Old photos coming to light

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A sad looking example of one of the Soviet Union's post-war success stories in terms of exportability and adaptability in a single airframe, the Ilyushin Il-18 in production numbers surpassed every major Western large turboprop, exceeding the Bristol Britannia, Lockheed Electra and Vickers Vanguard combined in its total numbers, some 678 were built and exported to airlines around the world. First flying in 1957, the same year as the Electra, like that aircraft it became the basis of a dedicated maritime patrol bomber, the Il-38. A handful of Il-18s still fly today as freighters and airliners, with Air Koryo of course - the last bastion of 1960s and '70s Soviet airliners, and as specialised military platforms.

Illyushin Il-18D Coot

The two-seat variant of the legendary MiG-15, the UTI is prolific and long lasting, thanks to a new life as a warbird around the world. Few countries operate the MiG-15UTI as a military machine today however, but on the African and east Asian continent, a number still can be found. The DPRK Air Force still operates the type as its fast jet trainer.

Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-15 UTI Fagot
 
fubar57 said:
The -18 is a one fine looking aircraft, along the lines of the Constellation but lacking the tail
Click to expand...
Almost looks like it could have been designed in the West.
"Honest, Comrade Colonel, I shot it down 'cause it looked foreign, not like anything made in the Rodina! DC7 with Dart engines, I was sure! Besides, it violated our airspace!"
 
So, from the sublime to the ridiculous. The PZL M-15 Belfegor ranks as one of the ugliest aircraft ever brought to fruition, but it has a practical purpose; it was designed as a top dressing aircraft to be mass produced for the Soviet Union, by the Polish firm PZL. It had to be rugged and be able to replace the ubiquitous Antonov An-2 in that role, only with a jet engine. Granted it was powered by a low bypass turbofan - the same AI-25 engine as in the Yak-40, but it was thirsty and underpowered. A few accolades (!) achieved by the Belfegor - the world's only pure jet powered crop duster, the world's slowest jet, the only biplane fixed undercarriaged jet... Eek.

PZL M-15 Belfegor

If there was a jet fighter that could take the claim as the Peoples of the World's fighter, it's the MiG-21. Built in greater numbers than any other jet fighter and in a bewildering array of variants, the MiG-21 combined excellent performance with rugged simplicity. This led to extensive foreign export and longevity of basic design. Its core advantages however also define its limitations, i.e. simplicity, size and advanced age, but technological upgrades and continued production and evolution in China as the J7 mean that the MiG-21 is not going away anytime soon.

Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-21 PFM Fishbed
 
The Russians like to do things big and the Mil Mi-10 is a reflection of that. Designed for lifting heavy loads, the Mi-10 first flew in 1960 (two years before the Sikorsky Skycrane) and has a maximum take off weight of 43,760kgs, which is heavy. Only 40 were built, between 1964 and 1969, but it earned some seven world records because of its astonishing abilities, none of which still stand. Oddly, the Mi-10 was difficult to fly without a load and rolling take-offs were recommended. In service there was criticism as none of the crew could actually see the load from anywhere on the aircraft, a troublesome omission from an operations point of view.

Mil Mi-10 Harke

To the Eastern Bloc, the Mil Mi-8 is the equivalent of the UH-1 Huey, only bigger. The basic design has seen multiple variations and enormous production; over 17,000 built makes the Mi-8 the world's most mass produced helicopter. Over 80 countries around the world have operated the Mi-8 and its derivatives in some form or another and remains today the third most widely used military aircraft, and it's still in production. Its operational use has seen it everywhere, in almost every war zone and peace zone since it first flew in 1961, doing everything a helicopter is expected to do. A legend in its own long lifetime.

Mil Mi-6T Mi-8T 001
 
Today's entry is definitely something from the more fanciful penmanship of Soviet aircraft designers, the Myasishchev M-50 supersonic heavy bomber. One of the most innovative if fruitless bomber projects the Soviets launched, the M-50 first flew in 1959 and was intended on being powered by four turbofan engines, but these weren't ready and it received four non-afterburning turbojets, but then two afterburning turbojets were fitted in the inboard positions after flight trials revealed that it was severely underpowered. This all meant the M-50 couldn't even reach supersonic speed, so it never reached its designed speed of Mach 2+. When it was first paraded at the annual May Day flyover of central Moscow in 1961, few knew that that was the aircraft's last flight. Only the one was built, but a modified variant, the M-52 was begun but never finished; the advent of the ICBM rendered this ambitious and expensive project useless.

Myasischev M-50 Bounder 001

This next aircraft was as unusual as the M-50 but by contrast was moderately successful, with 142 of them being built and deployment among the Soviet armed forces. A medium range reconnaissance drone launched from a ramp on a wheeled vehicle, the Tupolev Tu-141 was designed to carry out strategic and tactical reconnaissance beyond the Soviet borders with a range of cameras and sensors and saw service for around ten years from 1979. The Ukraine received a small number after the collapse of the Soviet Union, too.

Tupolev Tu-141 002
 
Here's the odd thing, the Soviets wanted to develop a cruise missile variant of the M-50, yes, the big four engined bomber, that could carry a range of deployable weapons all the way to America by remote.
 
Phew, a lot of photos to get through... This is the prototype of the eminently capable Su-27 air superiority fighter, the Sukhoi T-10-1 and came about as a result of the Soviets gaining wind of US next generation fighter programmes in the late 1960s. This resulted in the PFI project, which called for a advanced front line fighter (the initials stating as much in Cyrillic), which was highly ambitious. It had to have excellent performance and capability whilst being maintenance friendly, and have good short field performance. Sensibly, the decision was made to split this requirement into two; the LPFI, the lighteweight version with rough field capability, simplicity and manoeuvrability and the second, the TPFI, the high altitude sophisticated interceptor. The T-10 fulfilled the TPFI requirement and went on to become the Su-27, after some airframe redesign.

Sukhoi T-10-1 002

The LPFI was developed into this, the MiG-29; this is the prototype. An excellent air-to-air fighter, the MiG-29 fulfils the rough field capability and the simplicity angle, and with its helmet mounted sight and advanced missiles is a formidable threat and offers smaller, less wealthy nations a credible fighter at a low cost. That, of course comes at a price; avionics wise, the MiG-29 was behind the curve in many respects, its reliability leaves much to be desired, too. Nonetheless, upgrades are on offer, but few have taken them up because of the cost, as the basic design is considered elderly in a modern combat environment. Also, notice something peculiar about the MiG-21 in the background.

Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-29-01
 
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