Soviet aircraft from the Great Patriotic War
Combat aircraft - birds of prey sky. For more than a hundred years they have been shining in warriors and at air shows. Agree, it’s difficult to take your eyes off modern multi-purpose devices filled with electronics and composite materials. But there is something special about World War II airplanes. It was an era of great victories and great aces who fought in the air, looking into each other's eyes. Engineers and aircraft designers from different countries invented many legendary aircraft. Today we present to your attention a list of the ten most famous, recognizable, popular and best aircraft of the Second World War according to the editors of the [email protected].
Supermarine Spitfire
The list of the best aircraft of World War II opens with the British Supermarine Spitfire fighter. He has a classic look, but a little awkward. Wings - shovels, heavy nose, bubble-shaped canopy. However, it was the Spitfire that rescued the Royal air force, stopping German bombers during the Battle of Britain. German fighter pilots discovered with great displeasure that British aircraft were in no way inferior to them, and were even superior in maneuverability.
The Spitfire was developed and put into service just in time - right before the start of World War II. True, there was an incident with the first battle. Due to a radar malfunction, the Spitfires were sent into battle with a phantom enemy and fired upon their own British fighters. But then, when the British tried out the advantages of the new aircraft, they used it as soon as possible. And for interception, and for reconnaissance, and even as bombers. A total of 20,000 Spitfires were produced. For all the good things and, first of all, for saving the island during the Battle of Britain, this aircraft takes an honorable tenth place.
The Heinkel He 111 was exactly the aircraft that the British fighters fought against. This is the most recognizable German bomber. It cannot be confused with any other aircraft, thanks to the characteristic shape of its wide wings. It was the wings that gave the Heinkel He 111 its nickname "flying shovel".
This bomber was created long before the war under the guise of passenger plane. It performed very well back in the 30s, but by the beginning of World War II it began to become outdated, both in speed and maneuverability. He held out for a while due to his ability to withstand big damage, but when the Allies conquered the skies, the Heinkel He 111 was “demoted” to an ordinary transport aircraft. This aircraft embodies the very definition of a Luftwaffe bomber, for which it receives ninth place in our rating.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation did whatever it wanted in the skies of the USSR. Only in 1942 did a Soviet fighter appear that could fight on equal terms with the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. It was La-5, developed at the Lavochkin design bureau. It was created in great haste. The plane is designed so simply that there are not even the most basic instruments in the cockpit, such as an attitude indicator. But the La-5 pilots immediately liked it. In its first test flights, it shot down 16 enemy aircraft.
"La-5" bore the brunt of the battles in the skies over Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge. Ace Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, and it was on it that the famous Alexei Maresyev flew with prosthetics. The only problem"La-5" prevented him from rising higher in our ranking - appearance. He is completely faceless and expressionless. When the Germans first saw this fighter, they immediately gave it the nickname “new rat.” And all because it was very similar to the legendary I-16 aircraft, nicknamed “rat”.
North American P-51 Mustang
The Americans used many types of fighters in World War II, but the most famous among them was, of course, the P-51 Mustang. The history of its creation is unusual. Already at the height of the war in 1940, the British ordered aircraft from the Americans. The order was completed and in 1942 the first Mustangs of the British Royal Air Force entered combat. And then it turned out that the planes were so good that they would be useful to the Americans themselves.
The most noticeable feature of the P-51 Mustang is its huge fuel tanks. This made them ideal fighters for escorting bombers, which they did successfully in Europe and in Pacific Ocean. They were also used for reconnaissance and assault. They even bombed a little. The Japanese especially suffered from the Mustangs.
The most famous US bomber of those years is, of course, the Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress”. The four-engine, heavy Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, hung on all sides with machine guns, gave rise to many heroic and fanatical stories. On the one hand, the pilots loved it for its ease of control and survivability, on the other hand, the losses among these bombers were indecently high. In one of the flights, out of 300 “Flying Fortresses”, 77 did not return. Why? Here we can mention the complete and defenselessness of the crew from fire from the front and the increased risk of fire. However, the main problem was convincing the American generals. At the beginning of the war, they thought that if there were a lot of bombers and they were flying high, then they could do without any escort. Luftwaffe fighters refuted this misconception. They taught harsh lessons. The Americans and British had to learn very quickly, change tactics, strategy and aircraft design. Strategic bombers contributed to the victory, but the cost was high. A third of the "Flying Fortresses" did not return to the airfields.
In fifth place in our ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the main hunter of German planes"Yak-9". If La-5 was workhorse having endured the brunt of the battles of the turning point of the war, then the Yak-9 is a plane of victory. It was created on the basis of previous models of Yak fighters, but instead of heavy wood, duralumin was used in the design. This made the aircraft lighter and left room for modifications. What they didn’t do with the Yak-9. Front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft and even courier aircraft.
