Assessing the decisive role of aviation as the main striking force in the struggle for the spread of Bolshevism and the defense of the state, in the first five-year plan the leadership of the USSR set a course for creating its own large and autonomous air force from other countries.
In the 20s, and even in the early 30s, USSR aviation had a fleet of aircraft, mostly foreign-made (only Tupolev aircraft appeared - ANT-2, ANT-9 and its subsequent modifications, which becamesubsequently the legendary U-2, etc.). The aircraft that were in service with the Red Army were of many brands, had outdated designs and poor technical condition. In the 20s, the USSR purchased a small number of German aircraft of the Junkers type and a number of other types for service air routes of the North / research of the Northern Sea Route / and the performance of government special flights. It should be noted that civil aviationin the pre-war period it practically did not develop, with the exception of the opening of a number of unique “demonstration” airlines or occasional flights of ambulance and service aviation.
During the same period, the era of airships ended, and the USSR builtin the early 30s, successful designs of “soft” (frameless) airships of the “B” type. Digression, it should be noted about the development of this type V aeronautics abroad.
In Germany, the famous rigid airshipdesign "Count Zeppepelin" explored the North, was equipped with cabins for passengers, had a significant flight range and quitehigh cruising speed / up to 130 km/h or more, providedseveral motors designed by Maybach. There were even several dog sleds on board the airship as part of the expedition to the North. The American airship "Akron" is the largest in the world, with a volume of 184 thousand cubic meters. m carried 5-7 aircraft on board and transported up to 200 passengers, not counting several tons of cargo over a distance of up to 17 thousand km. without landing. These airships were already safe, because... were filled with the inert gas helium, and not hydrogen as at the beginning of the century. Low speed, low maneuverability, high cost, complexity of storage and maintenance predetermined the end of the era of airships. Experiments with balloons also came to an end, which proved the latter’s unsuitability for active combat operations. A new generation of aviation with new technical and combat performance was needed.
In 1930, our Moscow Aviation Institute was created - after all, the replenishment of factories, institutes and design bureaus of the aviation industry with experienced personnel was of decisive importance. The old cadres of pre-revolutionary education and experience were clearly not enough; they were thoroughly eliminated and were in exile or in camps.
Already by the Second Five-Year Plan (1933-37), aviation workers had a significant production base, the basis for the further development of the air force fleet.
In the thirties, by order of Stalin, demonstration, but in fact test, flights of bombers “camouflaged” as civilian aircraft were carried out. The aviators Slepnev, Levanevsky, Kokkinaki, Molokov, Vodopyanov, Grizodubova and many others distinguished themselves.
In 1937, Soviet fighter aircraft underwent combat tests in Spain and demonstrated technical inferiority. AircraftPolikarpov (type I-15,16) were defeated by the latest German machines. The race for survival began again. Stalin gave the designersindividual assignments for new aircraft models, widely and generouslyThere were bonuses and benefits - the designers worked tirelessly and demonstrated a high level of talent and preparedness. 
At the March 1939 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilovnoted that, compared to 1934, the Air Force has grown in its personalis 138 percent...The aircraft fleet as a whole has grown by 130 percent.
Heavy bomber aircraft, which were assigned the main role in the upcoming war with the West, doubled in 4 years, while other types of bomber aircraft, on the contrary, decreased by half. Fighter aircraft increased two and a half times. Altitudeaircraft already amounted to 14-15 thousand m. The technology for the production of aircraft and engines was put on stream, stamping and casting were widely introduced. The shape of the fuselage changed, the aircraft acquired a streamlined shape.
The use of radios on board aircraft began.
Before the war, great changes took place in the field of aviation materials science. In the pre-war period there was a parallel development of heavy aircraft of all-metal construction with duralumin skinand light maneuverable aircraft of mixed structures: wood, steel,canvas. As the raw material base expanded and the aluminum industry developed in the USSR, aluminum alloys found increasing use in aircraft construction. There was progress in engine construction. The M-25 air-cooled engines with a power of 715 hp and the M-100 water-cooled engines with a power of 750 hp were created.
At the beginning of 1939, the USSR government convened a meeting in the Kremlin.
