The First Chinese Tandem Helicopter Designed by Major General Chia-Jen Chu of RoCAF

In 1944, during the last days of WWII, Major General Chia-Jen Chu, general manager of China's First Aviation Factory, decided to begin exploring, designing and building helicopters after having witnessed the Sikorsky XR-4 helicopter flying over Kunming's sky in Yunnan Province of Southern China. On June 10, 1953 in Taichung, Taiwan, the first Chinese indigenous tandem configuration helicopter, nicknamed the Banana CJC-3A, took its first initial flight off the ground under the design leadership of Major General Chu. This tandem helicopter was a two-seat lightweight technology demonstrator. The event took place during the unprecedented military conflict era between the Chinese national and communist governments across the Taiwan Strait. The aircraft performance evaluation and design description of the Banana CJC-3A tandem helicopter will be presented. Because of the Chu Family's generosity in sharing Major General Chia-Jen Chu's personal technical notebook with the author, the public can finally rediscover the CJC-3A aircraft sixty three years later after its first flight.