On the Yak-9, Soviet pilots fought on equal terms with German aces, who were greatly intimidated by its powerful guns. Suffice it to say that our pilots affectionately nicknamed the best modification of the Yak-9U “Killer.” The Yak-9 became a symbol of Soviet aviation and the most popular Soviet fighter of the Second World War. Factories sometimes assembled 20 aircraft a day, and during the war almost 15,000 of them were produced.
Junkers Ju-87 (Junkers Ju 87)
Junkers Ju-87 Stuka is a German dive bomber. Thanks to their ability to fall vertically onto a target, the Junkers placed bombs with pinpoint accuracy. When supporting a fighter offensive, everything in the Stuka design is subordinated to one thing - hitting the target. Air brakes prevented acceleration during a dive; special mechanisms moved the dropped bomb away from the propeller and automatically brought the plane out of the dive.
Junkers Ju-87 - the main aircraft of the Blitzkrieg. He shone at the very beginning of the war, when Germany was marching victoriously across Europe. True, it later turned out that the Junkers were very vulnerable to fighters, so their use gradually came to naught. True, in Russia, thanks to the Germans’ advantage in the air, the Stukas still managed to fight. For their characteristic non-retractable landing gear they were nicknamed “laptezhniks”. The German pilot ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel brought additional fame to the Stukas. But despite its worldwide fame, the Junkers Ju-87 ended up in fourth place on the list of the best aircraft of the Second World War.
In honorable third place in the ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the Japanese carrier-based fighter Mitsubishi A6M Zero. This is the most famous aircraft of the Pacific War. The history of this aircraft is very revealing. At the beginning of the war, it was almost the most advanced aircraft - light, maneuverable, high-tech, with an incredible flight range. For the Americans, Zero was an extremely unpleasant surprise; it was head and shoulders above everything they had at that time.
However, the Japanese worldview played a cruel joke on the Zero; no one thought about protecting it in air combat - gas tanks burned easily, the pilots were not covered by armor, and no one thought about parachutes. When hit, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero burst into flames like matches, and the Japanese pilots had no chance to escape. The Americans, in the end, learned to fight the Zeros; they flew in pairs and attacked from above, escaping the battle on turns. They released the new Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters. The Americans admitted their mistakes and adapted, but the proud Japanese did not. Obsolete by the end of the war, the Zero became a kamikaze plane, a symbol of senseless resistance.
The famous Messerschmitt Bf.109 is the main fighter of World War II. It was he who reigned supreme in the Soviet skies until 1942. An exceptionally successful design allowed Messerschmitt to impose its tactics on other aircraft. He picked up speed well in a dive. A favorite technique of German pilots was the “falcon strike,” in which a fighter dives at the enemy and, after a quick attack, goes back to altitude.
This aircraft also had disadvantages. His short flight range prevented him from conquering the skies of England. Escorting the Messerschmitt bombers was also not easy. At low altitude he lost his speed advantage. By the end of the war, the Messers suffered greatly both from Soviet fighters from the east and from allied bombers from the west. But the Messerschmitt Bf.109, nevertheless, went down in legends as the best fighter of the Luftwaffe. In total, almost 34,000 of them were produced. This is the second most popular aircraft in history.
So, meet the winner in our ranking of the most legendary aircraft of World War II. The Il-2 attack aircraft, also known as the “Humpbacked”, is also a “flying tank”; the Germans most often called it the “Black Death”. The Il-2 is a special aircraft; it was immediately conceived as a well-protected attack aircraft, so it was many times more difficult to shoot it down than other aircraft. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a mission and more than 600 hits were counted on it. After quick repairs, the Hunchbacks were sent back into battle. Even if the plane was shot down, it often remained intact; its armored belly allowed it to land in an open field without any problems.
"IL-2" went through the entire war. In total, 36,000 attack aircraft were manufactured. This made the “Humpback” a record holder, the most produced combat aircraft of all time. For its outstanding qualities, original design and enormous role in World War II, the famous Il-2 rightfully takes first place in the ranking of the best aircraft of those years.
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After the invention of the first aircraft and structures, they began to be used for military purposes. This is how it appeared combat aviation, becoming the main part of the armed forces of all countries of the world. This article describes the most popular and effective Soviet aircraft, which made a special contribution to the victory over the fascist invaders.
The tragedy of the first days of the war
Il-2 became the first example of a new aircraft design scheme. Ilyushin’s design bureau realized that this approach noticeably worsened the design and made it heavier. The new design approach provided new opportunities for more rational use aircraft mass. This is how the Ilyushin-2 appeared - an aircraft that, due to its particularly strong armor, earned the nickname “flying tank”.