It was attended by leading designers V.Ya. Klimov, A.A. Mikulin,A.D. Shvetsov, S.V. Ilyushin, N.N. Polikarpov, A.A. Arkhangelsky, A.S. Yakovlev, head of TsAGI and many others. The People's Commissar of the aviation industry at that time was M.M. Kaganovich. Possessing a good memory, Stalin was quite well aware of the design features aircraft, all important issues regarding aviation were decided by Stalin. The meeting outlined measures for the further accelerated development of aviation in the USSR. Until now, history has not conclusively refuted the hypothesis of Stalin’s preparation for an attack on Germany in July 1941. It was on the basis of this assumption about the planning of Stalin’s attack on Germany (and further for the “liberation” of Western countries), adopted at the “historic” plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in August 1939 and this fact, incredible for that (or any other) time, of the sale of advanced German equipment and technology to the USSR seems explainable. A large delegation of Sovietaviation workers, who traveled to Germany twice shortly before the war, got their hands on fighters, bombers, guidance systems, and much more, which made it possible to sharply advance the level of domestic aircraft production. A decision was made to increase the combat power of aviation, since it was from August 1939 The USSR began covert mobilization and prepared strikes against Germany and Romania.
Mutual exchange of information on the state of the armed forces of the three states (England, France and the USSR), represented in Moscow in August1939, i.e. before the start of the partition of Poland, showed that the numberThere are 2 thousand first-line aircraft in France. Of these, twothirds were completely modern aircraft. By 1940, it was planned to increase the number of aircraft in France to 3000 units. Englishaviation, according to Marshal Burnet, had about 3,000 units, and the potential production was 700 aircraft per month.German industry underwent mobilization only at the beginning1942, after which the number of weapons began to increase sharply.
Of all the domestic fighter aircraft ordered by Stalin, the most successful variants were the LAGG, MiG and YAK.The IL-2 attack aircraft delivered a lot to its designer Ilyushinneniya. Manufactured initially with rear hemisphere protection (double)he, on the eve of the attack on Germany, did not suit the customers of hiswastefulness." S. Ilyushin, who did not know all of Stalin's plans, was forced to change the design to a single-seat version, i.e., bring the design closer to the aircraft " clear skies"Hitler violated Stalin's plans and at the beginning of the war the plane urgently had to be returned to its original design.
On February 25, 1941, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution "Onreorganization of the aviation forces of the Red Army." The resolution provided for additional measures to re-equip air units. In accordance with the plans for a future war, the task was set to urgently form new air regiments, and, at the same time, equip them, as a rule, with new machines. The formation of several airborne corps began.
The doctrine of war on “foreign territory” and “little bloodshed” causedthe emergence of a “clear sky” aircraft intended for the unpunishedraids on bridges, airfields, cities, factories. Before the war, hundreds of thousands
young men were preparing to transfer to a new one, developed by the post-Stalincompetition, the SU-2 aircraft, of which it was planned to produce 100-150 thousand units before the war. This required accelerated training of the corresponding number of pilots and technicians. SU-2 is essentially a Soviet Yu-87, and in Russia it did not stand the test of time, because There was never a “clear sky” for either country during the war.
Air defense zones with fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery were formed. An unprecedented recruitment into aviation began, voluntarily andforcibly. Almost all of the small civil aviationwas mobilized into the Air Force. Dozens of aviation schools were opened, incl. ultra-accelerated (3-4 months) training, traditionally, the officers at the helm or control handle of the aircraft were replaced by sergeants - an unusual fact and evidence of haste in preparing for war. Airfields were urgently moved to the borders (about 66 airfields), supplies of fuel, bombs, and shells were imported. Carefully and raids on German airfields and the Ploieşti oil fields were detailed in special secrecy... 
On June 13, 1940, the Flight Test Institute was formed(LII), during the same period other design bureaus and research institutes were formed.In the war with the Soviet Union, the Nazis assigned a special role to theiraviation, which by this time had already gained complete dominance inair in the West. Basically a plan for the use of aviation in the Eastplanned the same as the war in the West: first to conquer the dominantin the air, and then transfer forces to support the ground army.
