Lovely shots Grant!
Old photos coming to light
- Thread starter nuuumannn
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at6
1st Sergeant
It looks close to the Bell CX5 and the Messerschmitt P1011 series aircraft.
- Thread starter
- #83
Possibly, but it doesn't mean it was based on those aircraft, not necessarily. That layout was common in Soviet designs to take advantage of the low power outputs of existing engines. Another and perhaps the best known examples were those produced by Yakovlev. The first one, the Yak-15 was essentially a Yak-3 fuselage and wings mated to a Junkers Jumo 004. Its successor was the tricycle undercarriage Yak-17, which, apart from the landing gear had refinements over its predecessor. Unfortunately it inherited its predecessor's faults, too as it was underpowered, short ranged and unreliable.
Prior to the outbreak of WW2 the Soviets bought a licence to build the DC-3 from Douglas. it had an enormous impact on the industry back home as although builders had made all metal aircraft before, the resulting PS-84 was a level of structural sophistication and manufacture unknown in the Soviet Union. Widely built and utilised, the Lisunov Li-2 certainly adds to the ubiquity of the DC-3 legend, but in reality it was a poor copy, being slower, heavier and less reliable than its progenitor.
fubar57
General
The Yak reminds me of the U.S. light weight fighter program in the early stages of WW2- Thread starter
- #85
Yeah, a lot of manufacturers were doing quick ways to produce a jet fighter using existing airframes and stuff. take the Attacker, for example; Sea Fang wings mated to a new fuselage.
0307 FAA Museum Attacker
It did evolve into this, but still had at least one foot in the past.
FAA Museum Supermarine 510
That then became this, but it was not a good fighter and had weirdly expensive air-to-air missiles. Just look at that loading trolley!
0807 Newark Air Museum Swift
It did evolve into this, but still had at least one foot in the past.
That then became this, but it was not a good fighter and had weirdly expensive air-to-air missiles. Just look at that loading trolley!
- Thread starter
- #86
On the subject of interceptors, in the early 1950s the Soviets realised that small fighters like the MiG-15 and '17 would not be capable of intercepting supersonic bombers, thus they came up with their Komplex-15 concept of an integrated weapons system comprising sophisticated avionics and air-to-air missiles mated to a supersonic high altitude airframe. The Lavochkin La-250 was the result, but it never progressed past the prototype phase owing to being underpowered and issues with the Komplex-15 system. The last design from the Lavochkin firm, the La-250's drooping nose was a redesign owing to criticisms about visibility.
Lavochkin La-250-04
Following cancellation of the La-250 and the Komplex-15 system, the Soviets re-examined the interceptor requirement, considering that the sheer size of the Soviet land mass and the introduction of the S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile (SA-2 Guideline in the West), interceptors couldn't possibly cover the entire country and they should be placed at strategically important points only. The result was the Tu-128, the biggest interceptor of its era and the heaviest fighter built. Blessed with a long range, powerful radar and the most powerful AAMs as possible, the Tu-128 saw many years of service and were replaced in 1990 with the MiG-31, and even went into action shooting down NATO reconnaissance balloons.
Tupolev Tu-128A Fiddler
Following cancellation of the La-250 and the Komplex-15 system, the Soviets re-examined the interceptor requirement, considering that the sheer size of the Soviet land mass and the introduction of the S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile (SA-2 Guideline in the West), interceptors couldn't possibly cover the entire country and they should be placed at strategically important points only. The result was the Tu-128, the biggest interceptor of its era and the heaviest fighter built. Blessed with a long range, powerful radar and the most powerful AAMs as possible, the Tu-128 saw many years of service and were replaced in 1990 with the MiG-31, and even went into action shooting down NATO reconnaissance balloons.
Stupid question: Did the Swift have rearward facing missles?
Great shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #89
Stupid answer, yes. Right answer, no. The centre body was unpowered and fitted with boosters. It's a Fairey Fireflash, Britain's first AAM. A little info here:
"
The Fireflash was a beam riding missile - it was designed to fly down a radio beam emitted by the launch aircraft, which the pilot would keep aimed at the target.
It had a very unusual configuration: the missile body was unpowered. It was propelled by a pair of rocket boosters on the forward fuselage that were jettisoned 1.5 seconds after launch. The missile body, now travelling at around Mach 2, would coast the remaining distance to its target under guidance from the launch aircraft (the missile was unguided during the boost phase). The rocket engine nozzles were slightly offset to rotate the missile - this increased accuracy by evening out the effect of any slight asymmetry in thrust.
"This configuration drastically limited both range and flight duration, but was used because of fears that ionised particles in the hot, rocket motor exhaust stream would interfere with the guidance radar signals; further development showed the fears were unfounded.
"Steering was accomplished by four rudders in a cruciform configuration. These were moved by four pairs of pneumatic servos, operated by solenoid valves. An air bottle, pressurized to 3,000 pounds per square inch (21,000 kPa), supplied air for the servos and also supplied the air that spun the three, air-blown gyroscopes in the missile's inertial navigation system. A high pressure air supply from the aircraft was also required to spin the gyros before the missile was launched.
The purpose of the control system was to keep the missile centred in the guidance beam emitted by the launch aircraft. The pilot of the aircraft would keep the beam aligned with the target using his gunsight, which was harmonized with the axis of the radio beam. An advantage of this system was that it would be unaffected by the target aircraft using radar countermeasures such as chaff. The missile's receiver, fitted at the rear, only detected signals from the launch aircraft."
