mid-2008 sales, probably including L-6s from AeroVolga, had reached 14.

Variants

;L-4: Original design, no longer produced. ;L-42: Improved, with

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, la ...

ULS

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

73.3 kW (98.6 hp) engines. ;L-42M: Further improvements: weight savings, winglets, crew ergonomics. Marketed by Aviatech1.com. ;L-44: More powerful

Rotax 914 The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier ...

engines, as detailed below. First flown 2009. ;L-65: Improved with

Rotax 915 iS The Rotax 915 iS is an Austrian aircraft engine, produced by Rotax of Gunskirchen for use in ultralight aircraft, homebuilt aircraft, light-sport aircraft, small helicopters and gyroplanes. The engine was type certified in 2017. The engine wa ...

engines.

Specifications (Chaika L-44)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.aviakb.ru/product/index_eng.html
English website
Amphibious aircraft 2000s Russian aircraft