IL-2 created an incredible number of problems for the Germans. The aircraft was initially used as a fighter, but did not prove particularly effective in this role. Poor maneuverability and speed did not give the Il-2 the opportunity to fight fast and destructive German fighters. Moreover, weak defense the rear one allowed German fighters to attack the Il-2 from behind.
The developers also experienced problems with the aircraft. During the entire period of the Great Patriotic War, the armament of the Il-2 was constantly changing, and a seat for a co-pilot was also equipped. This threatened that the plane could become completely uncontrollable.
But all these efforts yielded the desired result. The original 20mm cannons were replaced with large-caliber 37mm ones. With such powerful weapons, the attack aircraft became feared by almost all types of ground troops, from infantry to tanks and armored vehicles.
According to some recollections of pilots who fought on the Il-2, firing from the guns of the attack aircraft led to the fact that the plane literally hung in the air from strong recoil. In the event of an attack by enemy fighters, the tail gunner covered the unprotected part of the Il-2. Thus, the attack aircraft actually became a flying fortress. This thesis is confirmed by the fact that the attack aircraft took several bombs on board.
All these qualities were a great success, and the Ilyushin-2 became simply an indispensable aircraft in any battle. It became not only a legendary attack aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, but also broke production records: in total, about 40 thousand copies were produced during the war. Thus, Soviet-era aircraft could compete with the Luftwaffe in all respects.
Bombers
The bomber, from a tactical point of view, is an indispensable part of combat aircraft in any battle. Perhaps the most recognizable Soviet bomber of the Great Patriotic War is the Pe-2. It was developed as a tactical super-heavy fighter, but over time it was transformed into a dangerous dive bomber.
It should be noted that Soviet bomber-class aircraft made their debut precisely during the Great Patriotic War. The appearance of bombers was determined by many factors, but the main one was the development of the air defense system. Special tactics for using bombers were immediately developed, which involved approaching the target at high altitude, sharply descending to the bomb-dropping altitude, and an equally abrupt departure into the sky. This tactic yielded results.
Pe-2 and Tu-2
A dive bomber drops its bombs without following a horizontal line. He literally falls on his target and drops the bomb only when there are only 200 meters left to the target. The consequence of this tactical move is impeccable accuracy. But, as you know, an aircraft at low altitude can be hit by anti-aircraft guns, and this could not but affect the design system of bombers.
Thus, it turned out that the bomber had to combine the incompatible. It should be as compact and maneuverable as possible, and at the same time carry heavy ammunition. In addition, the design of the bomber was assumed to be durable, capable of withstanding impact. anti-aircraft gun. Therefore, the Pe-2 aircraft suited this role very well.
The Pe-2 bomber complemented the Tu-2, which was very similar in parameters. It was a twin-engine dive bomber, which was used according to the tactics described above. The problem with this aircraft was the insignificant orders of the model at aircraft factories. But by the end of the war the problem was corrected, the Tu-2 was even modernized and successfully used in battle.
Tu-2 performed a wide variety of combat missions. It served as an attack aircraft, bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bomber and interceptor.
IL-4
The Il-4 tactical bomber rightly earned the title of the most beautiful aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, making it difficult to confuse it with any other aircraft. The Ilyushin-4, despite its complicated controls, was popular in the Air Force; the aircraft was even used as a torpedo bomber.
The IL-4 is entrenched in history as the aircraft that carried out the first bombing of the capital of the Third Reich - Berlin. And this happened not in May 1945, but in the fall of 1941. But the bombing did not last long. In winter, the front shifted far to the East, and Berlin became out of reach of Soviet dive bombers.
Pe-8
During the war years, the Pe-8 bomber was so rare and unrecognizable that it was sometimes even attacked by its own air defenses. However, it was he who performed the most difficult combat missions.
Although the long-range bomber was produced back in the late 1930s, it was the only aircraft of its class in the USSR. The Pe-8 had the highest speed (400 km/h), and the fuel supply in the tank made it possible to carry bombs not only to Berlin, but also to return back. The aircraft was equipped with the largest caliber bombs, up to the five-ton FAB-5000. It was the Pe-8 that bombed Helsinki, Koenigsberg, and Berlin at a time when the front line was in the Moscow area. Because of its operating range, the Pe-8 was called a strategic bomber, and in those years this class of aircraft was just being developed. All Soviet aircraft of World War II belonged to the class of fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft or transport aircraft, but not to strategic aviation, only the Pe-8 was a kind of exception to the rule.
