The most dangerous aircraft of Soviet civil aviation
The first planes of their own construction appeared in Russia on the eve of the First World War. One of the most famous Russian aircraft of that time was the four-engine wooden biplane "Russian Knight" and the Ilya Muromets, designed by Igor Sikorsky, built on its basis, built in 1913-1914. The Russky Vityaz became the world's first four-engine aircraft, which marked the beginning of heavy aviation, and the Ilya Muromets became the world's first passenger aircraft and heavy bomber. On August 1, 1914, that is, at the beginning of the First World War, the Russian air force consisted of 244 aircraft, which looked more than worthy against the background of other participants in the conflict. Germany had 232 airplanes, France - 138, England - 56 first-line aircraft, Austria-Hungary - about 30 cars.
On May 23, 1910, an airplane took off for the first time in Kyiv, which was built and designed by Prince Alexander Kudashev, who was a professor at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. A day later, the airplane of engineer Gakkel from St. Petersburg also took off. The inventor submitted an application to the All-Russian Aeroclub, so his championship was officially recognized.
Kudashev's airplane weighed 330 kg and looked like the car of the Wright brothers. It had wheels and an original propeller, and the airplane's planes were made of rubberized fabric. This device flew only “a few tens of sazhens,” as Kiev professor Artemyev, an eyewitness to the flight, wrote in his article. He stayed in the air for no more than 30 seconds, but it was already a flight. It ended, unfortunately, with a collision with the fence of the Syrets hippodrome.
After the Kudashev-1 airplane, the prince made several more improved models of his aircraft. At the International Aeronautical Exhibition in St. Petersburg, his machine "Kudashev-4" was awarded the Big Silver Medal.
A copy of this airplane was assembled in the early 90s at the Technological University of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, but they were afraid to fly on an airplane.
In the development of the aircraft, Kudashev was helped then by a student, and in the future by the famous Kiev designer Igor Sikorsky. In 1910, he studied at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute and helped the prince to assemble the design of the aircraft and propeller. He also made his own project of the BIS-1 airplane. He took to the air 10 days after Kudashev's car. At first, his plane flew only 10 seconds, but subsequent models were more advanced. Sikorsky created the B-6 airplane, on which he set a world speed record - 111 kilometers per hour with three passengers on board. The airplane could rise to a height of 1.5 km.
However, during the war, Russia failed to create a truly powerful aviation industry. The state actually removed itself from coordinating the production of aircraft. Before the start of the war, seven aircraft factories operated in the country, located in Riga, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Odessa. From 1914 to 1917 five more enterprises were put into operation. Most of the cars produced by Russian factories were produced under foreign licenses (16 foreign models were in mass production and only 12 domestic ones). At the same time, foreign firms did not seek to sell their latest developments to the Russians, which means that the characteristics of the aircraft were worse than those of their foreign counterparts. There were few exceptions, for example, the most massive Russian-built aircraft until 1917 (about 170 units were produced) - the Anade scout designed by the entrepreneur and designer of Italian origin Arthur Anatra, the M-5 and M-9 flying boats designed by Dmitry Grigorovich and, of course, bombers "Ilya Muromets" Igor Sikorsky. However, in addition to a few Russian RBZ-6s, the Muromets were equipped with German Argus engines, French Renault and English Sunbeam engines, as well as French licensed Salmson engines. During the war, 1511 engines (only licensed) and 5607 aircraft were produced in Russia. For comparison, Germany produced 40,449 engines and 47,831 aircraft, Great Britain produced 41,034 engines and 55,061 aircraft, and France produced 93,100 engines and 52,146 aircraft.
The first planes of the USSR
The revolutions and the subsequent Civil War and foreign intervention did not contribute to the development of industry in general and the aviation industry in particular. Many talented aviation specialists emigrated abroad, some were shot as "counter-revolutionary elements." By 1920, the already not too high productivity of Russian aircraft factories fell 10 times compared to 1917. In fact, the Soviet government was forced to start aircraft construction from scratch. Special hopes were placed on cooperation with Germany. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, forbade this country to have its own combat aircraft, and the carrying capacity of passenger aircraft was limited to 600 kilograms (including the weight of crew members). Therefore, cooperation between the German aircraft manufacturers and Soviet Russia was beneficial to both parties. The Germans got the opportunity to build aircraft, and the Russians got access to modern technologies and airlines in their territory.
In 1922, the USSR signed an agreement with the Junkers firm on the participation of German specialists in the development of Soviet military aviation. It was assumed that German engineers would establish in the Soviet Union the production of metal aircraft for various purposes, aircraft engines, and assist in mastering the production of aviation materials. In 1923-1925, at the aircraft factory in Fili, the Germans set up the assembly of reconnaissance aircraft Ju-20 and Ju-21. In general, cooperation with Junkers did not justify the hopes placed on it. Aircraft built in Fili had low flight characteristics; for this reason, already in March 1926, the Soviet government decided to terminate the contract with Junkers and to strengthen the development of its own aircraft industry.
Nevertheless, thanks to cooperation with the German side, Soviet specialists had the first experience of metal aircraft construction. After all, the world's first all-metal aircraft was designed by Hugo Junkers back in 1915. In 1922, the Soviet Union received the first batch of metal needed to create aircraft - chain-aluminum, an analogue of German duralumin, and on May 26, 1924, the first Soviet all-metal aircraft ANT-2, designed by Andrey Tupolev, took off into the air. A year later, Russian students surpassed German teachers: under the leadership of Tupolev, the world's first all-metal monoplane bomber TB-1 (ANT-4) with engines located along the wing was built in the Soviet Union. It was this scheme that became classic and subsequently formed the basis of all the "flying fortresses" of the Second World War. In 1932, as a continuation of the TB-1, the four-engine TB-3 (ANT-6) was built, which served in the Soviet Air Force until the Great Patriotic War. In fairness, it should be noted that back in 1920, the German engineer Adolf Rohrbach built a multi-engine passenger monoplane with engines on the wing. But this machine made only a few flights and did not have a noticeable impact on the development of aviation.
