Creation of jet aircraft. The first Soviet jet fighters. photo. Future prototypes and developments

On the morning of March 27, 1943, the first Soviet jet fighter "BI-1" took off from the Koltsovo Air Force Research Institute airfield in Sverdlovsk region. The seventh test flight to achieve maximum speed took place. Having reached a two-kilometer altitude and picked up a speed of about 800 km/h, the plane suddenly went into a dive at 78 seconds after running out of fuel and collided with the ground. 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 Soviet aircraft and rocketry...

Joining the Jet Club

“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. Tsiolkovsky began to receive real embodiment already in the mid-1930s of the twentieth century.

By this point, 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 advanced aerodynamic shape is practically impossible. The aircraft had to be equipped with engines whose power could not be increased without excessively increasing the engine's mass. Thus, to increase the flight speed of a fighter 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 had to be replaced by a jet engine, which, having smaller transverse dimensions, would allow reaching higher speeds, giving greater thrust per unit of weight.

Jet engines are divided into two main classes: air-breathing engines, which use the energy of oxidation of flammable air with oxygen taken from the atmosphere, and rocket engines, which contain all the components of the working fluid on board and are capable of operating in any environment, including airless ones. The first type includes turbojet (TRJ), pulsating air-breathing jet (PJRE) and ramjet (ramjet) engines, and the second type includes liquid rocket engines (LPRE) and solid propellant rocket engines (STRE).

The first examples of jet technology appeared in countries where traditions in the development of science and technology and the level of the aviation industry were extremely high. These are, first of all, Germany, the USA, as well as England and Italy. In 1930, the design 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, practical work on “jet” topics was carried out mainly in the direction of liquid rocket engines. The founder of rocket engine building in the USSR was V.P. Glushko. 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 fuel rockets, he created the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine ORM-1. And in Moscow in 1931-1933. scientist and designer of the Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRP) F.L. Tsander developed the OR-1 and OR-2 liquid propellant engines.

A new powerful impetus for 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 Council of People’s Commissars resolution “On the development of steam turbine and jet engines, as well as jet-powered aircraft...”. The work that began after this at the Kharkov Aviation Institute made it possible 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-propellant rocket in the USSR GIRD-09, which reached an altitude of 400 m.

But the lack of more tangible results prompted Tukhachevsky in September 1933 to unite the GDL and GIRD into a single Jet Research Institute (RNII), headed by Leningrader, military engineer 1st rank I. T. Kleimenov. The future Chief designer space program, Muscovite S.P. Korolev, who two years later in 1935 was appointed head of the rocket aircraft department. 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, together with Glushko, managed to calculate the most advantageous design schemes of the devices, types of engines and control systems, types of fuel and materials. As a result, by 1938, his department had developed an experimental guided missile system, including designs for liquid-propelled cruise missiles “212” and long-range ballistic missiles “204” with gyroscopic control, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets, and anti-aircraft solid-fuel missiles with guidance by light and radio beam.

In an effort to gain support from 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 a protected object.

But the wave of mass repressions that unfolded in the army after Tukhachevsky’s arrest also reached the RNII. A counter-revolutionary Trotskyist organization was “discovered” there, and its “participants” I. T. Kleimenov, G. E. Langemak were shot, and Glushko and Korolev were sentenced to 8 years in the camps.

These events slowed down the development of jet technology in the USSR and allowed European designers to get ahead. On June 30, 1939, German pilot Erich Warsitz took into the air the world's first jet aircraft with a liquid-propellant 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. A year later, in August 1940, the Italian Caproni-Campini N1 took off, and in May 1941, the British Gloucester Pioneer E.28/29 made its first flight with the Whittle W-1 turbojet designed by Frank Whittle.

Thus, Nazi Germany became the leader in the jet race, which, in addition to aviation programs, began to implement a missile program under the leadership of Wernher von Braun at the secret training ground in Peenemünde...

But still, although mass repressions in the USSR caused significant damage, they could not stop all the work on such an obvious reactive theme that Korolev began. 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 ORM-65 rocket engine of the “enemy of the people” V. P. Glushko with the nitric 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, towed behind the R 5 aircraft. Test pilot? V. P. Fedorov at an altitude of 2800 m unhooked the towing cable and started the rocket engine. Behind the rocket plane a small cloud appeared from the incendiary squib, then brown smoke, then a fiery stream about a meter long. “RP-318-1”, having reached a maximum speed of only 165 km/h, began flying with a climb.

This modest achievement nevertheless allowed the USSR to join the pre-war “jet club” of the leading aviation powers...

"Close Fighter"

The successes of 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 ultra-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 an interceptor fighter to cover particularly important objects, the project of which, in the spring of 1941, began to be worked on by young engineers A. Ya. Bereznyak and A. M. Isaev from the Design Bureau of designer V.F. Bolkhovitinov. The concept of their Dushkin-powered missile interceptor or “short-range fighter” was based on Korolev’s proposal put forward back in 1938.

The “close fighter”, when an enemy aircraft appeared, had to quickly take off and, having a high rate of climb and speed, catch up with and destroy the enemy in the first attack, then, after running out of fuel, using the reserve altitude and speed, plan for landing.

The project was distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity and low cost - the entire structure was to be made of solid wood from plywood. The engine frame, pilot protection and landing gear were made of metal, which were retracted under the influence of compressed air.

With the start of the war, Bolkhovitinov attracted the entire design bureau to work on the aircraft. In July 1941, a preliminary 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 Moscow air defense units. According to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, 35 days were allotted for the production of the aircraft.

The aircraft, called “BI” (short-range fighter or, as journalists later interpreted it, “Bereznyak-Isaev”), was built almost without detailed working drawings, drawing life-size parts on plywood. The fuselage skin was glued onto a blank of veneer, then attached to the frame. The keel was made integral with the fuselage, as was the thin wooden wing of the caisson structure, and covered with canvas. Even the carriage for two 20-mm ShVAK cannons with 90 rounds of ammunition was made of wood. The D-1 A-1100 liquid-propellant rocket engine 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 engine operation for almost 2 minutes. The estimated take-off weight of the BI aircraft was 1650 kg with an empty weight of 805 kg.