One of the most important operations performed by the Pe-8 was the transportation of V. Molotov to the USA and Great Britain. The flight took place in the spring of 1942 along a route that passed through Nazi-occupied territories. Molotov traveled on the passenger version of the Pe-8. Only a few such aircraft were developed.
Today, thanks to technological progress, tens of thousands of passengers are transported every day. But in those distant war days, every flight was a feat, both for pilots and passengers. There was always a high probability of being shot down, and a downed Soviet plane meant the loss of not only valuable lives, but also great damage to the state, which was very difficult to compensate.
Concluding this short review, which describes the most popular Soviet aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, it is worth mentioning the fact that all development, construction and air battles took place in conditions of cold, hunger and lack of personnel. However, each new car was an important step in the development of world aviation. The names of Ilyushin, Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Tupolev will forever remain in military history. And not only the heads of design bureaus, but also ordinary engineers and ordinary workers made a huge contribution to the development of Soviet aviation.
By the beginning of the war, there were significantly more MiG-3 fighters in service than other aircraft. However, the “third” MiG was not yet sufficiently mastered by combat pilots, and the retraining of most of them was not completed.
Two MiG-3 regiments were quickly formed with a large percentage of testers familiar with them. This partly helped in eliminating piloting deficiencies. But still, the MiG-3 lost even to the I-6 fighters, common at the beginning of the war. Superior in speed at altitudes above 5000 m, at low and medium altitudes it was inferior to other fighters.
This is both a disadvantage and at the same time an advantage of the “third” MiG. MiG-3 - high-altitude aircraft, that's all best qualities which appeared at altitudes above 4500 meters. It found use as a high-altitude night fighter in the air defense system, where its high ceiling of up to 12,000 meters and speed at altitude were decisive. Thus, the MiG-3 was mainly used until the end of the war, in particular, guarding Moscow.
In the very first battle over the capital, on July 22, 1941, Mark Gallay, a pilot of the 2nd Separate Air Defense Fighter Squadron of Moscow, shot down an enemy plane in a MiG-3. At the beginning of the war, one of the ace pilots, Alexander Pokryshkin, flew on the same plane and won his first victory.
Yak-9: the “king” of modifications
Until the end of the 30s, the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev produced light, mainly sports aircraft. In 1940, the Yak-1 fighter, which has excellent flight qualities, was launched into production. At the beginning of the war, the Yak-1 successfully repelled German pilots.
Already in 1942, the Yak-9 began to enter service with our Air Force. The new Soviet vehicle had high maneuverability, allowing it to conduct dynamic combat close to the enemy at low and medium altitudes.
It was the Yak-9 that turned out to be the most popular Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War. It was produced from 1942 to 1948, in total almost 17 thousand aircraft were built.
The Yak-9's design used duralumin instead of heavy wood, making the aircraft lighter and leaving room for modifications. It was the Yak-9’s ability to upgrade that became its main advantage. It had 22 main modifications, of which 15 were mass-produced. This is a front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft, passenger aircraft special purpose and a training aircraft.
The most successful modification is considered to be the Yak-9U fighter, which appeared in the fall of 1944. Suffice it to say that his pilots called him “the killer.”
La-5: disciplined soldier
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation had an advantage in the skies of the USSR. But in 1942, a Soviet fighter appeared that could fly with by German planes combat on equal terms is the La-5, developed at the Lavochkin Design Bureau.
Despite its simplicity - the La-5 cockpit did not have even the most basic instruments like an attitude indicator - the pilots immediately liked the plane.
Lavochkin’s new plane had a strong construction and did not fall apart even after dozens of direct hits. At the same time, the La-5 had impressive maneuverability and speed: a turn time of 16.5-19 seconds, a speed above 600 km/h.
Another advantage of the La-5 is that, as a disciplined soldier, it did not perform the “spin” aerobatics without a direct order from the pilot, and if it got into a spin, it came out of it on the first command.
La-5 fought in the skies over Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge, ace pilot Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, and the famous Alexey Maresyev flew on it.
Po-2: night bomber
The Po-2 (U-2) aircraft is considered the most popular biplane in the history of world aviation. When creating a training aircraft in the 1920s, Nikolai Polikarpov did not imagine that there would be another, serious application for his unpretentious machine.
During World War II, the U-2 developed into an effective night bomber. Aviation regiments armed exclusively with U-2s appeared in the Soviet Air Force. It was these biplanes that carried out more than half of all Soviet bomber missions during the war.
“Sewing machines” – that’s what the Germans called the U-2s that bombed their units at night. One biplane could make several sorties per night, and given the maximum bomb load of 100-350 kg, the aircraft could drop more ammunition than a heavy bomber.