From here: Fireflash - Wikipedia
- Thread starter
- #90
When the Tupolev Tu-22 first appeared at the 1961 May Day parade over Red Square, it caused a stir in the West as it was the first Soviet supersonic bomber and fears of annihilation of US cities was spread throughout Western defense circles. They needn't have bothered; the Tu-22 was found lacking in several key areas; it was short ranged and far less versatile than the Tu-16 it was intended on replacing. From a pilot's perspective it was a handful and was prone to scraping its tail on take-off. At supersonic speed its fuselage heated up significantly, causing localised damage. Despite these issues, the Tu-22 has seen combat, during the Iran/Iraq war in the '80s; Iraqi Tu-22s dropped 20,000lb bombs with impressive accuracy using toss bombing techniques. A total of 311 of this much maligned bomber were built.
Tupolev Tu-22 Yu Tu-105 Blinder 001
One of the more graceful Soviet aircraft designs, the Il-62 airliner was the largest airliner in the world when it first flew in 1963. Widely exported, the attractive jet could carry 200 passengers and was one of the primary long haul pioneer jet airliners in the same class as the B707, DC-8, and VC-10, but gets little recognition in the West, despite being operated by around 30 different countries' airlines - including being leased to Air France. Because of its advanced age, the only operator as a passenger carrier these days is Air Koryo, the national carrier of the DPRK (that's North Korea), whereas a handful are operated as a military transport and cargo aircraft.
Illyushin Il-62 Classic
One of the more graceful Soviet aircraft designs, the Il-62 airliner was the largest airliner in the world when it first flew in 1963. Widely exported, the attractive jet could carry 200 passengers and was one of the primary long haul pioneer jet airliners in the same class as the B707, DC-8, and VC-10, but gets little recognition in the West, despite being operated by around 30 different countries' airlines - including being leased to Air France. Because of its advanced age, the only operator as a passenger carrier these days is Air Koryo, the national carrier of the DPRK (that's North Korea), whereas a handful are operated as a military transport and cargo aircraft.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Very cool Grant.
Soviet analog to the B58 and A3J? And with much the same problems.
- Thread starter
- #93
Possibly, I read that because of its sharply swept wing it had terrible low speed handling and was a bit of a b*tch to land, to add to the many issues it suffered. Tu-16 crews converting onto it apparently found it extremely difficult to fly and pilots were drawn from Su-17 attack aircraft units.
As were the B58 and A3J, for the same reason.
Lovely shots Grant!
- Thread starter
- #96
Thanks again Hugh.
Notorious as the aircraft that shot down the doomed Korean Airlines B747 Flight KAL007 on 1 September 1983, the Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor saw lengthy service with the PVO right until the fall of the Soviet Union. First flying in 1962, the Su-15 was optimised as a high speed, high altitude interceptor for subsonic aircraft, with the MiG-25 designed to intercept supersonic types. In the Su-15TM variant, it's intercept profile was almost entirely ground controlled. The aircraft was guided to the target on autopilot using ground commands sent via electronic uplink. Once a target had been identified its radar was switched on to enable its missiles to lock on, the pilot relying on his commanders instructing him on how to proceed through every step of the flight.
Sukhoi Su-15 Flagon D
First flying in 1964 and entering service in 1970, the MiG-25 Foxbat was once a type that struck fear into the hearts of Western military planners around the world. That the Soviets could have built an interceptor that could reach speeds up to Mach 3 was inexplicable, and in actual fact very rarely carried out by the type since it would roast its engines in doing so. Even after Soviet pilot Victor Belenko defected to Hakkodate Airport in Hokkaido with an intact specimen and US observers had inspected it, the mystique of the Foxbat continued, despite its secrets being exposed. This ia a MiG-25R strategic reconnaissance platform.
Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-25R Foxbat 003
Notorious as the aircraft that shot down the doomed Korean Airlines B747 Flight KAL007 on 1 September 1983, the Sukhoi Su-15 interceptor saw lengthy service with the PVO right until the fall of the Soviet Union. First flying in 1962, the Su-15 was optimised as a high speed, high altitude interceptor for subsonic aircraft, with the MiG-25 designed to intercept supersonic types. In the Su-15TM variant, it's intercept profile was almost entirely ground controlled. The aircraft was guided to the target on autopilot using ground commands sent via electronic uplink. Once a target had been identified its radar was switched on to enable its missiles to lock on, the pilot relying on his commanders instructing him on how to proceed through every step of the flight.
First flying in 1964 and entering service in 1970, the MiG-25 Foxbat was once a type that struck fear into the hearts of Western military planners around the world. That the Soviets could have built an interceptor that could reach speeds up to Mach 3 was inexplicable, and in actual fact very rarely carried out by the type since it would roast its engines in doing so. Even after Soviet pilot Victor Belenko defected to Hakkodate Airport in Hokkaido with an intact specimen and US observers had inspected it, the mystique of the Foxbat continued, despite its secrets being exposed. This ia a MiG-25R strategic reconnaissance platform.
fubar57
General
Good stuff Grant. I highly recommend Belenko's book
- Thread starter
- #98
Yes, its a very interesting read.
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 38,256
- Mar 26, 2007
Keep it comming. Very nice thread.
Great stuff Grant
