CJC-3 Helicopter

Major General Cha was instrumental in helicopter manufacturing in Taiwan. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he led Chinese aviation factories for a decade and a half. Specifically, he directed the factory in Yumman, where in the 1930s, Curtiss “Hawk III” fighters, North American AT-6 “Harvard,” Boeing PT-17, and Soviet I-15 aircraft were produced under license.

Cha also designed aircraft himself, and in 1944, his attention turned to helicopters. The first Chinese helicopter was a copy of the American coaxial “Humming Bed” machine. In the early 1950s, Cha designed the CJC-3, a small, elegant longitudinal-scheme helicopter.

The Pioneering CJC-3 Design

The CJC-3’s fuselage power frame was constructed from steel tubes and covered with metal skin. The pilot’s cockpit glazing featured a distinctive “negative” slant. Two pilots were accommodated side-by-side in the cockpit, and the helicopter’s controls were dual.

Technical Features and Performance

Its main rotors were two-bladed with stabilizing rods, and their planes of rotation significantly overlapped. It is highly probable that Cha utilized modified rotors from a Bell-47 helicopter. The landing gear was non-retractable and four-legged. A 190 hp Lycoming engine was installed in the fuselage near the helicopter’s center of gravity.

Flight tests for the CJC-3 helicopter commenced in the spring of 1954. Despite its original and quite appealing appearance, this machine was never transferred to serial production.

Technical Specifications

Image and diagram gallery of the CJC-3 Helicopter