Outlining the timing of the attack on the Soviet Union, Hitler's commandThe operation set the following tasks for the Luftwaffe:
1.Destroy Soviet airfields with a surprise attackSoviet aviation.
2.Achieve complete air supremacy.
3.After solving the first two tasks, switch aviation to support ground forces directly to the slaughter field.
4. Disrupt the work of Soviet transport, complicate the transfertroops both in the front line and in the rear.
5. Bombard large industrial centers - Moscow, Gorky, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Kharkov, Tula.
Germany dealt a crushing blow to our airfields. Only for 8Hours of the war, 1,200 aircraft were lost and mass casualties occurred.flight personnel, storage facilities and all supplies were destroyed. Historians noted the strange “crowding” of our aviation at the airfields the day beforewar and complained about the “mistakes” and “miscalculations” of the command (i.e. Stalin)and assessment of events. In fact, “crowding” foreshadows plansa super-massive strike on targets and confidence in impunity, which did not happen. The Air Force flight personnel, especially the bomber ones, suffered heavy losses due to the lack of support fighters; the tragedy of the death of perhaps the most advanced and powerful air fleet inhistory of mankind, which had to be revived again under the blows enemy.
It must be admitted that the Nazis managed to largely implement their plans for an air war in 1941 and the first half of 1942. Against Soviet Union almost all available forces were deployed G Hitler's aviation, including units removed from the Western Front. Atit was assumed that after the first successful operations, some of the bombsarmored and fighter formations will be returned to the Westfor the war with England. At the beginning of the war, the Nazis had not only quantitative superiority. Their advantage was also the fact that the pilotsthe personnel who took part in the air attack have already been seriouslynew fighting school with French, Polish and English pilots. Onthey also had a fair amount of experience interacting with their troops,acquired in the war against Western European countries.Old types of fighters and bombers, such as the I-15,I-16, SB, TB-3 could not compete with the latest Messerschmitts and"Junkers". Nevertheless, in the unfolding air battles, even on the lipsnew types of aircraft, Russian pilots caused damage to the Germans. From 22June to July 19, Germany lost 1,300 aircraft only battles
Here is what the German General Staffist Greffath writes about this:
" Behind period from June 22 to July 5, 1941 German air Force lost 807 aircraft of all types, and during the period from July 6 to July 19 - 477.
These losses indicate that despite the surprise achieved by the Germans, the Russians were able to find the time and strength to provide decisive resistance ".
On the very first day of the war, fighter pilot Kokorev distinguished himself by ramming an enemy fighter, the crew’s feat is known to the whole worldGastello (the latest research into this fact suggests that the ramming crew was not Gastello’s crew, but the crew of Maslov, who flew with Gastello’s crew to attack enemy columns), who threw his burning car onto a cluster of German equipment.Despite the losses, the Germans in all directions brought everything into battlenew and new fighters and bombers. They abandoned the front4940 aircraft, including 3940 German, 500 Finnish, 500 Romanianand achieved complete air supremacy.
By October 1941, the Wehrmacht armies approached Moscow and were busycities supplying components for aircraft factories, the time has come to evacuate the factories and design bureaus of Sukhoi, Yakovlev and others in Moscow, Ilyushin inVoronezh, all factories in the European part of the USSR demanded the evacuation.
Aircraft production in November 1941 decreased by more than three and a half times. Already on July 5, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decided to evacuate from the central regions of the country part of the equipment of some aircraft equipment factories in order to duplicate their production in Western Siberia, and After some time, a decision had to be made to evacuate the entire aviation industry.
On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee approved schedules for the restoration and relaunch of evacuated factories and production plans.
The task was not only to restore aircraft production,but also to significantly increase their quantity and quality. In December 1941The aircraft production plan was completed in less than 40 years.percent, and motors - only 24 percent.In the most difficult conditions, under bombs, in the cold, cold of Siberian wintersbackup factories were launched one after another. They were refined and simplified.technologies, new types of materials were used (without compromising quality), women and teenagers took over the machines.
Lend-Lease supplies were also of no small importance for the front. Throughout the Second World War, aircraft supplied 4-5 percent of the total production of aircraft and other weapons produced in the USA. However, a number of materials and equipment supplied by the USA and England were unique and indispensable for Russia (varnishes, paints, other chemicals substances, devices, tools, equipment, medicines, etc.) that cannot be characterized as “insignificant” or secondary.