In order to reduce the time needed to create an interceptor, at the request of A. S. Yakovlev, Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry for Experimental Aircraft Construction, the airframe of the "BI" aircraft was examined in a full-scale wind tunnel at TsAGI, and at the airfield, test pilot B. N. Kudrin began jogging and approaching in tow . The development of the power plant required a fair amount of tinkering, 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 village of Belimbay in October 1941. There, in order to debug the operation of the liquid-propellant rocket engine systems, a ground stand was installed - a “BI” fuselage with a combustion chamber, tanks and pipelines. By the spring of 1942, the ground testing program was completed. Soon, Glushko, who was released from prison, became acquainted with the design of the aircraft and the test bench.

Flight testing of the unique fighter was entrusted to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, who made 65 combat missions at the front and shot down 5 German aircraft. He previously mastered the control of systems at the stand.

The morning of May 15, 1942 forever went down in the history of Russian cosmonautics and aviation, with the takeoff from the ground of the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid jet engine. The flight, which lasted 3 minutes 9 seconds at a speed of 400 km/h and with a rate of climb of 23 m/s, made a strong impression on everyone present. This is how Bolkhovitinov recalled it in 1962: “For us who stood on the ground, this takeoff was unusual. Picking up speed unusually quickly, the plane took off from the ground after 10 seconds and disappeared from view after 30 seconds. Only the flame of the engine told where he was. Several minutes passed like this. I won’t lie, my guts were shaking.”

Members of the state commission noted in an official act that “the takeoff and flight of the BI-1 aircraft with a rocket engine, used for the first time as the main engine of an aircraft, proved the possibility of practical flight on a new principle, which opens up a new direction for the development of aviation.” The test pilot noted that the flight on the BI aircraft was extremely pleasant in comparison with conventional types of aircraft, and the aircraft was superior to other fighters in terms of ease of control.

A day after the tests, a ceremonial meeting and rally was organized in Bilimbay. A poster hung above the presidium table: “Hello to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, the pilot who flew into the new!”

Soon followed by the decision of the State Defense Committee to build a series of 20 BI-VS aircraft, where, in addition to two cannons, a cluster bomb was installed in front of the pilot’s cockpit, which housed ten small anti-aircraft bombs weighing 2.5 kg each.

In total, the BI fighter made 7 test flights, each of which recorded the best flight performance of the aircraft. The flights took place without incidents, with only minor damage to the landing gear occurring 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 that investigated the circumstances of the crash and the death of test pilot Bakhchivandzhi was unable to establish the reasons for the plane being pulled into a dive, noting that the phenomena that occur at flight speeds of about 800-1000 km/h have not yet been studied.

The disaster hit hard the reputation of the Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau - all unfinished BI-VS interceptors were destroyed. And although later in 1943-1944. a modification of the “BI-7” with ramjet engines at the ends of the wing was designed, and in January 1945, pilot B.N. Kudrin completed the last two flights on the “BI-1”, all work on the aircraft was stopped.

And yet the rocket engine

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 “Project X” - “ object" interceptor "Me-163" "Komet" with a liquid-propellant rocket engine running on a mixture of hydrazine, methanol and water. It was an aircraft of an unconventional “tailless” design, which, for the sake of maximum weight reduction, took off from a special trolley and landed on a ski extended from the fuselage. Test pilot Ditmar performed the first flight at maximum thrust in August 1941, and already in October it exceeded the 1000 km/h mark for the first time in history. It took more than two years of testing and development before the Me-163 was put into production. It became the first aircraft with a liquid-propellant rocket engine to participate in combat since May 1944. And although more than 300 interceptors were produced before February 1945, no more than 80 combat-ready aircraft were in service.

The combat use of 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 provide the opportunity for a second attack. After running out of fuel during gliding, 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, losing 14 aircraft. However, losses from accidents and disasters were three times higher than combat losses. The unreliability and short range of the Me-163 contributed to the fact that the Luftwaffe leadership launched other jet fighters, the Me-262 and He-162, into mass production.

The leadership of the Soviet aviation industry in 1941-1943. was focused on the gross production of the maximum number of combat aircraft and improving production models and was not interested in developing promising work on jet technology. Thus, the BI-1 disaster put an end to other Soviet missile interceptor projects: Andrei Kostikov’s “302”, Roberto Bartini’s “R-114” and Korolev’s “RP”. The distrust that Stalin’s deputy in charge of experimental aircraft construction, Yakovlev, felt towards jet technology played a role here, considering it a matter of the very distant future.

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. Moreover, all developments in this regard were now concentrated in the newly organized Jet Aviation Research Institute, of which Bolkhovitinov was appointed deputy head. This institute brought together groups of jet engine designers who had previously worked at various enterprises, 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 outlining a broad program for the construction of jet aircraft. aviation technology. This document provided for the creation of modifications of the Yak-3, La-7 and Su-6 with an accelerating liquid-propellant engine, the construction of “purely rocket” aircraft in the Yakovlev and Polikarpov Design Bureaus, an experimental Lavochkin aircraft with a turbojet engine, as well as fighters with air-breathing motor-compressor engines in the Mikoyan Design Bureau and Sukhoi. For this purpose, the Sukhoi design bureau created the Su-7 fighter, in which the liquid-propellant RD-1, developed by Glushko, worked together with a piston engine.

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 frequent failure of the jet engine. A similar situation arose in the design bureaus of Lavochkin and Yakovlev. On one of the experimental 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 and the pilot died. The increasing frequency of accidents led to the fact that testing of aircraft with the RD-1 was stopped.

Korolev, who was released from prison, also contributed to this work. In 1945, for his participation in the development and testing of rocket launchers for the Pe-2 and La-5 VI combat aircraft, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.

One of the most interesting projects of rocket-powered interceptors was the project of the supersonic (!!!) fighter “RM-1” or “SAM-29”, developed at the end of 1944 by the undeservedly forgotten aircraft designer A. S. Moskalev. The aircraft was carried out according to the “flying wing” design triangular shape with oval leading edges, and during its development the pre-war experience of creating the Sigma and Strela aircraft was used. The RM-1 project was supposed to have the following characteristics: crew - 1 person, power plant - RD2 MZV with a thrust of 1590 kgf, wingspan - 8.1 m and its area - 28.0 m2, take-off weight - 1600 kg , maximum speed— 2200 km/h (and this was in 1945!). TsAGI believed that the construction and flight testing of the RM-1 was one of the most promising areas in the future development of Soviet aviation.