The weakest point of the Soviet aircraft industry was the lack of its own engines. At first Soviet aircraft Il-400 (in the I-1 series) by Nikolai Polikarpov I-1 (in the I-2 series) by Dmitry Grigorovich, built in 1923, there was an American captured Liberty water-cooled engine (Soviet designation M-5) with a capacity of 400 hp. , developed at the end of World War I. The Liberty was not bad for its time, but it weighed too much to be mounted on fighters. The Il-400 monoplane flew faster than the I-1 biplane, but was less reliable. Therefore, in the mid-1920s, only 14 Il-400s and 209 I-1s were produced.
However, the first mass Soviet aircraft became not, but the R-1 scout designed by Polikarpov. Until the end of the 1920s, reconnaissance aircraft were one of the most common classes of aircraft in the world, accounting for 82% of the number of military aircraft in the USSR, 60% in Poland, 44% in France and 40% in Italy. The R-1, created in 1923, was built on the basis of the English reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War DH-9 with a Liberty engine. Of course, by the time of its appearance, the R-1 could be considered an obsolete machine, but the Soviet Union needed a reliable and simple model too much. aviation technology For mass production. In addition, a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft could be used as a multi-purpose aircraft, for example, the P-5 and P-Z, which replaced the P-1 in the early 1930s, were actively used in a number of conflicts as light bombers and attack aircraft.
History of aircraft designs in the USSR
Since the dawn of aviation, there has been a debate about which type of engine is preferable for an aircraft - water-cooled or air-cooled. In-line or V-shaped water-cooled engines had less drag and, with equal power, made it possible to develop greater speed, and a poorly streamlined, but lighter star-shaped motor reduced the weight of the machine and thus improved its maneuverability. In the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s, fighter speed and maneuverability were considered equally important. Therefore, in the USSR, as in many other countries, aircraft were built with engines of both types. In the mid-1920s, the USSR purchased licenses for two engines: the German BMW-6 (M-17) with a power of 500 hp. water-cooled and British Jupiter VI (M-22) (in the French metric version) with a power of 480 hp. air cooled. It was this engine that originally powered the first mass-produced Soviet I-5 fighter, designed in 1929 by Polikarpov and Grigorovich, who ended up in Butyrka prison in Moscow on charges of counter-revolutionary activities. I-5 turned out to be successful, and the designers were released.
The first actually Soviet engine M-11 with a power of 100 hp. appeared in 1929. It was installed on one of the most popular aircraft in the history of aviation - the U-2 (Po-2) designed by Polikarpov. This biplane was created as a trainer in the late 1920s, but then it was widely used in agriculture and communications as an ambulance and even a light night bomber. More than 33,000 U-2s were produced from 1929 to 1959.
The 1920s are considered a period of stagnation in the development of aviation. Manufacturers of the most advanced aviation countries during the First World War - England and France - considered a new big war unlikely and did not pay due attention to the introduction of technological innovations into aircraft construction. The development of German aviation was limited by the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and the Soviet Union created its aircraft industry from scratch, trying to catch up with Western countries. The world's most intensive development of sports and passenger aviation. Especially in the United States, where, in the face of fierce competition, air carriers tried to master all the innovations as quickly as possible. It was in the United States of America that the first serial high-speed passenger aircraft of the new type Boeing 247 was built in 1933. In the USSR, almost at the same time, the high-speed passenger aircraft KhAI-1 took off, becoming the first high-speed passenger aircraft in Europe.
In the early 1930s, a sharp leap took place in the aircraft industry: innovations such as all-metal construction, streamlined engine cowlings (NACA), variable pitch propeller, wing mechanization (flaps, slats), cantilever low wing, closed cockpits and, of course, same, retractable landing gear. First of all, these innovations affected passenger, and then bomber aircraft. As a result, a new class of aircraft appeared, the so-called high-speed bombers, which flew faster than fighters. A typical representative of this class was the Soviet twin-engine bomber SB (ANT-40) designed by Tupolev. Until 1941, 6831 machines of this type were built in the USSR. Security Councils were actively used in the Civil War in Spain, at Khalkhin Gol, in China, in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 and at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. By that time it was already outdated, but in 1934 it was one of the fastest bombers in the world, it could carry 600 kilograms of bombs at a speed of almost 332 km / h, overtaking most fighters that existed at that time.
Most of the fighters of the early 1930s were not far removed from the models of the First World War. Basically, these were biplanes or polutoraplans (the lower wing is smaller than the upper one) of wooden or mixed construction, with fixed landing gear, armed with a pair of rifle-caliber machine guns and flying only 50-100 km / h faster than the machines of 1914-1918, mainly due to more powerful engines.
In 1934, Nikolai Polikarpov created a new high-speed I-16 monoplane, which was to become the main Soviet fighter 1930s - early 1940s. I-16 - the world's first mass-produced monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear; originally he had a closed cabin, but it had to be abandoned. The quality of the glazing left much to be desired, and the pilots, accustomed to open cockpits, actively protested against the necessary but inconvenient innovation. Due to the very short fuselage, the I-16 had a low longitudinal moment of inertia and, as a result, a quick response to rudder deflection, which gave the car exceptional maneuverability. However, the control of the I-16 turned into a difficult job, requiring a high level of training from the pilot.
There were variants of this machine with M-22 and M-25 engines (licensed American Wright R-1820-F3), M-62 and M-63 with two and four 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns, with two 20-mm ShVAK cannons and 12.7 mm BS machine gun. The I-16 was produced in 30 different modifications (types) and, together with Soviet pilots, took part in numerous wars and conflicts of the 1930s and 1940s. Together with the I-16, the Soviet Air Force was armed with another Polikarpov fighter - the I-15 biplane, as well as its versions I-15bis and I-153. The latter began to be mass-produced in 1938, and in 1941 it was the second largest in the Red Army Air Force after the I-16. Biplanes were used in many countries until the outbreak of World War II. Yielding to monoplanes in speed, they surpassed them in maneuverability. There was even a theory of "two fighters", according to which monoplane fighters were supposed to act in combat together with biplane fighters: the former would catch up with the enemy and pin him down with attacks, while the latter would destroy him in air combat.