The turning point in the work of domestic aircraft factories came around March 1942. At the same time, the combat experience of our pilots grew.
Between November 19 and December 31, 1942 alone, the Luftwaffe lost 3,000 combat aircraft in the battles for Stalingrad. Our aviation becameact more actively and showed all its combat power in the NorthCaucasus. Heroes of the Soviet Union appeared. This title was awardedboth for downed aircraft and for the number of combat sorties.
In the USSR, the Normandie-Niemen squadron was formed, staffed by French volunteers. The pilots fought on Yak aircraft.
Average monthly production of aircraft rose from 2.1 thousand in 1942 to 2.9 thousand in 1943. Total industry in 1943produced 35 thousand aircraft, 37 percent more than in 1942.In 1943, factories produced 49 thousand engines, almost 11 thousand more than in 1942.
Back in 1942, the USSR surpassed Germany in the production of aircraft - the heroic efforts of our specialists and workers and the “complacency” or unpreparedness of Germany, which did not mobilize industry in advance for war conditions, had an impact.
In the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943, Germany used significant quantities of aircraft, but the power of the Air Force for the first time ensured air supremacy. For example, in just one hour on one day of the operation, a force of 411 aircraft was struck, and so on in three waves during the day.
By 1944, the front received about 100 aircraft daily, incl. 40 fighters.The main combat vehicles were modernized. Aircraft withimproved combat qualities of the YAK-3, PE-2, YAK 9T, D, LA-5, IL-10.German designers also modernized the aircraft."Me-109F,G,G2", etc.
By the end of the war, the problem of increasing the range of fighter aircraft arose; airfields could not keep up with the front. Designers proposed installing additional gas tanks on airplanes, and jet weapons began to be used. Radio communications developed, and radar was used in air defense. Bomb strikes became more and more intense. Thus, on April 17, 1945, bombers of the 18th Air Army in the area of Königsbergaz carried out 516 sorties for 45 minutes and dropped 3,743 bombs with a total weight of 550 tons.
In the air battle for Berlin, the enemy took part in 1,500 combat aircraft based at 40 airfields near Berlin. This is the most intense air battle in history, and the highest level of combat training on both sides should be taken into account.The Luftwaffe was fought by aces who shot down 100,150 or more aircraft (record300 downed combat aircraft).
At the end of the war, the Germans used jet aircraft, which were significantly faster than propeller-driven aircraft in speed - (Me-262, etc.). However, this did not help. Our pilots in Berlin flew 17.5 thousand combat sorties and completely destroyed the German air fleet.
Analyzing military experience, we can conclude that our aircraft, developed in the period 1939-1940. had constructive reserves for subsequent modernization. Along the way, it should be noted that in the USSR not all types of aircraft were accepted for service. For example, in October 1941, production of MiG-3 fighters was stopped, and in 1943, IL-4 bombers.
The USSR aviation industry produced 15,735 aircraft in 1941. In the difficult year of 1942, during the evacuation of aviation enterprises, 25,436 aircraft were produced, in 1943 - 34,900 aircraft, in 1944 - 40,300 aircraft, in the first half of 1945, 20,900 aircraft were produced. Already in the spring of 1942, all factories evacuated from central regions The USSR beyond the Urals and Siberia completely mastered the production of aviation equipment and weapons. Most of these factories in new places in 1943 and 1944 produced products several times more than before the evacuation.
The successes of the rear made it possible to strengthen the country's air force. By early 1944, the Air Force And grounded 8818 combat aircraft, and German - 3073. In terms of the number of aircraft, the USSR exceeded Germany by 2.7 times. By June 1944, the German Air Forcehad only 2,776 aircraft at the front, and our Air Force - 14,787. By the beginning of January 1945, our Air Force had 15,815 combat aircraft. The design of our aircraft was much simpler than that of American, German or British aircraft. This partly explains such a clear advantage in the number of aircraft. Unfortunately, it is not possible to compare the reliability, durability and strength of our and German aircraft, as well as to analyze the tactical and strategic use of aviation in the war of 1941-1945. Apparently, these comparisons would not be in our favor and would conditionally reduce such a striking difference in numbers. However, perhaps, simplifying the design was the only way out in the absence of qualified specialists, materials, equipment and other components for the production of reliable and high-quality equipment in the USSR, especially since, unfortunately, in the Russian army they traditionally hire by “numbers”, not by skill .