In November 1945, the order for the construction of “RM-1” was signed by Minister A.I. Shakhurin, but... in January 1946, the notorious “aviation case” was launched, and Shakhurin was convicted, and the order for the construction of “RM-1” 1" was canceled by Yakovlev...

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 our 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, designated I-270 (“Zh”), was soon built, but its further tests did not show the advantage of a missile fighter over an aircraft with a turbojet engine, and work on this topic was closed. In the future, liquid jet engines in aviation began to be used only on prototypes and experimental aircraft or as aircraft boosters.

They were the first

“...It’s scary to remember how little I knew and understood then. Today they say: “discoverers”, “pioneers”. And we walked in the dark and stuffed huge cones. No special literature, no methodology, no established experiment. The Stone Age of Jet Aviation. We were both complete mugs!..” - this is how Alexey 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 engines. But having taken their first steps in aviation, liquid-propellant rocket engines firmly took their place in rocket science.

In the USSR during the war years, a breakthrough in this regard was the creation of the BI-1 fighter, and here a special merit goes to Bolkhovitinov, who took under his wing and managed to attract to work such future luminaries of Soviet rocketry and cosmonautics as: Vasily Mishin, first deputy chief designer Korolev, Nikolai Pilyugin, Boris Chertok - chief designers of control systems for many combat missiles and launch vehicles, Konstantin Bushuev - head of the Soyuz - Apollo project, Alexander Bereznyak - designer of cruise missiles, Alexey Isaev - developer of liquid propellant engines for submarine and space rockets devices, Arkhip Lyulka is the author and first developer of domestic turbojet engines...

The mystery of Bakhchivandzhi’s death has also been solved. In 1943, the T-106 high-speed wind tunnel was put into operation at TsAGI. It immediately began to conduct extensive research on aircraft models and their elements at high subsonic speeds. The BI aircraft model was also tested to identify the causes of the disaster. Based on 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 the aircraft being pulled into a dive, which the pilot could not overcome. The BI-1 crash 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 about him this way:

“... Without the flights of Grigory Bakhchivandzhi, April 12, 1961 might not have happened.” 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 truly united by the main thing - they were the first.

Evgeniy Muzrukov

Nowadays, there is hardly a single person left who does not know about jet aircraft and has not flown on them. But few people know what a difficult path engineers from all over the world had to go through to achieve such results. There are even fewer who know exactly what modern jet aircraft are and how they work. Jet aircraft are advanced, powerful passenger or military vessels powered by an air-breathing engine. Main feature jet plane– this is its incredible speed, which makes the propulsion mechanism stand out from the outdated screw one.

On English the word "reactive" sounds like "jet". Having heard it, thoughts immediately appear associated with some kind of reaction, and this is not fuel oxidation at all, because such a movement system is acceptable for cars with carburetors. As for airliners and military aircraft, the principle of their operation is somewhat reminiscent of a rocket taking off: the physical body reacts to the powerful jet of gas emitted, as a result of which it moves in the opposite direction. This is the basic operating principle of jet aircraft. Also, an important role in the performance of the mechanism that sets such a large machine in motion is played by the aerodynamic properties, wing profile, type of engine (pulsating, direct-flow, liquid, etc.), and design.

The first attempts to create a jet aircraft

The search for a more powerful and high-speed engine for the military, and in the future civilian aircraft began back in 1910. The basis was taken from rocket research of past centuries, which described in detail the use of powder accelerators that can significantly reduce the length of the afterburner and take-off run. The chief designer was the Romanian engineer Henri Coanda, who created an aircraft powered by a piston engine.

What made the first jet aircraft of 1910 different from the standard models of the time? The main difference was the presence of a bladed compressor, which is responsible for setting the aircraft in motion. The Coanda airplane was the first, but very unsuccessful attempt to create an aircraft with a jet engine. During further tests, the device burned out, which confirmed the inoperability of the design.

Subsequent studies revealed possible reasons for the failure:

1. Poor engine placement. Due to the fact that it was located in the front part of the structure, the danger to the life of the pilot was very great, since the exhaust gases simply would not allow a person to breathe normally and would cause suffocation;
2. The emitted flame fell directly on the tail of the airplane, which could lead to a fire in this area, a fire and the crash of the aircraft.

Despite the complete fiasco, Henri Coanda claimed that it was he who had the first successful ideas regarding a jet engine for aircraft. In fact, the first successful models were created immediately before the start of the Second World War, in the 30-40s of the 20th century. Having worked on the mistakes, engineers from Germany, the USA, England, and the USSR created aircraft that did not threaten the life of the pilot, and the structure itself was made of heat-resistant steel, thanks to which the body was reliably protected from any damage.

Additional informative information. An engineer from England can rightfully be called the discoverer of the jet engine.–Frank Whittle, who proposed the first ideas and received his patent on them in the end XIX century.

The beginning of the creation of aircraft in the USSR

People first started talking about the development of a jet engine in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The theory of creating powerful airplanes capable of reaching supersonic speed was put forward by the famous Russian scientist K.E. Tsiolkovsky. The talented designer A.M. Lyulka managed to bring this idea to life. It was he who designed the first Soviet jet aircraft powered by a turbojet engine.

The engineer said that this design could reach a speed unprecedented for those times, up to 900 km/h. Despite the fantastic nature of the proposal and the inexperience of the young designer, USSR engineers took on the project. The first airplane was almost ready, but in 1941 hostilities began, the entire team of designers, including Arkhip Mikhailovich, were forced to begin work on tank engines. The bureau itself, with all its aviation developments, was taken deep into the USSR.

Fortunately, A.M. Lyulka was not the only engineer who dreamed of creating an aircraft with a jet aircraft engine. New ideas about creating a fighter-interceptor, the flight of which would be ensured by a liquid engine, were proposed by designers A.Ya. Bereznyak and A.M. Isaev, working in the Bolkhovitinov engineering bureau. The project was approved, so the developers soon began working on the creation of the BI-1 fighter, which, despite the war, was built. The first tests of the rocket fighter began on May 15, 1942, with the brave and courageous test pilot E.Ya. Bakhchivandzhi at its helm. The tests were a success, but continued throughout the next year. Having demonstrated a maximum speed of 800 km/h, the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed. This happened at the end of 1943. The pilot did not survive, and the tests were stopped. At this time, the countries of the Third Reich were actively engaged in developments and launched more than one air-breathing aircraft into the air, so the USSR was losing greatly on the air front and was completely unprepared.

