Technical data
Type	SAM-5bis	SAM-5bis ambulance
Function	Passenger Record	Ambulance
Year	1934	1936
Crew	1
Engines	1*100hp M-11
Length	8.0m	8.0m
Wingspan	12.5m	12.5m
Wing area	24.0m²	24.0m²
Empty weight	580kg	719kg
Loaded weight	1070kg	1219kg
Wing Load (kg/m²)	44.5	51.0
Power load (kg/hp)	10.7	12.2
Maximum Speed at 0m	185km/h	173km/h
Cruise Speed	140km/h	143km/h
Landing Speed	70km/h
Landing Roll	-	250m 16sec
Takeoff Roll	-	150m 13sec
Range	see text	900km
Ceiling	-	2800m
Climb
1000m	-	11.0min
2000m	-	29.0min
Payload
Seats	4-5	1+stretcher

SAM-5bis by A.S.Moskalev

40k b/w SAM-5bis at "History of aircraft construction in the USSR", Vol.1 p.555

Wooden variant, of the SAM-5, differed also by added wing struts, removed wheel fairings and slimmer fuselage. Front and central fuselage sections covered with plywood, tail - with fabric. Construction was very light and simple.

State trials in the NII VVS (1935) were performed by P.M.Stefanovskij. SAM-5bis was recomended for mass production as passenger and transport for commuter airlines. In the trial report was specially mentioned high weight efficiency (45.7%) of the plane, exceptional among machines with 100hp engines.

For final evaluation few long non-stop flights were performed in 1936 by pilot N.D.Fikson and flight-engineer A.S.Buzunov:

21 September: Voronezh, Moscow, Kharkov, Voronezh: 1600km in 12hours.

4 October: Moscow, Voronezh, Kharkov, Zaporozhie, Kherson, Mariupol: 1700km.

20-21 October: Sevastopol, Genichesk, Mariupol, Rostov, Stalingrad, Astrakhan, Stalingrad, Kazan, Gorkij, 3200km in 2505. Takeoff weight in this flight was 1500kg, including 620kg of gasoline. Takeoff Roll was just 35sec! Actually, this flight was a World record (unregistered).

Interestingly, that all those flights were performed without co-pilot. It was not so heavy job - aircraft was very stable in flight. Rubber cords (attached to the control stick) served as an autopilot, allowing N.D.Fikson to have long breaks. Of course this does not undermine the achievement itself, and the flights of 'sport-tourist' SAM-5bis were praised highly by Soviet media.

SAM-5bis was built also in ambulance configuration with long hatch (to accommodate stretcher) on the port side. 37 such machines rolled out from Voronezh Aviacollege Workshops in 1937- 1938. They served well with the ambulance aviation (under GVF).

Predecessors	Modifications
SAM-5	SAM-5-2bis

References	Links
"History of aircraft construction in the USSR", Vol.1 p.554-556;	None found