Aircraft weapons were also improved. in 1942, a large-caliber 37 mm aircraft gun was developed, later it appearedand a 45 mm cannon.
By 1942, V.Ya. Klimov developed the M-107 engine to replace the M-105P, adopted for installation on water-cooled fighters.
Greffoat writes: “Relying on the fact that the war with Russia, like the war in the West, would be lightning fast, Hitler intended, after achieving the first successes in the East, to transfer bomber units, as well as required amount planes back to the West. In the East they shouldair connections intended for directsupport for German troops, as well as military transport units and a number of fighter squadrons..."
German aircraft created in 1935-1936 at the beginning of the war no longer had the possibility of radical modernization. According to the German General Butler "The Russians had the advantage that in the production of weapons and ammunition they took into account all the featuresconducting the war in Russia and ensuring maximum simplicity of technology. As a result of this, Russian factories produced a huge amount of weapons, which were distinguished by their great simplicity of design. Learning to wield such a weapon was relatively easy... "
Second World War fully confirmed the maturity of domestic scientific and technical thought (this ultimately ensured the further acceleration of the introduction of jet aviation).
Nevertheless, each country followed its own path in designing airplanes.
The aviation industry of the USSR produced 15,735 aircraft in 1941. In the difficult year of 1942, during the evacuation of aviation enterprises, 25,436 aircraft were produced, in 1943 - 34,900 aircraft, for1944 - 40,300 aircraft, 20,900 aircraft were produced in the first half of 1945. Already in the spring of 1942, all factories evacuated from the central regions of the USSR to the Urals and Siberia had fully mastered the production of aviation equipment and weapons. Most of these factories moved to new locations in 1943 and 1944 years they produced several times more production than before the evacuation.
Germany had, in addition to its own resources, the resources of the conquered countries. In 1944, German factories produced 27.6 thousand aircraft, and our factories produced 33.2 thousand aircraft in the same period. In 1944, aircraft production was 3.8 times higher than the 1941 figures.
In the first months of 1945, the aircraft industry prepared equipment for the final battles. Thus, the Siberian Aviation Plant N 153, which produced 15 thousand fighters during the war, transferred 1.5 thousand modernized fighters to the front in January-March 1945.
The successes of the rear made it possible to strengthen the country's air force. By the beginning of 1944, the Air Force had 8,818 combat aircraft, and the German - 3,073. In terms of the number of aircraft, the USSR exceeded Germany by 2.7 times. By June 1944, the German Air Forcehad only 2,776 aircraft at the front, and our Air Force - 14,787. By the beginning of January 1945, our Air Force had 15,815 combat aircraft. The design of our aircraft was much simpler than the American and Germanor English cars. This partly explains such a clear advantage in the number of aircraft. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make a comparison of the reliability, durability and strength of our and German aircraft, andalso analyze the tactical and strategic use of aviation in the war of 1941-1945. Apparently these comparisons would not be inour benefit and would conditionally reduce such a striking difference in numbers. However, perhaps, simplifying the design was the only way out in the absence of qualified specialists, materials, equipment and other components for the production of reliable and high-quality equipment in the USSR, especially since, unfortunately, in the Russian army they traditionally hire by “numbers”, not by skill .
Aircraft weapons were also improved. In 1942, a large-caliber 37 mm aircraft gun was developed, and later a 45 mm caliber gun appeared. By 1942, V.Ya. Klimov developed the M-107 engine to replace the M-105P, adopted for installation on water-cooled fighters.