Germany – the country of the first jet vehicles

The first jet aircraft were developed by German engineers. The creation of designs and production were carried out secretly in disguised factories located deep in the forest, so this discovery came as something of a surprise to the world. Hitler dreamed of becoming a world ruler, so he recruited the best designers in Germany to create powerful weapons, including high-speed jet aircraft. There were, of course, both failures and successful projects.

The most successful of them was the first German jet aircraft, the Messer-schmitt Me-262 (Messerschmitt-262), which was also called the Sturmvogel.

This aircraft became the first in the world to successfully pass all tests, take off freely and then begin mass production. The great “destroyer of the enemies of the Third Reich” "had the following features:

• The device had two turbojet engines;
• There was a radar located in the nose of the airliner;
• The maximum speed of the aircraft reached 900 km/h, while the instructions indicated that it was extremely undesirable to bring ships to such speeds, as control over the controls was lost and the aircraft began to make steep dives in the air.

Thanks to all these indicators and design features, the first jet aircraft, the Messerschmitt-262, was an effective means of fighting against Allied aircraft, the high-altitude B-17s, nicknamed “flying fortresses.” The Sturmofogels were faster, so they conducted a “free hunt” for USSR aircraft that were equipped with piston engines.

Interesting fact. Adolf Hitler was so fanatical in his desire for world domination that he reduced the efficiency of the Messer-schmitt Me-262 aircraft with his own hands. The fact is that the design was originally designed as a fighter, but on the instructions of the ruler of Germany, it was converted into a bomber, because of this the engine power was not fully exploited.

This course of action did not suit the Soviet authorities at all, so they began to work on creating new aircraft models that could compete with German aircraft. The most talented engineers A.I. Mikoyan and P.O. Sukhoi got to work. The main idea was to add an additional piston engine by K.V. Kholshchevnikov, which would give the fighter acceleration at the right time. The engine was not too powerful, so it worked for no more than 5 minutes, because of this, its function was acceleration, and not constant operation throughout the flight.

New creations of Russian aircraft manufacturing could not help resolve the war. Despite this, the super-powerful German Me-262 aircraft did not help Hitler turn the course of military events in his favor. Soviet pilots demonstrated their skill and victory over the enemy even with conventional piston ships. In the post-war period, Russian designers created the following USSR jet aircraft , which later became the prototypes of modern airliners:

• The I-250, better known as the legendary MiG-13, is a fighter aircraft that A.I. Mikoyan worked on. The first flight was made in March 1945, at that time the car showed a record speed of 820 km/h;

• A little later, namely in April 1945, for the first time a jet aircraft took to the skies, rising and maintaining flight due to an air-breathing motor-compressor and piston engine, which was located in the rear part of the structure, P.O. Sukhoi “Su-5”. The speed indicators were no lower than those of its predecessor and exceeded 800 km/h;
• An innovation in engineering and aircraft construction in 1945 was the RD-1 liquid-jet engine. It was first used in the Su-7 aircraft model designed by P.O. Sukhoi, which was also equipped with a piston engine that performed the main pushing and driving function. G. Komarov became the tester of the new aircraft. During the first test, it was possible to note that the additional motor increased the average speed by 115 km/h - this was a great achievement. Despite the good result, the RD-1 engine became a real problem for Soviet aircraft manufacturers. Similar aircraft equipped with this model of liquid-jet engine - "Yak-3" and "La-7R", on which engineers S.A. Lavochkin and A.S. Yakovlev worked, crashed during testing due to constant leakage. motor failure;
• After the end of the war and the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union received German aircraft with jet engines “JUMO-004” and “BMW-003” as trophies. Then the designers realized that they were indeed several steps behind. Among engineers, the engines were called “RD-10” and “RD-20”; on their basis, the first aviation jet engines were created, on which A.M. Lyulka, A.A. Mikulin, V.Ya. Klimov worked. At the same time, P.O. Sukhoi was developing a powerful twin-engine aircraft, equipped with two RD-10 type engines located directly under the wings of the aircraft. The jet fighter-interceptor was named "SU-9". The disadvantage of this arrangement of motors can be considered strong drag during flight. The advantages are excellent access to the engines, thanks to which you could easily get to the mechanism and repair the breakdown. The design feature of this aircraft model was the presence of starting powder accelerators for takeoff, braking parachutes for landing, guided air-to-air missiles and a booster amplifier, which facilitates the control process and increases the maneuverability of the device. The first flight of the Su-9 was carried out in November 1946, but the matter never reached serial production;

• In April 1946, an air parade took place in the city of Tushino. It presented new aircraft from the aviation design bureaus of Mikoyan and Yakovlev. The MiG-9 and Yak-15 jet aircraft were immediately put into production.

In fact, Sukhoi “lost” to his competitors. Although, it’s hard to call it a loss, because his fighter model was recognized, and during this time he was able to practically complete work on a new, more modern project - the SU-11, which became a real legend in the history of aircraft construction and the prototype of powerful airliners of our time.

Interesting f act. In fact, the SU-9 jet plane was hard name a simple fighter. TO The designers nicknamed it “heavy” among themselves, because the aircraft’s cannon and bomb armament was at a fairly high level. It is generally accepted that the SU-9 was the prototype of modern fighter-bombers. Over the entire period, approximately 1,100 units of equipment were manufactured, but they were not exported. More than once the legendary Sukhoi Ninth was used to intercept reconnaissance aircraft in the air ny aircraft. IN the first time this happened was in 1960, when airplanes burst into the airspace of the USSR " LockheedU -2".