However, since the mid-1930s, the main flight performance fighter aircraft is speed, and the last word in fighter aircraft - high-speed monoplane fighters with water-cooled engines, such as the Bf.109 in Germany or the Supermarine Spitfire in the UK.
The first warning signal sounded for Soviet aircraft designers in Spain, where the I-15 and I-16 initially prevailed over the German aircraft created in the early 1930s, but began to lose the Bf.109 of early modifications, and even more so would have had little chance against the Bf.109E version with 1100 hp DB-601 engines. and enhanced weapons.
Assessment of aircraft construction in the world
The main trends in the development of propeller-driven aircraft during the war years can be summarized as follows:
- complete and final rejection of the biplane, strut monoplane and three-engine schemes;
- careful aerodynamic "development" of the aircraft airframe by eliminating or refining "little things" that cause additional resistance;
- introduction into practice of laminarized wing profiles (on fighters) and pressurized cabins;
- complication of landing mechanization (slats, slotted flaps, Fowler flaps) to compensate for the increased load on the wing;
- transition to a three-wheeled chassis with a nose support, which provides the possibility of more efficient braking during the run and simplifies the landing technique;
- the use of drop-shaped cockpit lights on fighters, providing a better view to the pilot;
- the widespread distribution of armor and protected tanks to increase the combat survivability of aircraft;
- improvement of devices for increasing the altitude of engines (distribution of two-stage centrifugal superchargers and turbochargers);
- the introduction of forced engine operation modes for a short-term increase in aircraft power during takeoff and in combat;
- a tendency to replace the two-blade propeller propeller with a large number of blades;
- replacement of rifle-caliber machine-gun armament with heavy machine guns and cannons of 20 and 30 mm caliber;
- the final replacement of open turret gunnery installations with tower-type installations (on some aircraft - with remote control);
- replacement of mechanical sights with gyroscopic ones;
- installation of airborne radars on aircraft for operations in conditions of limited visibility;
- replacement of unguided aircraft missiles with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles (tank in Germany);
- the use of ejection systems for leaving the aircraft (only in Germany).
It's always hard to be first, but it's interesting
On the morning of March 27, 1943, the first Soviet BI-1 jet fighter took off from the airfield of the Koltsovo Air Force Research Institute in the Sverdlovsk Region. Passed the seventh test flight to achieve maximum speed. Having reached a two-kilometer altitude and gaining a speed of about 800 km / h, the aircraft unexpectedly went into a dive at the 78th second after running out of fuel and collided with the ground. An experienced test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi, who was sitting at the helm, died. This disaster was an important stage in the development of aircraft with liquid rocket engines in the USSR, but although work on them continued until the end of the 1940s, this direction aviation development turned out to be a dead end. Nevertheless, these first, although not very successful steps had a serious impact on the entire subsequent history of the post-war development of the Soviet aircraft and rocket industry.
“The era of propeller-driven airplanes should be followed by the era of jet airplanes…” – these words of the founder of jet technology K.E. By this time, it became clear that a further significant increase in aircraft flight speed due to an increase in the power of piston engines and a more perfect aerodynamic shape was practically impossible. Airplanes had to be equipped with engines whose power could not be increased without an excessive increase in engine mass. So, in order to increase the speed of a fighter flight from 650 to 1000 km / h, it was necessary to increase the power of the piston engine by 6 (!) Times.
It was obvious that the piston engine was to be replaced by a jet engine, which, having smaller transverse dimensions, would allow reaching high speeds, giving more thrust per unit weight.
Jet engines are divided into two main classes: air-jet engines, which use the energy of oxidation of fuel with oxygen from the air taken from the atmosphere, and rocket engines, containing all the components of the working fluid on board and capable of operating in any environment, including airless. The first type includes turbojet (TRD), pulsed air-jet (PUVRD) and ramjet (ramjet), and the second - liquid-propellant rocket (LRE) and solid-propellant rocket (TTRD) engines.
The first samples of jet technology appeared in countries where the traditions in the development of science and technology and the level of the aviation industry were extremely high. This is, first of all, Germany, the USA, as well as England, Italy. In 1930, the project of the first turbojet engine was patented by the Englishman Frank Whittle, then the first working model of the engine was assembled in 1935 in Germany by Hans von Ohain, and in 1937 the Frenchman Rene Leduc received a government order to create a ramjet engine.
In the USSR, however, practical work on "reactive" topics was carried out mainly in the direction of liquid rocket engines. V. P. Glushko was the founder of rocket engine building in the USSR. In 1930, then an employee of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) in Leningrad, which at that time was the only design bureau in the world for the development of solid-propellant rockets, he created the first domestic LRE ORM-1. And in Moscow in 1931-1933. scientist and designer of the Jet Propulsion Study Group (GIRD) F. L. Zander developed the OR-1 and OR-2 rocket engines.
A new powerful impetus to the development of jet technology in the USSR was given by the appointment of M. N. Tukhachevsky in 1931 to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Chief of Armaments of the Red Army. It was he who insisted on the adoption in 1932 of the decision of the Council of People's Commissars "On the development of steam turbine and jet engines, as well as jet-powered aircraft ...". Work begun after this in the Kharkov aviation institute allowed only by 1941 to create a working model of the first Soviet turbojet engine designed by A. M. Lyulka and contributed to the launch on August 17, 1933 of the first liquid rocket in the USSR GIRD-09, which reached a height of 400 m.
But the lack of more tangible results prompted Tukhachevsky in September 1933 to merge the GDL and GIRD into a single Jet Research Institute (RNII), headed by a Leningrader, military engineer 1st rank I. T. Kleimenov. The future chief designer of the space program, Muscovite S.P. Korolev, was appointed his deputy, who two years later in 1935 was appointed head of the department of rocket aircraft. And although the RNII was subordinate to the ammunition department of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry and its main topic was the development of rocket shells (the future Katyusha), Korolev managed, together with Glushko, to calculate the most advantageous design schemes of devices, types of engines and control systems, types of fuel and materials. As a result, by 1938, his department had developed an experimental system of guided missile weapons, including projects of long-range liquid cruise missiles "212" and ballistic "204" with gyroscopic control, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets, anti-aircraft solid-propellant missiles with guidance by light and radio beam.