The fundamental improvement of the aircraft is its conversionchanging from a propeller to a jet. To increase flight speeda more powerful engine is installed. However, at speeds above 700 km/hspeed increase from engine power cannot be achieved. Outputhouse from the position is the use of jet traction. Appliesturbojet/turbojet/ or liquid jet/LPRE/ engine.the second half of the 30s in the USSR, England, Germany, Italy, later - inThe United States was intensively creating a jet aircraft. In 1938, jets appearedhighest in the world, German jet engines BMW, Junkers. In 1940the first Campini-Capro jet aircraft made test flightsneither", created in Italy, later the German Me-262, Me-163 appearedXE-162. In 1941, the Gloucester aircraft with a jet was tested in Englandengine, and in 1942 they tested a jet aircraft in the USA - "Irokometh". In England, the twin-engine jet aircraft "Me" was soon createdtheor", who took part in the war. In 1945, on the Me planeTheor-4" set a world speed record of 969.6 km/h.
In the USSR, in the initial period, practical work on the creation of reactionstive engines was carried out in the direction of the liquid rocket engine. Under the leadershipS.P.Koroleva, A.F.Tsander, designers A.M.Isaev, L.S.DushkindevelopedThe first domestic jet engines were built. Pioneer turbojeakA.M.Lyulka became the first ative engine.At the beginning of 1942, G. Bakhchivandzhi made the first flight on a rockettive domestic aircraft. Soon this pilot diedduring aircraft testing.Work on the creation of a jet aircraft for practical useresumed after the war with the creation of the Yak-15, MiG-9 using non-German JUMO jet engines.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the Soviet Union entered the war with numerous, but technically backward fighter aircraft. This backwardness was, in essence, an inevitable phenomenon for a country that had only recently embarked on the path of industrialization that Western European states and the United States had followed in the 19th century. By the mid-20s of the 20th century, the USSR was an agricultural country with a half-illiterate, mostly rural population and a tiny percentage of engineering, technical and scientific personnel. Aircraft manufacturing, engine manufacturing and non-ferrous metallurgy were in their infancy. Suffice it to say that in Tsarist Russia They did not produce ball bearings and carburetors at all for aircraft engines, aircraft electrical equipment, control and aeronautical instruments. Aluminum, wheel tires and even copper wire had to be purchased abroad.
Over the next 15 years, the aviation industry, along with related and raw materials industries, was created practically from scratch, and simultaneously with the construction of the largest air force in the world at that time.
Of course, with such a fantastic pace of development, serious costs and forced compromises were inevitable, because it was necessary to rely on the available material, technological and personnel base.
The most complex knowledge-intensive industries—engine building, instrument making, and radio electronics—were in the most difficult situation. It must be admitted that the Soviet Union was unable to overcome the gap from the West in these areas during the pre-war and war years. The difference in the “starting conditions” turned out to be too great and the time allotted by history was too short. Until the end of the war, we produced engines created on the basis of foreign models purchased back in the 30s - Hispano-Suiza, BMW and Wright-Cyclone. Their repeated forcing led to overstressing of the structure and a steady decrease in reliability, and, as a rule, it was not possible to bring our own promising developments to mass production. The exception was the M-82 and its further development M-82FN, thanks to which perhaps the best soviet fighter during the war - La-7.
During the war years, the Soviet Union was unable to establish serial production of turbochargers and two-stage superchargers, multifunctional propulsion automation devices similar to the German “Kommandoherat”, powerful 18-cylinder air-cooled engines, thanks to which the Americans crossed the milestone of 2000, and then at 2500 hp. Well, by and large, no one in our country was seriously involved in work on water-methanol boosting of engines. All this greatly limited aircraft designers in creating fighters with higher performance characteristics than the enemy.
No less serious restrictions were imposed by the need to use wood, plywood and steel pipes instead of scarce aluminum and magnesium alloys. The irresistible weight of the wooden and mixed construction forced us to weaken the weapons, limit the ammunition load, reduce the fuel supply and save on armor protection. But there was simply no other way out, because otherwise it would not have been possible to even bring the flight data of Soviet aircraft closer to the characteristics of German fighters.
Our aircraft industry lags in quality for a long time compensated due to quantity. Already in 1942, despite the evacuation of 3/4 of the aircraft industry's production capacity, the USSR produced 40% more combat aircraft than Germany. In 1943, Germany made significant efforts to increase the production of combat aircraft, but nevertheless the Soviet Union built 29% more of them. Only in 1944, the Third Reich, through the total mobilization of the resources of the country and occupied Europe, caught up with the USSR in the production of combat aircraft, but during this period the Germans had to use up to 2/3 of their aviation in the West, against the Anglo-American allies.