First world prototypes

Not only Germans and Soviet designers were involved in the development, testing of new airliners and their production. Engineers from the USA, Italy, Japan, and Great Britain also created many successful projects that cannot be ignored. The first developments with various types of engines include:

• “He-178” is a German aircraft with a turbojet power plant, which took off in August 1939;
• "GlosterE. 28/39” - an aircraft originally from Great Britain with a turbojet engine, which first took to the skies in 1941;
• "He-176" - a fighter created in Germany using a rocket engine, made its first flight in July 1939;
• "BI-2" is the first Soviet aircraft that was propelled by a rocket power plant;
• “CampiniN.1” is a jet aircraft created in Italy, which became the first attempt by Italian designers to move away from the piston analogue. But something went wrong in the mechanism, so the liner could not boast high speed(only 375 km/h). The launch took place in August 1940;
• “Oka” with a Tsu-11 engine is a Japanese fighter-bomb, a so-called disposable aircraft with a kamikaze pilot on board;
• BellP-59 is an American airliner with two rocket-type jet engines. Production went into series production after the first flight in 1942 and extensive testing;

• GlosterMeteor is an air-jet fighter manufactured in Great Britain in 1943; played a significant role during the Second World War, and after its end it served as an interceptor of German V-1 cruise missiles;
• "LockheedF-80" is a jet aircraft manufactured in the USA using an AllisonJ engine. These aircraft more than once participated in the Japanese-Korean War;
• "B-45 Tornado" - a prototype of modern American B-52 bombers, created in 1947;
• "MiG-15" - a successor to the recognized jet fighter "MiG-9", which actively participated in the Korean military conflict, was produced in December 1947;
• Tu-144 is the first Soviet supersonic air-jet passenger aircraft, which became famous for a series of accidents and was discontinued. A total of 16 copies were produced.

This list can be continued endlessly; airliners are improving every year, as designers from all over the world are working to create a new generation of aircraft capable of flying at the speed of sound.

Some interesting facts

Now there are liners that can accommodate a large number of passengers and cargo, have enormous dimensions and an unimaginable speed of over 3000 km/h, equipped with modern combat equipment. But there are some truly amazing designs; Record-breaking jet aircraft include:

1. Airbus A380 is the most spacious aircraft, capable of accommodating 853 passengers, which is ensured by its double-deck design. It is also one of the most luxurious and expensive airliners of our time. Emirates Airline offers numerous amenities to its customers, including a Turkish bath, VIP apartments and cabins, bedrooms, bars and an elevator. But not all devices have such options; it all depends on the airline.

1. Boeing 747 - for more than 35 years it was considered the most passenger-capacity double-decker airliner and could accommodate 524 passengers;
2. AN-225 Mriya is a cargo aircraft that boasts a payload capacity of 250 tons;
3. "LockheedSR-71" is a jet aircraft that reaches a speed of 3529 km/h during flight.

Video

Thanks to modern innovative developments, passengers can get from one point of the world to another in just a few hours, fragile cargo that requires prompt transportation is quickly delivered, and reliable military base. Aviation research does not stand still, because jet aircraft are the basis of rapidly developing modern aviation. Currently, several Western and Russian manned, passenger, and unmanned airliners with jet engines are being designed, the release of which is planned for the next few years. Russian innovative developments of the future include the 5th generation fighter PAK FA “T-50”, the first copies of which will presumably enter service at the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018 after testing a new jet engine.

In our era, it is hardly possible to surprise anyone with technological innovations. Moreover, now that the development of technology has gained momentum at a speed that was simply not dreamed of in past eras. The same goes for airplanes. Now with turbojet engines it’s a common thing. And once upon a time people could not even dream of such a thing.

The world's first passenger jet aircraft appeared only in the middle of the last century, when the development of aviation continued actively. Of course, in connection with the Second World War, special attention was paid primarily to the military, so after its end, engineers and inventors turned their attention to passenger airliners.

First, let's define what kind of aircraft this is? This is an airplane whose engine is a jet.

The principle of its operation is to use a mixture of air taken from the atmosphere and products of fuel oxidation with oxygen that are in the air. Thanks to the oxidation reaction, the working fluid heats up and, expanding, is thrown out of the engine very quickly, producing jet thrust.

First models

Aircraft that later became prototypes for passenger airliners, were developed then in Germany, or rather in the Third Reich, and in Great Britain. The pioneers in this area are the Germans.

Heinkel He 178- Considered to be the first jet-powered aircraft. It was first tested on August 27, 1939. The aircraft showed quite encouraging results, but the higher-ups, represented by the Reich Ministry of Aviation, considered that this technology was not interesting. And the main direction then was precisely military aviation equipment.

The British also kept up with the Germans. And in 1941 the world saw the Gloster E.28/39. The engine designer was Frank Whittle.

Gloster E.28/39.

It was these prototypes that showed everyone which way aviation would go in the future.

The first jet passenger aircraft

The first jet aircraft for passengers was created by the British. “Comet-1”. He was tested July 27, 1949. It had 4 turbojet engines, and the interior was designed for 32 passengers. In addition, it was installed 2 hydrogen peroxide accelerators. It was used on routes to Europe and Africa. For example, Johannesburg with stops along the way. The entire flight time was 23.5 hours.

Later “Kometa-2” and “Kometa-3” were developed, but they did not live up to expectations and were discontinued due to metal fatigue and insufficient fuselage strength. Yet some modifications are still used to design RAF fighter aircraft.

Six years later, the USSR introduced the TU-104. The first Soviet jet passenger aircraft. For the first time he took to the air June 15, 1955. A.N. Tupolev took as the basis for his project bomber with TU-16 jet engines. He simply enlarged the fuselage, lowered the wing under it, and placed it in the cabin 100 seats for passengers. Since 1956 it was put into mass production.

For the next two years it was the world's only jet aircraft, which was used to transport civilians. He had 2 turbojet engines. Its maximum the speed reached 950 km/h, and it could fly up to 2700 km.

It also introduced the following new products for the USSR, like on-board meals, beautifully dressed flight attendants and smart pilots.

Nevertheless, Over the 4 years of its operation, 37 accidents involving this aircraft occurred. This is the highest number of accidents among all Russian aircraft. It is not surprising that N.S. Khrushchev refused to even approach him. Despite the fact that it was discontinued, it was still used until 1979 for flights.

In 1958 went on passenger lines. It could take on board from 90 to 180 passengers. On different models engines of various power were installed. The aircraft was intended for medium and long-distance routes. However, there were much more accidents with it than with the TU-104.

SE.210 Caravelle 1.

A breakthrough in world aviation was the creation of the French SE.210 Caravelle 1. He started flying in 1959, mainly in the French colonies in Africa. He also had 2 turbojet engines, but from Rolls-Royce, in the tail of the plane. This helped to achieve improved aerodynamics, minimized noise in the cabin, and increased the reliability of the air intakes.

And the ramp was also made in a different way than other aircraft of that time - in the form of a lowering part of the fuselage. There were also innovations in the salon: The portholes became larger and the passage was widened. It was used on medium-range routes only.

A total of 12 aircraft of this type were produced, but still it could not withstand the competition with Boeing, and further production was stopped.