In an effort to get the support of the military leadership in the development of the high-altitude rocket plane "218", Korolev substantiated the concept of a missile fighter-interceptor capable of reaching great heights in a few minutes and attacking aircraft that had broken through to the protected object.
But on June 30, 1939, the German pilot Erich Warzitz took off the world's first jet aircraft with a rocket engine designed by Helmut Walter "Heinkel" He-176, reaching a speed of 700 km / h, and two months later the world's first jet aircraft with a turbojet engine "Heinkel" He-178, equipped with a Hans von Ohain engine, "HeS-3 B" with a thrust of 510 kg and a speed of 750 km / h.
In May 1941, the British Gloucester Pioneer E.28 / 29 made its first flight with the Whittle W-1 turbojet engine designed by Frank Whittle.
Thus, Nazi Germany became the leader in the jet race, which, in addition to aviation programs, began to implement a rocket program under the leadership of Wernher von Braun at the secret training ground in Peenemünde.
In 1938, the RNII was renamed NII-3, now the "royal" rocket plane "218-1" began to be designated "RP-318-1". New leading designers engineers A. Shcherbakov, A. Pallo replaced the LRE ORM-65 V. P. Glushko with a nitrogen-acid-kerosene engine "RDA-1-150" designed by L. S. Dushkin.
And now, after almost a year of testing, in February 1940, the first flight of the RP-318-1 took place in tow behind the R 5 aircraft. Test pilot? P. Fedorov at an altitude of 2800 m unhooked the tow rope and started the rocket engine. A small cloud from an incendiary squib appeared behind the rocket plane, then brown smoke, then a fiery stream about a meter long. "RP-318-1", having developed a maximum speed of only 165 km / h, switched to flight with a climb.
This modest achievement nevertheless allowed the USSR to join the pre-war "jet club" of the leading aviation powers.
The successes of the German designers did not go unnoticed by the Soviet leadership. In July 1940, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution that determined the creation of the first domestic aircraft with jet engines. The resolution, in particular, provided for the resolution of issues "on the use of high-power jet engines for high-speed stratospheric flights."
Massive Luftwaffe raids on British cities and the lack of a sufficient number of radar stations in the Soviet Union revealed the need to create a fighter-interceptor to cover especially important objects, on the project of which young engineers A. Ya. Bereznyak and A. M. Isaev began to work in the spring of 1941 from the Design Bureau of the designer V. F. Bolkhovitinov. The concept of their Dushkin-powered missile interceptor or "close-range fighter" was based on Korolev's proposal put forward as early as 1938.
When an enemy aircraft appeared, the “close fighter” had to take off quickly and, having a high rate of climb and speed, catch up and destroy the enemy in the first attack, then after running out of fuel, using the altitude and speed reserve, plan for landing.
The project was distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity and low cost - the entire structure had to be made of solid wood from plywood. The engine frame, pilot protection and landing gear were made of metal, which were removed under the influence of compressed air.
With the outbreak of war, Bolkhovitinov involved all the design bureaus to work on the aircraft. In July 1941, a draft design with an explanatory note was sent to Stalin, and in August the State Defense Committee decided to urgently build an interceptor, which was needed by the Moscow air defense units. According to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, 35 days were allotted for the manufacture of the machine.
The aircraft, which received the name "BI" (near fighter or, as the journalists later interpreted, "Bereznyak - Isaev"), was built almost without detailed working drawings, drawing its full-size parts on plywood. The fuselage skin was glued on a blank of veneer, then attached to the frame. The keel was made integral with the fuselage, like the thin wooden wing of the coffered structure, and covered with fabric. There was even a wooden carriage for two 20-mm ShVAK cannons with 90 rounds of ammunition. LRE D-1 A-1100 was installed in the rear fuselage. The engine consumed 6 kg of kerosene and acid per second. The total fuel supply on board the aircraft, equal to 705 kg, ensured the operation of the engine for almost 2 minutes. Estimated takeoff weight aircraft "BI" was 1650 kg with an empty weight of 805 kg.
In order to reduce the time of creating an interceptor at the request of the Deputy People's Commissar of the aviation industry for pilot aircraft construction A. S. Yakovlev, the airframe of the BI aircraft was studied in a full-scale wind tunnel of TsAGI, and at the airfield, test pilot B. N. Kudrin began jogging and approaching in tow . The development of the power plant had to be pretty tricky, since nitric acid corroded tanks and wiring and had a harmful effect on humans.
However, all work was interrupted due to the evacuation of the design bureau to the Urals in the village of Belimbay in October 1941. There, in order to debug the operation of the LRE systems, a ground stand was mounted - the BI fuselage with a combustion chamber, tanks and pipelines. By the spring of 1942, the ground test program was completed.
Flight tests of the unique fighter were entrusted to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, who made 65 sorties at the front and shot down 5 German aircraft. He previously mastered the management of systems at the stand.
The morning of May 15, 1942 entered the history of Russian cosmonautics and aviation forever, with the takeoff from the ground of the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid propellant engine. The flight, which lasted 3 minutes 9 seconds at a speed of 400 km/h and a rate of climb of 23 m/s, made a strong impression on all those present. Here is how Bolkhovitinov recalled it in 1962: “For us, standing on the ground, this takeoff was unusual. Unusually quickly picking up speed, the plane took off from the ground in 10 seconds and disappeared from sight in 30 seconds. Only the flames of the engine told where he was. Several minutes passed like that. I will not hide, my hamstrings were shaking.
Members of the state commission noted in an official act that "the take-off and flight of the BI-1 aircraft from rocket engine, first used as the main engine of an aircraft, proved the possibility of the practical implementation of a flight on a new principle, which opens up a new direction in the development of aviation. The test pilot noted that the flight on the BI aircraft, in comparison with conventional types of aircraft, was exceptionally pleasant, and the aircraft was superior to other fighters in terms of ease of control.