It was on Polikarpov’s biplanes that the famous 46th Guards Taman Aviation Regiment fought. Four squadrons of 80 pilots, 23 of whom received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. For their courage and aviation skill, the Germans nicknamed the girls Nachthexen - “night witches.” During the war years, the women's air regiment flew 23,672 combat missions.
In total, 11 thousand U-2 biplanes were produced during the war. They were produced at aircraft factory No. 387 in Kazan. Cabins for airplanes and skis for them were mass-produced at the plant in Ryazan. Today it is the State Ryazan Instrument Plant (GRPZ), part of KRET.
Only in 1959 did the U-2, renamed Po-2 in 1944 in honor of its creator, end its impeccable thirty-year service.
IL-2: winged tank
Il-2 is the most produced combat aircraft in history; in total, more than 36 thousand aircraft were produced. Il-2 attacks brought huge losses to the enemy, for which the Germans nicknamed the attack aircraft “Black Death”, and among our pilots they called this bomber “humpbacked”, “winged tank”, “concrete plane”.
The IL-2 entered production just before the war - in December 1940. The first flight on it was made by the famous test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki. These serial armored attack aircraft entered service at the beginning of the war.
The Il-2 attack aircraft became the main striking force of Soviet aviation. The key to excellent combat characteristics was a powerful aircraft engine, armored glass necessary to protect the crew, as well as rapid-fire aircraft guns and rockets.
The best enterprises in the country, including those that are part of Rostec today, worked on the creation of components for the most mass-produced attack aircraft in history. The leading enterprise for the production of ammunition for aircraft was the famous Tula Instrument Design Bureau. Transparent armored glass for glazing the Il-2 canopy was produced at the Lytkarino optical glass plant. The assembly of engines for attack aircraft was carried out in the workshops of plant No. 24, today known as the Kuznetsov enterprise. The propellers for the attack aircraft were produced in Kuibyshev at the Aviaagregat plant.
Thanks to modern technologies at that time, the IL-2 became a real legend. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a mission and was hit more than 600 times. After quick repairs, the “winged tanks” were sent into battle again.
War creates a need unprecedented in peacetime. Countries compete to create the next great weapon, and engineers sometimes resort to intricate methods to design their killing machines. Nowhere was this more evident than in the skies of World War II: daring aircraft designers invented some of the strangest aircraft in human history.
At the beginning of World War II, the German Imperial Air Ministry stimulated the development of a tactical reconnaissance aircraft to provide information support for army operations. Two companies responded to the task. Focke-Wulf modeled a fairly standard twin-engine airplane, while Blohm & Voss miraculously came up with one of the most unusual aircraft at that time - the asymmetrical BV 141.
Although at first glance it may seem that this model was dreamed up by delirious engineers, it successfully served certain purposes. By removing the skin from the right side of the aircraft, the BV 141 gained an incomparable field of view for the pilot and observers, especially to the right and front, since the pilots were no longer encumbered by the huge engine and spinning propeller of a familiar single-engine aircraft.
The design was developed by Richard Vogt, who realized that the aircraft of that time already had, in fact, asymmetrical handling characteristics. With a heavy engine in the nose, the single-engine airplane experienced high torque, requiring constant attention and control. Vogt sought to compensate for this by introducing an ingenious asymmetrical design, creating a stable reconnaissance platform that was easier to fly than most of her airliner contemporaries.
Luftwaffe officer Ernst Udet praised the aircraft during a test flight at speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour. Unfortunately for Blohm & Voss, Allied bombing seriously damaged one of Focke-Wulf's main factories, forcing the government to devote 80 percent of Blohm & Voss' production area to building Focke-Wulf aircraft. Since the company's already tiny staff began to work for the benefit of the latter, work on the “BV 141” was stopped after the production of only 38 copies. All of them were destroyed during the war.
Another unusual Nazi project, the Horten Ho 229, was launched almost before the end of the war, after German scientists had improved jet technology. By 1943, Luftwaffe commanders realized that they had made a huge mistake by refusing to produce a long-range heavy bomber like the American B-17 or the British Lancaster. To remedy the situation, the commander-in-chief of the German air force, Hermann Goering, put forward the “3x1000” requirement: to develop a bomber capable of transporting 1000 kilograms of bombs over a distance of 1000 kilometers at a speed of at least 1000 kilometers per hour.
Following orders, the Horten brothers began designing a "flying wing" (a type of aircraft without a tail or fuselage, like later stealth bombers). In the 1930s, Walter and Reimar experimented with similar types of gliders, which demonstrated superior handling characteristics. Using this experience, the brothers built an unpowered model to support their bomber concept. The design impressed Goering, and he transferred the project to the aircraft manufacturing company “Gothaer Waggonfaebrik” for mass production. After some modifications, the Horten airframe acquired a jet engine. It was also converted into a fighter to support the needs of the Luftwaffe in 1945. They managed to create only one prototype, which at the end of the war was placed at the disposal of the Allied forces.