In June 1955, an experimental aircraft “104” developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau took off from the airfield in Zhukovsky near Moscow. Factory testing of the machine began, which by the fall of the same year would turn into the Tu-104 jet airliner - the third in the world, the second put into operation and the first in the USSR.

The very topic of the “104th” moved forward only after Stalin’s death, although proposals to create a jet passenger fleet were repeatedly put forward during his time. But the leader, with his characteristic economy and penchant for repeated reinsurance, inexorably “cut down” such ideas. The country had just overcome the post-war devastation and could not afford significant “non-core” expenses, and the reactive passenger aviation in the early 50s, it was still not a problem of prime necessity for the Soviet national economy.

There is a common joke among railway students: “Soviet carriages are not designed to carry passengers, they are adapted for it.” When creating the first Soviet jet airliner, the Tupolev Design Bureau used a similar principle, but seriously and competently. The successful Tu-16 bomber was taken as a basis (the “104” plane even at one time bore the designation Tu-16P - “passenger”) in order to gain resources and time during the overall development of the design.

Thus, the task of training flight technical personnel was also simplified, and savings were also made on ground maintenance and repair equipment.

As one of the arguments in favor of creating such an aircraft, A.N. Tupolev cited the possibility of flying at high altitude, “above the weather” - propeller-driven passenger aircraft, which had a small ceiling, suffered mercilessly from bumpiness. But it was there that the first jet airliner was guarded by a new, as yet unknown danger.

When it comes to a passenger aircraft, the first thing that seriously concerns potential passengers is reliability. Who in the USSR has not heard the black song: “Tu-104 is the fastest plane: it will take you to the grave in two minutes”? For all its offensiveness, it somehow reflected a harsh reality. The plane was made in a hurry. Accident rate new car exceeded reasonable - by today's standards - indicators. Over the entire history of operation, 37 vehicles suffered serious accidents - 18% of the total number produced. At the same time, it should be noted that the “104th” behaved much more decently in flight than its English competitor “Comet” from the De Havilland company (23% of lost vehicles), which had an unhealthy habit of falling apart in the air due to fatigue. loads in a carelessly designed fuselage.

The first Tu-104 aircraft flew in early November 1955. Thus, development took very little time. During this flight, there were problems: during the flight, the plane was unexpectedly thrown up, after which control of the machine was lost for some time. The pilots called this condition “catch.” The reason for this phenomenon could not be determined. Despite this, the operation of the aircraft continued, and testing did not stop.

Khrushchev liked the Tu-104 plane so much that he even decided to fly it to Great Britain in 1956. Since the problems with the plane could not be resolved, he was persuaded to abandon such a flight. But it was necessary to demonstrate to the world the successes of Soviet aircraft manufacturing. Therefore, by order of Khrushchev, the Tu-104 was driven to the British capital.

The arrival of the Soviet airliner, according to the British press, produced an effect comparable to the landing of a UFO. The next day, a second copy of the Tu-104, with a different number, arrived in London. A message appeared in British newspapers that it was the same plane, and the “Russian priests” were “repainting the numbers on their experimental plane.” "Russian priests" are Russian pilots dressed all in black. Chief designer A.N. Tupolev was offended and, firstly, ordered funds to be allocated for the pilots to dress in something fashionable and not black, and the next day - March 25, 1956 - to send three Tu-104s to London at once, which was done.

This was a triumph for the Soviet Union - after all, at that time no other country in the world had operating jet passenger airliners.

The Tu-104 made its first regular flight on September 15, 1956. And in 1958, a bad streak began.

As shown further development events, problems with “pickup” were not resolved. In August 1958, a Tu-104 plane lost control and crashed, killing 64 people. Designer Tupolev denied in every possible way that there were any problems, and the disaster, according to him, was the fault of the crew. There is a version that the plane simply did not have enough fuel. But after some time, the second Tu-104 crashed, going into a tailspin and crashing into the ground.

And two months later, exactly the same situation arose near Kanash.

On October 7, 1958, the new Tu-104A with tail number CCCP-42362, controlled by the crew of the most experienced pilot Harold Kuznetsov, flew the Beijing - Omsk - Moscow flight. The flight altitude was 12 kilometers. In the cabin there were mainly foreign citizens- a delegation of Chinese and North Korean Komsomol activists.

The weather in Moscow was bad, at the alternate airfield Gorky, too, and after flying over Kazan, the controller ordered to turn around and head to Sverdlovsk, which was suitable for landing. During a turn at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the plane most likely entered a zone of strong turbulence and a “pickup” occurred - a spontaneous increase in the pitch angle uncontrolled by the crew. Suddenly, the plane was thrown up sharply, and with such force that such a huge colossus flew up two kilometers, went up from the flight level, lost speed, fell onto the wing and went into a tailspin.

In the situation that arose, the crew did everything possible to save the plane. But the lack of elevator travel did not allow the vehicle to be brought out of death mode. Harold Kuznetsov, knowing that Birobidzhan history might be repeating itself, ordered the flight radio operator to broadcast his words to the ground.

Crew commander Harold Kuznetsov and co-pilot Anton Artemyev tried to level the plane, taking the helm all the way. But it didn't help. Then the plane went down sharply, not obeying the controls. Thus, the plane entered a steep uncontrolled dive. At supersonic speed, almost vertically, the plane rushed towards the ground.

Here the crew accomplished the almost impossible: commander Harold Kuznetsov, in two minutes of falling from a height of 13 kilometers, managed to transmit by radio the behavior of the vehicle. The connection worked almost until the moment of collision with the ground. The commander's last words were: “Farewell. We are dying."

The plane crashed in the Vurnar region of Chuvashia, a few tens of meters from the plane railway Moscow - Kazan - Sverdlovsk, near the village of Bulatovo. 65 passengers and 9 crew members were killed.

According to the results of the work of the state commission, the accident lasted no more than two minutes.

The information conveyed by Kuznetsov was of great value, since all previous incidents remained unsolved. None of the investigations conducted by specialists from the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet, the Air Force, the State Research Institute, as well as the Tupolev Design Bureau itself could shed light on what actually happened. Many assumptions have been made: technical malfunction, design defects, bad weather conditions, crew errors.