A day after the tests, a solemn meeting and rally was arranged in Bilimbay. A poster hung over the presidium table: "Greetings to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, the pilot who flew into the new!"
The decision of the State Defense Committee to build a series of 20 BIVS aircraft soon followed, where, in addition to two cannons, a bomb cassette was installed in front of the cockpit, which housed ten small anti-aircraft bombs weighing 2.5 kg each.
In total, 7 test flights were made on the BI fighter, each of which recorded the best flight performance of the aircraft. The flights took place without flight accidents, only minor damage to the landing gear occurred during landings.
But on March 27, 1943, when accelerating to a speed of 800 km / h at an altitude of 2000 m, the third prototype spontaneously went into a dive and crashed into the ground near the airfield. The commission investigating the circumstances of the crash and the death of test pilot Bakhchivandzhi was unable to establish the reasons for the aircraft's nose-dive, noting that the phenomena that occur at flight speeds of the order of 800-1000 km / h have not yet been studied.
The disaster hit the reputation of the Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau painfully - all the unfinished BI-VS interceptors were destroyed. And although later in 1943-1944. a modification of the BI-7 was designed with ramjet engines at the ends of the wing, and in January 1945 pilot B.N. Kudrin completed the last two flights on the BI-1, all work on the aircraft was stopped.
The concept of a rocket fighter was most successfully implemented in Germany, where since January 1939 in the special “Department L” of the Messerschmitt company, where Professor A. Lippisch and his employees moved from the German Glider Institute, work was underway on the “X project” - “ object" interceptor "Me-163" "Komet" with a rocket engine operating on a mixture of hydrazine, methanol and water. It was an unconventional “tailless” aircraft, which, for the sake of maximum weight reduction, took off from a special trolley and landed on a ski that was pulled out of the fuselage. The test pilot Ditmar performed the first flight at maximum thrust in August 1941, and already in October, for the first time in history, the mark of 1000 km / h was overcome. It took more than two years of testing and refinement before the "Me-163" was put into production. It became the first LRE aircraft to take part in combat since May 1944. Although more than 300 interceptors were produced by February 1945, no more than 80 combat-ready aircraft were in service.
The combat use of the Me-163 fighters showed the inconsistency of the missile interceptor concept. Due to the high speed of approach, the German pilots did not have time to aim accurately, and the limited fuel supply (only for 8 minutes of flight) did not make it possible for a second attack. After running out of fuel on planning, the interceptors became easy prey for American fighters - Mustangs and Thunderbolts. Before the end of hostilities in Europe, the Me-163 shot down 9 enemy aircraft, while losing 14 vehicles. However, losses from accidents and catastrophes were three times higher than combat losses. The unreliability and short range of the Me-163 contributed to the fact that the leadership of the Luftwaffe launched other jet fighters"Me-262" and "Ne-162".
Messerschmitt Me.262 (German Messerschmitt Me.262 "Schwalbe" - "swallow")
The leadership of the Soviet aircraft industry in 1941-1943. was focused on the gross output of the maximum number of combat aircraft and the improvement of serial samples and was not interested in the development of promising work on jet technology. Thus, the BI-1 disaster put an end to other projects of Soviet missile interceptors: Andrey Kostikov's 302, Roberto Bartini's R-114 and Korolev's RP.
But information from Germany and the Allied countries became the reason that in February 1944 the State Defense Committee, in its resolution, pointed out the intolerable situation with the development of jet technology in the country. At the same time, all developments in this regard were now concentrated in the newly organized Research Institute of Jet Aviation, of which Bolkhovitinov was appointed deputy head. At this institute, groups of jet engine designers previously working at various enterprises were assembled, headed by M. M. Bondaryuk, V. P. Glushko, L. S. Dushkin, A. M. Isaev, A. M. Lyulka.
In May 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted another resolution that outlined a broad program for the construction of jet aircraft. This document provided for the creation of modifications of the Yak-3, La-7 and Su-6 with an accelerating rocket engine, the construction of "purely rocket" aircraft in the Yakovlev and Polikarpov Design Bureau, an experimental Lavochkin aircraft with a turbojet engine, as well as fighters with air-jet motor-compressor engines in the Mikoyan Design Bureau and Sukhoi. For this purpose, the Su-7 fighter was created at the Sukhoi design bureau, in which, together with a piston engine, the liquid-jet RD-1 developed by Glushko worked.
Flights on the Su-7 began in 1945. When the RD-1 was turned on, the aircraft's speed increased by an average of 115 km / h, but the tests had to be stopped due to the frequent failure of the jet engine. A similar situation has developed in design bureaus Lavochkin and Yakovlev. On one of the prototype La-7 R aircraft, the accelerator exploded in flight, the test pilot miraculously managed to escape. When testing the Yak-3 RD, test pilot Viktor Rastorguev managed to reach a speed of 782 km / h, but during the flight the plane exploded, the pilot died. The frequent accidents led to the fact that the testing of aircraft with the "RD-1" was stopped.
One of the most interesting projects rocket-powered interceptors was the project of the supersonic (!) RM-1 or SAM-29 fighter, developed at the end of 1944 by the undeservedly forgotten aircraft designer A. S. Moskalev. The aircraft was carried out according to the triangular “flying wing” scheme with oval leading edges, and during its development, the pre-war experience in creating the Sigma and Strela aircraft was used. The RM-1 project was supposed to have the following characteristics: crew - 1 person, power point- "RD2 MZV" with a thrust of 1590 kgf, a wing span of 8.1 m and its area of 28.0 m2, takeoff weight- 1600 kg, maximum speed- 2200 km / h (and this is in 1945!). TsAGI believed that the construction and flight tests of the RM-1 were one of the most promising directions in the future development of Soviet aviation.
In November 1945, the order to build the RM-1 was signed by Minister A.I. Shakhurin, but in January 1946 the order to build the RM-1 was canceled by Yakovlev. A similar Cheranovsky BICH-26 (Che-24) supersonic fighter project based on a "flying wing" with a rudder and a variable sweep wing was also canceled.
