Old photos coming to light

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rochie said:
Sure thats not a mirage III in the background
Click to expand...

I guess it might be what a Soviet Mirage III might look like! The aircraft between it and the MiG-29 is a clue as to its purpose. It is the MiG-21LI Analog delta wing test bed for the Tu-144 project. First flying in 1968, it is fitted with a double delta wing with a 78 degree sweepback on its outer wings. Two of these were built with the purpose of trialling handling across the flight regime, from low to Mach 2+ speeds to emulate the Tu-144's projected speed parameters. This is the last one left as the other crashed during an aerobatic flight. Please excuse the photo. I was disappointed when I got it developed to discover it was slightly out of focus.

Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-21LI 21-31 Analog

This is a Sukhoi Su-7BKL short range strike fighter, but note its undercarriage. It's fitted with skis as an attempt to improve its rough field operating capability. Designed initially as a fighter interceptor, the Su-7 was found to be lacking in a few key areas, not least was a high landing speed and poor visibility, as well as a long take off run, so in the Su-7BKL variant, measures were taken to rectify some of these issues. It could be fitted with Jato bottles and if fitted with this novel undercarriage could operate from unprepared airfields to increase its operational radius, which, in the initial versons was poor. The ski undercarriage could be retrofitted to existing aircraft.

Sukhoi Su-7BKL Fitter A
 
Oh, and Karl, in case you're interested, Sharkit do a 1/72 limited edition kit and if you're into 1/144 scale, you can buy a Retrokit conversion for the Eduard MiG-21 kit. Then you can place the Analog next to your Revell 1/144 scale Tu-144 Concordeski just for kicks!
 
Thanks again Hugh ole buddy.

In the spirit of VE Day, here are a couple of Soviet wartime gems, and an American one, whose reputation for greatness has lasted long since their actions in WW2. Firstly, the Polikarpov U2, or Po-2 to use its later designation. So much can be said of this unassuming little biplane; the most mass produced aeroplane in history and easily one of the most versatile, this aircraft saw service in military and civilian hands before the outbreak of the war and well after it ended; its legendary status assured. This particular one was used in a Soviet film, somewhat appropriately about the actions of the Night Witches during WW2.

Polikarpov U-2 001

One of the seminal Soviet fighters of the Great Patriotic War, the Yakovlev Yak-9U was derived from the Yak-7 and was of all-metal construction. Blessed with excellent performance and surprising manoeuvrability it was easily a match for the best German fighters over the Eastern Front despite its light armament of one cannon and two machine guns, all in the nose. This one's lack of an oil cooler under the nose led me to believe, for a long time that it was actually a Yak-3, but I have since been informed that indeed the caption on the display board is correct; it is a Yak-9U.

Yakovlev Yak-9U

During the war, the US supplied a total of 826 B-25s to the Soviet Union via the Alaska-Siberia route, for which the generosity of this act and the thousands more aircraft and items of equipment sent to the Soviet Union during the war gets no mention whatsoever, let alone any thanks, in Russian histories of the Great Patriotic War. Therefore the presense of this, the P-63 and A-20 in Soviet markings must be puzzling to the average Russian who visits the museum. I'm hoping this attitude has changed in the intervening years since I visited. Note that this B-25C is fitted with the Bendix belly turret that was standard for the type, but the top turret is a Soviet abomination and not the usual streamlined Martin one, if indeed it is a real turret.

North American B-25C Mitchell

Thanks again for following along.
 

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Something of a pioneer nature in our first picture today, this is a Tupolev ANT-2, the first all-metal Soviet aircraft and a ground breaking machine for the fledgling industry. Following the development of the lightweight metal kolchugaluminium after the factory at Kolchuginsk, essentially an age hardened aluminium alloy like duralumin in 1922, Tupolev designed and built this small cabin monoplane with fully cantilever wings. Completed in May 1924 and powered by a Bristol Lucifer engine, the ANT-2 proved difficult to fly and, encountering difficulty in obtaining more engines and a metal shortage in the USSR, Tupolev did not put the aircraft into production.

Tupolev ANT-2

This rather interesting machine is one of only a small number of Myasischev M-17A Stratosphera aircraft built and was originally designed to shoot down high altitude reconnaissance balloons, but never saw this requirement fulfilled owing to the advent of spy satellites denuding it of a mission. First flying in 1982 it was repurposed for high altitude reconnaissance as the Soviet Union's U-2, as it has been dubbed in the West. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the aircraft set several high altitude world records, five of which still stand today, apparently. Notice the Aeroflot colours, perhaps to hide its true nature from prying eyes? This isn't the last we'll be seeing of this fascinating machine.

Myasischev M-17 Mystic A 004
 
If anyone thought the Soviets couldn't build a world class combat aircraft during the war, this is the answer that they could - the Tu-2 (not to be confused with the SB-2, which we'll see later) was designed to be a equal to the Ju 88 and it succeeded at that. Combining versatility with excellent performance, the Tu-2 was one of the outstanding combat aircraft of WW2. Entering service in late 1942, the Tu-2 proved its worth against the invading Germanss almost immediately and somewhat expectedly saw extensive service following the end of the war, with examples being exported to seven foreign nations, including Poland, China and the DPRK. Throughout my visit to Monino it rained heavily and I stood under this aircraft for some time to change rolls of film and to dry off before I continued my photo sortie... I'd never been happier in the rain!

Tupolev Tu-2S Bat 001

The ultimate extrapolation of Yakovlev's piston engined fighter powered by gas turbine adaptations, the Yak-23 was the last throw of the dice of that particular concept and proved that it could not match current designs by other manufacturers of the time. Powered by a copied Rolls-Royce Derwent, the Yak-23 was a contemporary of the MiG-15, which was superior in almost every respect and only 319 were built, although it did see export to a handful of Warsaw Pact nations.

Yakovlev Yak-23 Flora
 
So, back at Monino, This is an example of the second jet powered airliner to enter service (the Avro Canada Jetliner never carried a fare paying passenger) and the Soviet Union's first jet airliner, the Tupolev Tu-104. Using the same powerplant and wings as the Tu-16 bomber, a total of 201 Tu-104s were built, but it was found to be thirsty and short ranged and it had a poor safety record; only Aeroflot and the Czech airline CSA operated the type. Interesting wee factoid, whilst the de Havilland Comet was grounded, between 1956 and 1958 the Tu-104 was the world's only operating jet airliner.

Tupolev Tu-104A Camel 002

Something from the research bench, the Turbolet, a VTOL proof of concept platform from the 1950s. Powered by a single RD-9BL turbojet from a MiG-19 mounted vertically and fitted with four directional thrusters fitted for manoeuvring. The hapless pilot sat in what was a cab lifted from a construction crane (!). It's larger than it looks. There's a short clip on youtube of it being demonstrated - the pilot looks cool and collected and flies it with ease. Still, eek. The balloon gondola next to it is somewhat significant as in 1933, the CCCP-1 ascended to an altitude of 19 kilometres.

Turbolyot
 
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