All the cones, of course, fell on the heads of the pilots, since in technical specifications no one doubted the aircraft. But the information transmitted by Kuznetsov dotted the i’s. From the information received, the commission concluded that the plane was caught in a huge updraft. None of the designers could even imagine that this was possible at an altitude of more than 9 kilometers, since simple piston engines could rise to a much lower height. Therefore, such a phenomenon as turbulence was considered a trifle. Until tragedy struck.

Kuznetsov's crew found themselves in the very center of a vertical air flow. Later, in the process of reproducing the flight, the designers were able to determine its parameters: the width of the air flow was about 2 kilometers, the length was about 13, and the thickness was about 6 kilometers. At the same time, its speed was approaching 300 kilometers per hour.

It was urgent to find a way to combat such a dangerous natural phenomenon. As a result, the maximum flight altitude was reduced, the design itself was modernized, and new techniques for centering the machines were developed, but the problem was still not completely solved. The high accident rate remained at the same level, but what was the reason - either design errors or unpreparedness of the pilots - was difficult to determine.

The information provided was enough to find and fix the problem. The rules for centering the aircraft were changed, the angle of installation of the stabilizer was changed and the elevator was modified. The maximum flight altitude was also reduced. The aircraft's tendency to get caught has been greatly reduced.

After that, the Tu-104 carried passengers for another three decades, and although there were some disasters (after all, about 200 aircraft were built and flown), their reasons were already different. Tu-104 became long time Aeroflot's main passenger aircraft: for example, in 1960, the Tu-104 carried a third of passenger air traffic in the USSR. Over 23 years of operation, the Tu-104 fleet has transported approximately 100 million passengers, spending 2,000,000 flight hours in the air and completing more than 600,000 flights.

Much of the credit for this goes to Harold Kuznetsov and his crew. Here are their names:

Kuznetsov Harold Dmitrievich - PIC instructor
Artemov Anton Filimonovich - PIC
Rogozin Igor Aleksandrovich - co-pilot
Mumrienko Evgeniy Andreevich - navigator
Veselov Ivan Vladimirovich - flight mechanic
Fedorov Alexander Sergeevich - flight radio operator
Smolenskaya Maya Filippovna - flight attendant-translator
Goryushina Tatyana Borisovna - flight attendant
Maklakova Albina - flight attendant

It is not surprising that the plane gained bad fame. In 1960, the Tu-104 airliner was discontinued, and its place was temporarily taken by the Il-18 turboprop airliners. And since a long runway was needed to accelerate the Tu-104, it was used on domestic flights infrequently.

There was a need to create new passenger aircraft. Tupolev decided not to retreat from the intended path. As a result, the first modification of the Tu-104 was created - the Tu-124, which also had a high accident rate. Therefore, another variant was created - the Tu-134. This aircraft was more successful, therefore, since the start of operation in 1967, it is still flying on domestic airlines. It was only in 1972 that the first Tu-154 jet airliner appeared, which was not converted from a military vehicle, but was originally designed as a passenger aircraft. This is one of the favorite aircraft of domestic experienced pilots.

Aeroflot removed the last Tu-104s from regular airlines only in 1979. But by that time the aircraft had firmly taken root in military aviation - it was used for training pilots of naval missile carriers, as a flying laboratory, for meteorological research and as a staff aircraft. The 104's flights were finally stopped only at the beginning of 1981, after an overloaded aircraft belonging to the USSR Navy crashed at a military airfield near Leningrad. The command staff was almost completely killed on it Pacific Fleet- 52 people, of which 17 were admirals and generals, including the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Emil Spiridonov, who owned the ill-fated vehicle.

Such a bitter experience forced domestic designers to think of new aerodynamic shapes that could withstand air flows.

Officially, the last flight of the Tu-104 took place in November 1986. But some people claim that at the very end of the 80s they saw “104s” on the aprons of regional airports and even in flight. The son of a warrior and the grandfather of Soviet jet airliners did not want to retire, remaining a kind of kind ghost in the impoverished but comfortably lived-in castle of the Russian civil aviation.

Near Moscow, on the Kiev highway, at the turn to Vnukovo airport, a Tu-104B was met, standing on a high pedestal. As it turned out, this plane was installed in 2006; before it, there was another Tu-104B at Vnukovo, which, by someone’s stupid order, was cut down in 2005. The aircraft's tail number is not real; the number USSR-L5412 was worn by the first Tu-104 that performed its first flight with passengers.

The MiG-9 is a Soviet jet fighter developed immediately after the end of the war. It became the first jet fighter made in the USSR. The MiG-9 fighter was mass-produced from 1946 to 1948, during which time more than six hundred combat vehicles were produced.

Aviation history scholars often refer to the MiG-9 and other Soviet combat vehicles (Yak-15 and Yak-17) created during this period as a “transitional type of fighter.” These aircraft were equipped with a jet power plant, but at the same time they had an airframe similar to piston engines.

MiG-9 fighters were not in service with the Russian Air Force for long: they were taken out of service in the early 50s. In 1950-1951, almost four hundred fighters were transferred to the Chinese Air Force. The Chinese used them mainly as training aircraft: pilots learned to operate jet aircraft on them.

The MiG-9 cannot be called a very successful machine: from the moment testing began, it was plagued by disasters, and the designers continually had to correct defects that appeared during operation. However, we should not forget that the MiG-9 was the first jet fighter; it was created and transferred to the troops in an extremely short time. At the time work began on the creation of this machine, the USSR did not even have an engine that could develop the thrust necessary for jet flight.

The “problematic” MiG-9 was soon replaced by the MiG-15, which both our and foreign experts call one of the best fighters of this period. The designers were able to achieve such success only thanks to the experience gained during the creation of the MiG-9.

Appearance in the Soviet Union large quantity jet fighters caused surprise in the West. Many there did not believe that a country devastated by war as soon as possible will be able to establish mass production of the latest aircraft technology at that time. The appearance of the MiG-9 and other Soviet jet aircraft had serious political significance. Although, of course, in the West they had no idea about the difficulties and problems that Soviet aviation designers and pilots had to face, as well as about what it cost the destroyed country to create new types of weapons.

The history of the creation of the first jet aircraft of the USSR

Already at the end of World War II, it became clear that the future of aviation belonged to jet aircraft. In the Soviet Union, work began in this direction; it went much faster after becoming familiar with captured German developments. At the end of the war, the USSR was able to acquire not only intact German aircraft and jet engines, but also seize the German factories where they were produced.