Post-war acquaintance with German trophies revealed a significant lag in the development of the domestic jet aircraft industry. To bridge the gap, it was decided to use the German JUMO-004 and BMW-003 engines, and then create their own based on them. These engines were named "RD-10" and "RD-20".
In 1945, simultaneously with the task of building a MiG-9 fighter with two RD-20s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was tasked with developing an experimental fighter-interceptor with an RD-2 M-3 V liquid-propellant rocket engine and a speed of 1000 km / h. The aircraft, which received the designation I-270 ("Zh"), was soon built, but its further tests did not show the advantages of a rocket fighter over an aircraft with a turbojet engine, and work on this topic was closed. In the future, liquid-propellant jet engines in aviation began to be used only on experimental and experimental aircraft or as aircraft boosters.
“... It is terrible to remember how little I knew and understood then. Today they say: "discoverers", "pioneers". And we walked in the dark and stuffed hefty cones. No special literature, no methodology, no well-established experiment. Stone Age jet aircraft. We were both complete mugs! .. ”- this is how Alexei Isaev recalled the creation of BI-1. Yes, indeed, due to their colossal fuel consumption, aircraft with liquid-propellant rocket engines did not take root in aviation, forever giving way to turbojet ones. But having taken their first steps in aviation, rocket engines have firmly taken their place in rocket science.
In the USSR during the war years, a breakthrough in this respect was the creation of the BI-1 fighter, and here the special merit of Bolkhovitinov, who took under his wing and managed to attract to work such future luminaries of Soviet rocket science and astronautics as: Vasily Mishin, First Deputy Chief designer Korolev, Nikolai Pilyugin, Boris Chertok - chief designers of control systems for many combat missiles and carriers, Konstantin Bushuev - head of the Soyuz - Apollo project, Alexander Bereznyak - designer of cruise missiles, Alexei Isaev - developer of liquid propellant rocket engines for submarine and space missiles devices, Arkhip Lyulka - the author and the first developer of domestic turbojet engines.
I-270 (according to NATO classification - Type 11) - an experienced Mikoyan Design Bureau fighter with a rocket engine.
Received a clue and the mystery of the death of Bakhchivandzhi. In 1943, the high-speed wind tunnel T-106 was put into operation at TsAGI. It immediately began to conduct extensive studies of aircraft models and their elements at high subsonic speeds. A model aircraft "BI" was also tested to identify the causes of the disaster. According to the test results, it became clear that the "BI" crashed due to the peculiarities of the flow around the straight wing and tail at transonic speeds and the resulting phenomenon of dragging the aircraft into a dive, which the pilot could not overcome. The BI-1 disaster on March 27, 1943 was the first that allowed Soviet aircraft designers to solve the problem of the “wave crisis” by installing a swept wing on the MiG-15 fighter. 30 years later, in 1973, Bakhchivandzhi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Yuri Gagarin spoke of him this way:
"... Without the flights of Grigory Bakhchivandzhi, it would probably not have happened on April 12, 1961." Who could have known that exactly 25 years later, on March 27, 1968, like Bakhchivandzhi at the age of 34, Gagarin would also die in a plane crash. They were really united by the main thing - they were the first.
In 1923, the designer V.N. Khioni was designed and built a two-seat wooden aircraft with the cheerful name "Humpbacked Horse". It was the firstborn of the Soviet civil aviation. The aircraft was equipped with a 100 hp Fiat engine. with water cooling. 30 such machines were built, and they were used in agriculture for pollinating crops with pesticides. Aircraft of the "Konek-Gorbunok" type worked until 1928, until they passed the baton to the famous "corn-grower", the Po-2 aircraft of aircraft designer N.N. Polikarpov.
MAIN DATA OF THE AIRCRAFT "Humpbacked Horse"
Takeoff weight, kg 975
Full load weight, kg 275
Empty aircraft weight, kg 700
Practical ceiling, m 3500
Maximum speed, km/h 122
Aircraft length, m 7.8
Upper wing span, m 11.4
Lower wing span, m 10.0
Wing area, m2 37.0
Fuel reserve, kg NO
Number of seats 2
Thus, agricultural aviation appeared in our civil aviation earlier than passenger aviation.
However, passenger cars were not long in coming.
In the same 1923, TsAGI engineers V.L. Alexandrov, V.V. Kalinin and A.M. Cheremukhin designed and built the first Soviet passenger aircraft AK-1.
Flight tests of the AK-1 aircraft were carried out by test pilot A.I. Tomashevsky. The tests were successful, and on June 15, 1924, the aircraft, called the AK-1 "Latvian shooter", was solemnly handed over to the Dobrolet society.
The AK-1 aircraft is a four-seat high-wing strut of a mixed design with one Salmson brand water-cooled engine with a capacity of 170 hp. The wing is trapezoidal in plan, 12% of the thickness at the strut attachment points. Wing struts - from a pair of chain-aluminum tubes with a fairing. Fuselage - wooden, braced, sheathing - linen.
The AK-1 aircraft had very high qualities for its time. It was operated on the Moscow-Kazan airline. From June 10 to July 17, 1925, the AK-1 "Latvian shooter" aircraft took part in a grandiose group flight on the route Moscow - Ulan Bator - Beijing, and then made a number of flights around the cities of China.
MAIN DATA AK-1
Takeoff weight, kg 1685
Full load weight, kg 540
Empty aircraft weight, kg 1145
Practical ceiling, m 2200
Maximum speed, km/h 147
Aircraft length, m 11.0
Wingspan, m 14.9
Wing area, m2 37.0
Fuel reserve, kg 197
Number of passengers, pers. 3
Crew, pers. 1
In 1924, test pilot Efremov tested a passenger biplane aircraft - E.E. Gropius, built at the GAZ-5 plant. The aircraft was a two-pillar biplane with a very thick fuselage in the full height of the wing box. Behind the Hispano-Suiza engine with a power of 300 hp. there was a spacious passenger cabin for four seats, behind it - the cockpit of the pilot and mechanic (open), the entrance to it from the passenger cabin. Takeoff weight - 1849 kg. The maximum speed is 165 km/h. The length of the aircraft was 8.8 m. The wingspan was 11.2 m. The aircraft had a poor rate of climb, a low ceiling (300 m) and a high mileage. For these reasons, the aircraft was not accepted into operation.