At first, “Ho 229” was viewed simply as an outlandish trophy. However, when a stealth bomber of a similar design, the B-2, entered service, aerospace experts became interested in the stealth characteristics of its German ancestor. In 2008, Northrop Grumman engineers recreated a copy of the Ho 229 based on a surviving prototype housed in the Smithsonian Institution. By emitting radar signals at frequencies used during World War II, experts discovered that the Nazi aircraft actually had a lot to do with stealth technology: it had much lower radar signature compared to its combat contemporaries. Quite by accident, the Horten brothers invented the first stealth fighter-bomber.
In the 1930s, American Vought engineer Charles H. Zimmerman began experimenting with disc-shaped aircraft. The first flying model was the V-173, which took off in 1942. It had problems with the gearbox, but overall it was a durable, highly maneuverable aircraft. While his company churned out the famous “F4U Corsair,” Zimmerman continued work on a disc-shaped fighter that would eventually see the light of day as the “XF5U.”
Military experts assumed that the new “fighter” would in many ways surpass other aircraft available at that time. Powered by two huge Pratt & Whitney engines, the plane was expected to reach a high speed of about 885 kilometers per hour, slowing down to 32 kilometers per hour upon landing. To give the airframe strength while keeping weight as low as possible, the prototype was built from “metalite,” a material consisting of a thin sheet of balsa wood coated with aluminum. However, various engine problems caused Zimmerman a lot of trouble, and World War II ended before they could be fixed.
Vought did not cancel the project, but by the time the fighter was ready for testing, the US Navy decided to focus its attention on jet aircraft. The contract with the military expired, and Vought employees tried to dispose of the XF5U, but it turned out that the metalite structure was not so easy to destroy: the demolition core dropped on the airplane only bounced off the metal. Finally, after several new attempts, the body of the aircraft bent, and blowtorches incinerated its remains.
Of all the aircraft presented in the article, the Boulton Paul Defiant remained in service the longest. Unfortunately, this resulted in many deaths of young pilots. The airplane was born out of a 1930s misconception about further development situation on the air front. The British command believed that the enemy bombers would be poorly protected and largely without reinforcements. In theory, a fighter with a powerful turret could penetrate the attacking formation and destroy it from the inside. Such a weapon arrangement would free the pilot from the duties of a gunner, allowing him to concentrate on getting the aircraft into the optimal firing position.
And the Defiant coped well with all the tasks during its first missions, as many unsuspecting German fighter pilots mistook the aircraft for an appearance similar to the Hawker Hurricane, attacking it from above or from the rear - ideal points for the machine gunner Defiant. However, the Luftwaffe pilots quickly realized what was happening and began to attack from below and from the front. Without frontal weapons and limited maneuverability due to the heavy turret, Defiant aviators suffered huge losses during the Battle of Britain. The Foggy Albion Air Force lost almost an entire fighter squadron, and the Defiant gunners were not able to leave the plane in emergency situations.
Although the pilots were able to come up with various makeshift tactics, the Royal Air Force soon realized that the turret fighter was not designed for modern air combat. The Defiant was demoted to a night fighter role, after which it found some success sneaking up on and destroying enemy bombers on night missions. The Briton's robust hull was also used as a target for target practice and in testing the first Martin-Baker ejection seats.
During the period between the First and Second World Wars, various countries became increasingly concerned about the issue of defense against strategic bombing during subsequent hostilities. Italian General Giulio Douhet believed that it was impossible to defend against massive air attacks, and British politician Stanley Baldwin coined the phrase “the bomber will always get through.” In response, the major powers invested huge amounts of money in the development of “bomber destroyers” - heavy fighters, designed to intercept enemy formations in the sky. The English Defiant failed, while the German BF-110 performed well in various roles. And finally, among them was the American “YFM-1 Airacuda”.
This aircraft was Bell's first attempt at military aircraft construction and featured many unusual features. In order to give the Airacuda the highest chance of destroying the enemy, Bell equipped it with two 37mm M-4 guns, placing them in front of the rare pusher engines and propellers located behind them. Each gun was assigned a separate shooter, whose main responsibility was to manually reload it. Initially, gunners also directly fired weapons. However, the results were a complete disaster, and the design of the aircraft was changed, placing the control levers of the guns in the hands of the pilot.
