The Beijing 1Gordon and Komissarov 2008, p. 194–195. (also known as the Beijing No 1
''China.org.cn''. 1 May 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2011. or Peking No 1)Taylor 1961, p. 33. was a prototype twin-engined small

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

of the 1950s designed and built in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Only one example was built, due to the type not entering production.

Design and development

In 1958, the Beijing Aviation Institute (later to become known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) and now

Beihang University Beihang University (BUAA; formerly as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The univers ...

) was instructed by Chinese

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

to design an airliner. The resulting design, the Beijing 1, was a small twin-engined low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with a retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and of all metal construction. It was powered by two

Ivchenko AI-14 The Ivchenko AI-14 is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine, radial piston engine designed in the Soviet Union to power aircraft. A variant known as the M462 was produced under Licensed production, license by Avia Motors, Avia. Variants ;AI ...

driving two-bladed wooden propellers, while its wings were fitted with

leading-edge slat A slat is an aerodynamic surface on the leading edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. When retracted, the slat lies flush with the rest of the wing. A slat is deployed by sliding forward, opening a slot between the wing and the slat. Air from ...

s and trailing edge flaps to ease operations out of small airfields.''Flight International'' 26 July 1962, p. 135. A crew of two and 8 to 10 passengers were carried in the aircraft's fuselage. The Beijing 1 made its maiden flight on 24 September 1958, and was handed over to the Chinese civil aviation authorities on 1 October 1958, the 9th anniversary of the establishment of the

. It was the first passenger airliner designed and built in the People's Republic. Although contemporary reports suggested that the type entered service with

Civil Aviation Administration of China The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and inv ...

,Harrison 1964, p. 839. no production followed, with only the single prototype being built. It is now preserved at the Beijing Aviation Museum.

Specifications

Notes

References

* Andersson, Lennart. ''A History of Chinese Aviation: Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China until 1949''. Taipei, Republic of China: AHS of ROC, 2008. .
"Asia's Aircraft Industries"
''

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

'', 26 July 1962. pp. 133–139. * Gordon, Yefim and Dmitry Komissarov. ''Chinese Aircraft: China's Aviation Industry since 1951''. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2008. . * Harrison, Neil
" A Peep into China..."
''

'', 21 May 1964. pp. 838–840. * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1961–62''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1965. 1950s Chinese airliners Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1958 1 {{Beihang University