Back in the 1920s, on the initiative of engineer A.N. Tupolev at the Kolchuginsky plant (Vladimir region) for the needs of the aircraft industry, the production of domestic light metal - chain-aluminum was established.
A.N. Tupolev became the founder of the use of metal in the aircraft industry of the USSR. The transition to metal, which made it possible to mass-produce machines, required a radical change in design methods and aircraft construction technology.
The first Soviet all-metal aircraft was the small three-seat monoplane ANT-2, built by A.N. Tupolev with a Bristol-Lucifer engine with a power of 100 hp, showed a speed of 170 km / h and a ceiling of 3000 m. The length of the fuselage was 7.5 m; wingspan - Yum. Takeoff weight - 836 kg; empty weight - 523 kg. Flight range - 425 km.
The first flight on the first Soviet all-metal monoplane aircraft ANT-2 on May 26, 1924 at the Khodynka airfield was made by TsAGI pilot engineer N.I. Petrov. ANT-2 is the ancestor of all metal aircraft in our country. It was not mass-produced due to the lack of domestic engines at that time.
In 1925, a team led by aircraft designers N.N. Polikarpov and A.A. Semenov, designed a six-seat passenger polutoraplan PM-1. The aircraft was equipped with a 260 hp Maybach engine. The fuselage is mostly glued out of veneer. The entire structure of the aircraft is wooden with linen covering of wings and plumage.
MAIN DATA PM-1
Takeoff weight, kg 2360
Full load weight, kg 980
Empty aircraft weight, kg 1380
Practical ceiling, m 4100
Maximum speed, km/h 180
Landing speed, km/h 90
Aircraft length, m 11.0
Wingspan, m 15.5
Fuel reserve, kg 440
Wing area, m2 38.5
Flight range, km 1200
Crew, pers. 1
Number of passengers, pers. 5
The first flight of the PM-1 aircraft took place on June 10, 1925. It was made by test pilot A.I. Zhukov. After successfully completed tests, 10 such machines were built for civil aviation. PM-1 aircraft were operated on the Moscow-Leningrad and Moscow-Berlin routes. In terms of speed and carrying capacity, the PM-1 was not inferior to the foreign aircraft Dornier, Junkers, Fokker.
In the autumn of 1925, at the Krasny Pilot plant, by order of the Ukrvozdukhput society, aircraft designer D.P. Grigorovich created the SUVP aircraft. The SUVP aircraft is a high-wing strut wing with an open cockpit and a three-seater passenger cabin. Engine "Bristol-Lucifer" in 100 HP for such a passenger aircraft was, of course, too small. The wing and empennage of the aircraft were wooden, the covering was linen everywhere. The fuselage and wing struts were welded from steel pipes.
Maximum takeoff weight - 1150 kg. Full load - 330 kg. Practical ceiling - 3050 m, maximum speed - 139 km / h.
In October 1925, pilot A.D. Menitsky made a flight on the route Leningrad - Novgorod - Tver - Moscow. Due to engine vibration, the aircraft did not go into production.
In the mid-20s, measures were taken to organize the Soviet aircraft engine industry. Before the workers of the aviation industry, the slogan “Give the engine!” Was put forward. In 1924, the Leningrad plant "Bolshevik" produced the first serial domestic aircraft engine M-5 with a capacity of 400 hp. In 1926, designer A.D. Shvetsov created the M-11 engine with a power of 100 hp. air-cooled, which was then mass-produced for almost thirty years and installed on many light aircraft.
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In connection with rumors that Lufthansa was interested in our MS-21 airliner being developed, Flight compiled a list of the most common Soviet and Russian airliners in operation based on the Flightglobal's Ascend Fleets database.
An-24(transportation is carried out by 201 aircraft)
Designed in the late 1950s, this reliable 50-seat passenger turboprop was the workhorse of Aeroflot's regional operations in Soviet times. Widely supplied abroad. In total, more than 1,300 An-24s were manufactured, and it still occupies a significant share in the fleet of a number of airlines.
IL-76(181 aircraft in service)
First flown in 1971, this transport aircraft, which was produced in cargo and military transport versions, was specially designed for operation on poorly equipped airfields and in harsh climatic conditions Soviet Union.
Tu-154(158 aircraft)
This three-engine, 150-seat airliner was designed to operate on the main domestic routes of the USSR. Now it is being massively withdrawn from the airline fleet.
Yak-40(115 aircraft)
The three-engine regionalist appeared in 1968. Like all Soviet passenger aircraft was designed to operate in the most severe climatic conditions, as well as from short unpaved runways - the main feature of this aircraft.
At one time, he made a strong impression on the world's air carriers: he was purchased by a number of Western countries, and even serious negotiations were underway on licensed production in the United States. But the oil crisis of 1974 undermined these plans: the main drawback of the Yak-40 became immediately noticeable - low efficiency. Now Novosibirsk is planning to start remotorizing the aircraft into a twin-engine version.
Yak-42(65 aircraft)
The aircraft was designed from the beginning to replace the Yak-40, but grew into a 120-seat three-engine airliner for medium-haul air routes, becoming the largest aircraft designed by the Yakovlevsky Design Bureau.
"Superjet" 100(56 aircraft)
Unlike most of the other aircraft on this list, the number of Superjets in service is now on the rise. The plant of the aircraft manufacturing company "Dry - Civil Aircraft" on Far East produces this regional airliner in collaboration with the French company "Snecma" and the Italian "Alenia Aermacchi". The plane enjoys some success in the international market - the Mexican air carrier Interjet can be noted.
Tu-134(51 aircraft)
Introduced into service in 1967, the 80-seat Tu-134 was the main aircraft of many airlines from the early 1970s to the early 2000s, but is now being rapidly withdrawn from active service.