Military strategists believed that with additional machine guns in defensive positions - in the main fuselage to repel flank attacks - the aircraft would be indestructible both when attacking enemy bombers and when escorting B-17s over enemy territory. All these design elements gave the aircraft a rather three-dimensional appearance, making it look like a cute cartoon airplane. The Airacuda was a veritable death machine that looked like it was made for cuddling.
Despite optimistic forecasts, tests revealed serious problems. The engines were prone to overheating and did not produce enough thrust. Therefore, in reality, “Airacuda” developed a lower maximum speed than the bombers it was supposed to intercept or protect. The original arrangement of the weapon only added to the difficulties, since the gondolas in which it was placed filled with smoke when firing, making the work of the machine gunners extremely difficult. In addition to this, they could not escape from their cabins in an emergency because the propellers were working right behind them, turning their attempt to escape into a meeting with death. As a result of these problems, the US Army Air Forces acquired only 13 aircraft, none of which received baptism of fire. The remaining gliders were scattered around the country for pilots to add notes about the strange aircraft to their logbooks, and Bell continued to try (more successfully) to develop a military aircraft.
Despite the arms race, military gliders were an important component of the air technology of World War II. They were lifted into the air in tow and detached close to enemy territory, ensuring the rapid delivery of cargo and troops as part of airborne operations. Among all the gliders of that period, the Soviet-made A-40 “flying tank” certainly stood out for its design.
The countries participating in the war were looking for ways to quickly and efficiently transport tanks to the front. Transferring them using gliders seemed like a worthwhile idea, but engineers soon discovered that the tank was one of the most aerodynamically imperfect vehicles. After countless attempts to create good system To supply tanks by air, most states simply gave up. But not the USSR.
In fact, Soviet aviation had already achieved some success in landing tanks before the A-40 was developed. Small equipment like the T-27 was lifted aboard huge transport aircraft and dropped a few meters from the ground. With the gearbox set to neutral, the tank landed and rolled by inertia until it stopped. The problem was that the tank crew had to be delivered separately, which greatly reduced combat effectiveness systems.
Ideally, tank crews would fly in on a tank and be ready for battle within a few minutes. To achieve these goals, Soviet planners turned to the ideas of American engineer John Walter Christie, who first developed the concept of a flying tank in the 1930s. Christie believed that, thanks to armored vehicles with fitted biplane wings, any war would be instantly over, since no one would be able to protect themselves from a flying tank.
Based on the work of John Christie, the Soviet Union crossed the T-60 with a flying machine and conducted the first test flight in 1942 with brave pilot Sergei Anokhin at the helm. And although, due to the aerodynamic resistance of the tank, the glider had to be removed from the tug before reaching the planned altitude, Anokhin managed to land softly and even brought the tank back to base. Despite the enthusiastic report compiled by the pilot, the idea was rejected after Soviet specialists realized that they did not have aircraft powerful enough to tow operational tanks (Anokhin flew with a lightweight machine - without most weapons and with a minimal fuel supply). Unfortunately, the flying tank never left the ground again.
After Allied bombing began to undermine the German war effort, Luftwaffe commanders realized that their failure to develop heavy multi-engine bombers was a huge mistake. When the authorities finally established the corresponding orders, most German aircraft manufacturers jumped at the opportunity. These included the Horten brothers (as noted above) and the Junkers, who already had experience building bombers. Company engineer Hans Focke led the design of perhaps the most advanced German aircraft of the Second World War - the Ju-287.
In the 1930s, designers came to the conclusion that a straight-wing aircraft had a certain upper speed limit, but at that time this did not matter, since turboprop engines could not get close to these indicators in any case. However, with the development of jet technology, everything has changed. German specialists used swept wings on early jet aircraft, such as the Me-262, which avoided the problems - air compression effects - inherent in a straight wing design. Focke took this one step further and proposed the introduction of an aircraft with a forward-swept wing, which he believed would be capable of defeating any air defense. The new type of wing had a number of advantages: it increased maneuverability at high speeds and at high angles of attack, improved stall characteristics and freed the fuselage from weapons and engines.
First, Focke's invention was aerodynamically tested using a special stand; many parts from other aircraft, including captured Allied bombers, were taken to make the model. “Ju-287” showed excellent performance during test flights, confirming compliance with all declared operational characteristics. Unfortunately for Focke, interest in jet bombers quickly faded, and his project was shelved until March 1945. By that time, desperate Luftwaffe commanders were looking for any fresh ideas to inflict damage on the Allied forces - production of the Ju-287 was launched in record time, but the war ended two months later, after the construction of only a few prototypes. It took another 40 years for the forward-swept wing to begin to revive in popularity, thanks to American and Russian aerospace engineers.
