The Brändli BX-2 Cherry is two-seat sporthomebuilt aircraft, designed by Max Brändli. More than one hundred had been constructed by 2010.
Cherry BX-2 with a Viking Engine on display in 2016
Design and development
Max Brändli designed the Cherry in 1979 when he was 55 years old and started its construction in his cellar. He carried out all the structural and aerodynamic calculations and supervised the building, which took 3½ years and 5,500 hours of work.[1] He also flew it on its first flight on 24 April 1982.[2]
The Cherry is a low wingmonoplane. It has a wood-framed fuselage and wings with wooden spars, styrofoam cores and glass fibre covering. The inner sections of the wings have constant chord and carry flaps; the outer sections are straight tapered with ailerons. The wings can be removed rapidly for transport. The tail surfaces are straight tapered and the stabilator is fitted with a full-span anti-servo tab.[2][3]
The Cherry is kit-built from plans, with some components provided.[2] By 2010, more than 240 sets of plans had been sold and over 100 aircraft completed.[1] In mid-2010, 76 were registered in Europe west of Russia,[5][6] flying in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia and the UK.[1]
The prototype Cherry, HB-YBX flew around Europe for 25 years; in 2009, it crashed after take-off from Sundsvall-Härnösand Airport in Sweden, killing both Dani Gerwer and its designer, Max Brändli.[1]