By the way, we note that for each combat aircraft produced in the USSR there were 8 times fewer machine tools, 4.3 times less electricity and 20% fewer workers than in Germany! Moreover, more than 40% of workers in the Soviet aviation industry in 1944 were women, and over 10% were teenagers under 18 years of age.
The given figures indicate that Soviet aircraft were simpler, cheaper and more technologically advanced than German ones. Nevertheless, by the middle of 1944, their best models, such as the Yak-3 and La-7 fighters, surpassed German aircraft of the same type and contemporary ones in a number of flight parameters. The combination of fairly powerful engines with high aerodynamic and weight efficiency made it possible to achieve this, despite the use of archaic materials and technologies designed for simple conditions production, outdated equipment and low-skilled workers.
It can be argued that the named types in 1944 accounted for only 24.8% of the total production of fighter aircraft in the USSR, and the remaining 75.2% were older types of aircraft with worse flight characteristics. We can also recall that in 1944 the Germans were already actively developing jet aviation, having achieved considerable success in this. The first samples of jet fighters were put into mass production and began to arrive in combat units.
Nevertheless, the progress of the Soviet aircraft industry during the difficult war years is undeniable. And his main achievement is that our fighters managed to recapture from the enemy low and medium altitudes, at which attack aircraft and short-range bombers operated - the main striking force of aviation on the front line. This ensured the successful combat work of the Ilovs and Pe-2s against German defensive positions, force concentration centers and transport communications, which, in turn, contributed to the victorious offensive of the Soviet troops at the final stage of the war.
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War creates a need unprecedented in peacetime. Countries compete to create the next most powerful 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 appeared as a result of a misconception in the 1930s regarding the further development of the situation in 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 its 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, major powers invested heavily in developing “bomber busters”—heavy fighters designed to intercept enemy formations in the skies. 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, the Airacuda had 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 a 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 air technology Second World War. They were lifted into the air in tow and detached near enemy territories, ensuring the rapid delivery of cargo and troops within airborne operations. Among all the gliders of that period, the “flying tank” “A-40” Soviet made, of course, stood out with 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 a good system for supplying 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 tank crew had to be delivered separately, which significantly reduced the combat effectiveness of the system.
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 defend against 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 written 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. New type 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” performed excellently 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 aircraft designs, among other things, experimenting with forward-swept wings (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 design the XFG-1, one of the most specialized aircraft ever built. In essence, the XFG-1 was a flying fuel tank.
George's plan was to produce both manned and unmanned versions of his glider, both of which could be towed by the latest bombers at their cruising speed of 400 kilometers per hour, twice the 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 a dangerous combat zone.
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 the First World War 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 are over a complete failure, and in the end the idea was abandoned, since the loss of its 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 proposed using 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 a rocket plane projectile special purpose"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 missiles, 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.
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. While superior in speed at altitudes above 5,000 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 for 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 includes a front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft, special purpose passenger aircraft and 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 fight on equal terms with German aircraft - this 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 design and did not fall apart even after dozens of direct hits. At the same time, the La-5 had impressive maneuverability and speed: turn time was 16.5-19 seconds, speed was 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.
It was only in 1959 that the U-2, renamed Po-2 in 1944 in honor of its creator, ended 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 performance was a powerful aircraft engine, armored glass necessary to protect the crew, as well as high-speed 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.
Soviet military aviation at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War
When the Nazis attacked the USSR, Soviet aviation was destroyed at the airfields. And the Germans dominated the skies in the first year of the war, as well as in the second. What kind of fighter aircraft were in service? Soviet army Then?
The main one, of course, was I-16.
There were also I-5(biplanes) received by the Nazis as trophies. Modified from I-5 fighters I-15 bis, which remained after the attack on the airfields, fought in the first months of the war.
"Seagulls" or I-153, also biplanes, lasted in the skies until 1943. Their retractable landing gear made it possible to increase flight speed. And four small caliber machine guns (7.62) fired directly through the propeller. All of the above aircraft models were outdated before the start of the war. For example, the speed of the best fighter
I-16(with different engines) was from 440 to 525 km/h. The only good thing was its weapons, two ShKAS machine guns and two cannons SHVAK(latest issues). And the range that the I-16 could fly reached a maximum of 690 km.