George Cornelius is a famous American engineer, designer of a number of extravagant gliders and aircraft. During the 30s and 40s he worked on new types of designs aircraft, among other things, he experimented with a forward-swept wing (like the Ju-287). Its gliders had excellent stall characteristics and could be towed at high speeds without exerting a significant braking effect on the towing airplane. When World War II broke out, Cornelius was brought in to develop the XFG-1, one of the most specialized aircraft ever built. In essence, the XFG-1 was a flying fuel tank.
George's plans included producing both manned and unmanned versions of his glider, both of which could be towed the latest bombers at their cruising speed of 400 kilometers per hour, twice the flight speed of most other gliders. The idea of using the unmanned XFG-1 was revolutionary. The B-29s were expected to tow the glider, pumping fuel from its tank through connected hoses. With a tank capacity of 764 gallons, the XFG-1 would act as a flying refueling station. After emptying the fuel storage, the B-29 would detach the airframe and it would dive to the ground and crash. This scheme would significantly increase the flight range of bombers, allowing raids on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The manned XFG-1 would be used in a similar way, but more rationally, since the glider could be landed, and not simply destroyed after the fuel intake was completed. Although it is worth wondering what kind of pilot would dare to undertake such a task as flying a fuel tank over danger zone military operations.
During testing, one of the prototypes crashed, and Cornelius's plan was abandoned without further attention when the Allied forces captured the islands near the Japanese archipelago. With the new location of the air bases, the need to refuel the B-29 to achieve its mission objectives was eliminated, taking the XFG-1 out of the game. After the war, George continued to pitch his idea to the US Air Force, but by then their interest had shifted to specialized refueling aircraft. And the “XFG-1” simply became an inconspicuous footnote in the history of military aviation.
The idea of a flying aircraft carrier first appeared during World War I and was tested during the interwar period. In those years, engineers dreamed of a huge airship carrying small fighters capable of leaving the mother ship to protect it from enemy interceptors. British and American experiments ended in complete failure, and in the end the idea was abandoned, as the loss of tactical value by large rigid airships became obvious.
But while American and British specialists were winding down their projects, the Soviet Air Force was just getting ready to enter the development arena. In 1931 aviation engineer Vladimir Vakhmistrov came up with a proposal to use Tupolev heavy bombers to lift smaller fighters into the air. This made it possible to significantly increase the latter's flight range and bomb load compared to their usual capabilities as dive bombers. Without bombs, aircraft could also defend their carriers from enemy attacks. Throughout the 1930s, Vakhmistrov experimented with different configurations, stopping only when he attached as many as five fighters to a single bomber. By the time the Second World War began, the aircraft designer revised his ideas and came to a more practical design of two I-16 fighter-bombers suspended from the mother TB-3.
The USSR High Command was sufficiently impressed with the concept to try to put it into practice. The first raid on Romanian oil storage facilities was successful, with both fighters detaching from the aircraft and striking before returning to the Soviet forward base. After such a successful start, 30 more raids were carried out, the most famous of which was the destruction of the bridge near Chernovodsk in August 1941. The Red Army spent months trying to destroy him to no avail, until they finally deployed two of Vakhmistrov's monsters. The carrier aircraft released their fighters, which began to bomb the previously inaccessible bridge. Despite all these victories, a few months later the Zveno project was closed, and the I-16 and TB-3 were discontinued in favor of more modern models. Thus ended the career of one of the strangest - but most successful - aviation creations in human history.
Most people are familiar with Japanese kamikaze missions, which used old planes loaded with explosives as anti-ship weapons. They even developed the special-purpose rocket plane projectile “MXY-7”. Less widely known is Germany's attempt to build a similar weapon by turning the V-1 "cruise bomb" into manned "cruise missile."
As the end of the war approached, the Nazi High Command desperately sought a way to disrupt Allied shipping across the English Channel. The V-1 rounds had potential, but the need for extreme accuracy (which was never their advantage) led to the creation of a manned version. German engineers managed to install a small cockpit with simple controls in the fuselage of the existing V-1, right in front of the jet engine.
Unlike the V-1 rockets, which were launched from the ground, the Fi-103R manned bombs were supposed to be lifted into the air and launched from He-111 bombers. After which the pilot had to see the target ship, direct his plane at it, and then fly away.
German pilots did not follow the example of their Japanese colleagues and did not lock themselves in the cockpits of aircraft, but tried to escape. However, with the engine roaring directly behind the wheelhouse, escape would probably have been fatal in any case. These slim chances of survival for the pilots soured the Luftwaffe commanders' impression of the program, so no operational mission was destined to take place. However, 175 V-1 bombs were converted into Fi-103Rs, most of which fell into Allied hands at the end of the war.