The task to create a jet fighter was simultaneously received by four leading aviation design bureaus of the country: Mikoyan, Lavochkin, Yakovlev and Sukhoi. The main problem was that at that time the USSR did not have its own jet aircraft engine, it had yet to be created.

Meanwhile, time was running out: potential opponents - the USA, England and Germany - already had established serial production of jet aircraft and were actively exploiting this technology.

The first Soviet jet fighters used captured German BMW-003A and YuMO-004 engines.

The Mikoyan Design Bureau worked on the creation of two fighters, which at the project stage were designated I-260 and I-300. It was planned to use the BMW-003A engine on both cars. Work on the aircraft began in February 1945.

The I-260 copied the German Me.262 fighter; two jet engines were located under the wings of the aircraft. The I-300 had a layout with a power plant inside the fuselage.

Purges in the wind tunnel showed that the layout with engines inside the fuselage is more advantageous. Therefore, it was decided to abandon further work on the I-260 prototype and complete the I-300, which later became the first production Soviet jet fighter under the designation MiG-9.

Three experimental vehicles were built for testing: F-1, F-2 and F-3. The F-1 aircraft was ready by December 1945, but the development of the aircraft took until March of the following year, and only then did testing begin. On April 24, 1946, the fighter took off for the first time; the first flight went well.

Already the initial stage of testing clearly showed the enormous superiority of jet aircraft over piston aircraft: the MiG-9 was able to accelerate to a speed of 920 km/h, reach a ceiling of 13 km and gain an altitude of 5 thousand meters in 4.5 minutes. It should be said that initially they planned to arm the aircraft with a 57-mm N-57 automatic cannon, installing it in the partition between the air intakes and two 37-mm NS-23 cannons located in the lower part of the fuselage. However, later they decided to abandon the 57-mm cannon, considering its power excessive.

On July 11, 1946, a tragedy occurred: during the flight, a fragment that came off the wing damaged the stabilizer, causing the aircraft to lose control and crash into the ground. The pilot died.

The second experimental F-2 aircraft was demonstrated to the public during the air parade in Tushino. In August, the Kuibyshev plant began production of a small production batch of ten aircraft. It was planned that they would take part in the parade on Red Square in October 1946.

In March 1947, serial production of the fighter began. However, after the production of 49 aircraft it was suspended. The car had to be urgently rebuilt. Within two months, the fuel system on the MiG-9 was seriously modernized, the design of the tail fairing was changed, the keel area was increased, and a number of other improvements were also made. After this, mass production was resumed.

In June 1947, state tests of four fighters, two prototypes (F-2 and F-3) and two production aircraft, were completed. In general, the MiG-9 received positive reviews: in terms of speed characteristics, rate of climb and flight altitude, it was significantly superior to all piston aircraft in service with the Soviet army. The firepower of the vehicle was also unprecedented.

There were also problems: when firing cannons at an altitude of more than 7 thousand meters, the engine stalled. They tried to fight this shortcoming, but they could not completely eliminate it.

If we compare the characteristics of the MiG-9 with the Yak-15 jet fighter, which was developed at the same time, then the Mikoyan aircraft was inferior to the Yakovlev Design Bureau aircraft in maneuverability, but was faster in horizontal flight and during a dive.

The new car was greeted by the troops without much enthusiasm. Pilots were often simply afraid to fly an airplane that did not have a propeller. In addition to the pilots, the technical staff also had to be retrained, and this had to be done as quickly as possible. Haste often led to accidents that had nothing to do with technical features airplane.

Description of the design of the MiG-9 fighter

The MiG-9 is an all-metal single-seat fighter aircraft powered by two turbojet engines. It is made according to the classic design with a mid-wing and a three-wheel retractable landing gear.

The aircraft has a semi-monocoque fuselage with a smooth working skin. In its nose there is an air intake, which is divided into two tunnels, each of which supplies air to one of the engines. The channels have an elliptical cross-section; they run along the side parts of the fuselage, bypassing the cockpit on both sides.

The wing of an airplane is trapezoidal in shape with flaps and ailerons.

The tail of the MiG-9 is all-metal with a high-mounted stabilizer.

The pilot's cabin is located in the front part of the fuselage, it is closed by a streamlined canopy consisting of two parts. The front part, the visor, is fixed, and the rear part moves back along three guides. On later modifications of the vehicle, the visor is made of armored glass. In addition, to protect the pilot, the vehicle is equipped with front and rear armor plates, their thickness is 12 mm.

The MiG-9 has a three-post retractable landing gear with a front wheel. The landing gear release system is pneumatic.

The fighter was equipped with a power plant consisting of two RD-20 turbojet engines, which were nothing more than a copy of the German captured BMW-003 engines. Each of them could develop a thrust of 800 kgf. The engines of the first series (A-1) had a service life of only 10 hours, the service life of the A-2 series was increased to 50 hours, and the RD-20B engines could operate for 75 hours. Power point The MiG-9 was launched using Riedel starting motors.

The engines were installed in a special part of the fuselage, the nozzles were adjustable, they could be set in four positions: “start”, “take-off”, “flight” or “high-speed flight”. The control of the cone of the nozzle apparatus was electrically remote.

To protect the body from hot gases, a special thermal screen was installed on the underside of the tail section, which was a corrugated sheet of heat-resistant steel.

The fuel was placed in ten tanks located in the wings and fuselage. Their total volume was 1595 liters. The fuel tanks were connected to each other to ensure uniform use of fuel, which made it possible to maintain the aircraft's alignment during flight.

The MiG-9 was equipped with an RSI-6 radio station, an RPKO-10M radio semi-compass, and a KP-14 oxygen apparatus. The aircraft received power from a captured LR-2000 generator, which was later replaced by the domestic GSK-1300.

The fighter's armament consisted of one 37-mm N-37 cannon with forty rounds of ammunition and two 23-mm NS-23 cannons with 40 rounds of ammunition. Initially, it was planned to equip the aircraft with a more powerful 57-mm N-57 cannon, but this idea was later abandoned.

One of the main problems of the fighter was the entry of powder gases into the engines, since the N-37 cannon was installed on a partition between two air intakes. In later modifications of the aircraft, gas exhaust pipes began to be installed on the N-37. Vehicles produced earlier were already equipped with them in combat units.

The first MiG-9s had a collimator sight, which was later replaced by an automatic rifle sight.

Characteristics of the MiG-9

Below are the characteristics of the MiG-9.

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