Tu-204(44 are in operation)
One of the most modern airliners on this list entered service in the 1990s and ideologically repeated the Boeing 757. Last year, the Aviastar plant produced two Tu-204-300s for the administration of the President of Russia.
An-74(35 aircraft)
Perhaps because of his appearance with two large engine nacelles on the upper wing, the An-74 is not very beautiful, but it can carry cargo in the harshest arctic conditions, a 50-seat passenger aircraft can be converted in a couple of hours.
IL-62(26 aircraft)
Designed back in the days of the Boeing 707 and McDonnell-Douglas DC-8, this airliner belongs to the first generation of jet passenger aircraft. This 200-seat aircraft entered service on long-distance passenger routes in the late 1960s. Although it is still in operation, the number of aircraft is rapidly declining.
However, Shoigu flies on some interesting IL-62 (remotorized) and does not buzz in the literal and figurative sense :-)
Zhukovsky is a city of aviators. A lot of aircraft were created, tested and finalized here. And it was in Zhukovsky that they opened architectural complex"Creators of Russian Aviation".
The memorial alley "Creators of Russian Aviation" includes 16 busts of legendary Soviet aircraft designers. The presented busts are made of bronze by a young sculptor Vladimir Ivanov.
2. Tupolev Andrey Nikolaevich. Soviet scientist and aircraft designer, Colonel-General-Engineer, Doctor of Technical Sciences. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Hero of Labor. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor.
Now in Zhukovsky they are trying to save the memory of the plane, which has become the peak of development domestic aviation — .
3. Ilyushin Sergey Vladimirovich. Outstanding Soviet aircraft designer, developer of the most massive combat aircraft in history - the Il-2 attack aircraft. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor. The only laureate of seven Stalin Prizes, Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 
4. The "Creators of Aviation of Russia" complex was created on the initiative of the "Legends of Aviation" foundation. The alley was opened on September 22, 2017. Opened solemnly, even with an air parade. 
5. The administration of Zhukovsky, the scientific and engineering company NIK, Russian Helicopters, Roscosmos, United Aircraft Corporation(UAC). 
6. Mikoyan Artem Ivanovich. Soviet aircraft designer. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor. Under his leadership (together with M. I. Gurevich and V. A. Romodin), those who participated in the Great Patriotic War fighter planes MiG-1 and MiG-3. After the war, MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-27, MiG-29, MiG-31, MiG-33, MiG- 35.
7. Gurevich Mikhail Iosifovich. Soviet aircraft designer, co-head of OKB-155. Hero of Socialist Labor. Winner of the Lenin Prize and six Stalin Prizes. He worked together with Mikoyan, creating MiG fighters. The letter G is Gurevich. 
8. Myasishchev Vladimir Mikhailovich. Soviet aircraft designer, Major General Engineer, General Designer of OKB-23, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR. Hero of Socialist Labor. Laureate of the Lenin Prize.
His planes: M-50, M-4, 3M/M-6, VM-T "Atlant", M-17 "Stratosphere", M-18, M-20, M-55 "Geophysics".
One of the most famous - which transported parts of the Buran and Energia complex. 
9. Mikhail Leontievich Mil. Soviet helicopter designer and scientist, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin Prize and the State Prize of the USSR. 
10. Tishchenko Marat Nikolaevich. Soviet and Russian helicopter designer. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Hero of Socialist Labor. From 1970 to 2007 - responsible head and chief designer of the Experimental Design Bureau named after M. L. Mil. It was under his leadership that was created.
11. Bartini Robert Ludwigovich. An Italian aristocrat, a communist who left fascist Italy for the USSR, where he became a famous aircraft designer. Physicist, creator of designs for devices based on new principles. Author of more than 60 completed aircraft projects. brigade commander In the questionnaires in the column "nationality" he wrote: "Russian". 
12. Kamov Nikolai Ilyich. Soviet aircraft designer, creator of Ka helicopters, Doctor of Technical Sciences. Hero of Socialist Labor. Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR. 
13. Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich. Soviet aircraft designer, corresponding member. and Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Air Colonel General. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor. General Designer of the Yakovlev Design Bureau. Laureate of the Lenin, State and six Stalin Prizes. 
14. Antonov Oleg Konstantinovich. Soviet aircraft designer, doctor of technical sciences, professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Hero of Socialist Labor. Laureate of the Lenin Prize and the Stalin Prize of the second degree. The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft, built on the basis of the An-124 "Ruslan", is still the largest and most lifting.
It is a pity that a delegation from Ukraine did not come to the opening...
15. Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich. Soviet aircraft designer. Major General of the Engineering Service. Laureate of the Stalin Prize.
Under his leadership, aircraft were created: Steel-6, Steel-7; seaplanes: MBR-2, MP-1, MP-1T, ship ejection KOR-1 and KOR-2, Be-6, Be-10 jet boat, Be-12 amphibians (with modifications) and Be-12PS - serial; MDR-5, MBR-7, LL-143, Be-8, R-1, Be-14 - experienced, passenger Be-30 (Be-32), experimental projectile P-10. 
16. Semyon Alekseevich Lavochkin. Soviet aviation designer. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor. Laureate of four Stalin Prizes. He made a huge contribution to aviation during the Great Patriotic War.
17. Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi. An outstanding Belarusian Soviet aircraft designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, one of the founders of the Soviet jet and supersonic aviation. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin, Stalin and State Prizes, laureate of the Prize No. A. N. Tupolev.
18. Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich. Soviet aircraft designer, corresponding member and academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Air Colonel General. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor. General Designer of the Yakovlev Design Bureau. Laureate of the Lenin, State and six Stalin Prizes. 
19. Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. Russian and Soviet aircraft designer, head of OKB-51. Twice winner of the Stalin Prize, Hero of Socialist Labor, Polikarpov is one of the founders of the Soviet school of aircraft construction. Created under his leadership multipurpose aircraft U-2 and R-5 became one of the best in their class.
20. Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov. Soviet aircraft designer. Laureate of the Stalin Prize of the first degree. 
21. Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky is considered the founder of aviation in Russia. 
22. It is his words that express the idea of aviation: 