Germany was in service in 1941 Me-109, produced by industry since 1937, of various modifications, which attacked the Soviet borders in 1941. The armament of this aircraft was two machine guns (MG-17) and two cannons (MG-FF). The fighter's flight speed was 574 km/h, which was the maximum speed that the 1,150 hp engine could achieve. With. The highest lifting height or ceiling reached 11 kilometers. Only in terms of flight range, for example, the Me-109E was inferior to the I-16, it was equal to 665 km.
Soviet aircraft I-16(type 29) made it possible to reach a ceiling of 9.8 kilometers with a 900-horsepower engine. Their range was only 440 km. The take-off run length of the “donkeys” was on average 250 meters. German fighters have designer Messerschmitt the takeoff run was approximately 280 meters. If we compare the time it takes the plane to rise to a height of three kilometers, it turns out that the Soviet I-16 of the twenty-ninth type loses to the ME-109 seconds 15. In terms of payload weight, the “donkey” is also behind the “Messer”, 419 kg versus 486.
To replace "donkey" was designed in the USSR I-180, all metal. V. Chkalov crashed on it before the war. After him, tester T. Susi fell to the ground on the I-180-2 along with the plane, blinded by the hot oil ejected from the engine. Before the war, the serial I-180 was discontinued as a failure.
Polikarpov OKB also worked on the creation I-153, a biplane with an engine power of 1100 hp. With. But its maximum speed in the air reached only 470 km/h, it was not a competitor ME-109. Other Soviet aircraft designers also worked on the creation of modern fighters. Produced since 1940 YAK-1, which can fly at a speed of 569 km/h and has a ceiling of 10 km. A cannon and two machine guns were installed on it.
And Lavochkin’s fighter LAGG-3, with a wooden body and a 1050 hp engine. s, showed a speed of 575 km/h. But it, designed in 1942, was soon replaced by another model - LA-5 with a flight speed at six-kilometer altitudes of up to 580 km/h.
Arrived under Lend-Lease "Aerocobras" or P-39, which had the engine behind the cockpit, were all-metal monoplanes. On turns they went around "Messers", getting behind them. It was on the Airacobra that ace Pokryshkin flew.
In flight speed, the P-39 also exceeded the ME-109 by 15 km/h, but was inferior in ceiling by one and a half kilometers. And the flight range of almost a thousand kilometers made it possible to carry out deep raids behind enemy lines. The foreign aircraft was armed with a 20-mm cannon and two or three machine guns.
Soviet aircraft from the Great Patriotic War are a topic that deserves special attention. After all, it was aviation that played a huge role in the victory over fascism. Without the winged helpers of the USSR army, it would have been many times more difficult to defeat the enemy. War birds significantly brought the cherished moment closer, which cost the lives of millions of Soviet citizens...And although at the very beginning of the war our forces lost more than nine hundred aircraft, by the middle of it, thanks to the dedicated work of designers, engineers and ordinary workers, domestic aviation was again at its best. So, what kind of steel birds carried victory to the Motherland on their wings?
MiG-3
At that time, this fighter, designed on the basis of the MiG-1, was considered the highest altitude and became a real threat to the German kites. He was able to climb 1200 meters, and it was here that he felt best, developing the highest speed (up to 600 kilometers per hour). But at an altitude of less than 4.5 km, the MiG-3 was significantly inferior to other fighters. The very first battle involving this aircraft model dates back to July 22, 1941. It took place over Moscow and was successful. The German plane was shot down. Throughout World War II, MiG-3 fighters guarded the skies over the capital of the Soviet Union.
The brainchild of the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev, which in the 30s was engaged in the production of lightweight sports “birds”. Mass production The first fighter began in 1940, and at the dawn of the war, Yak-1 aircraft took an active part in hostilities. And already in 1942, Soviet aviation received the Yak-9.
The fighter could boast excellent maneuverability, which made it the king of the situation in close combat at a relatively low high altitudes. Another feature of the model is its lightness, achieved by replacing wood with duralumin.
Over the 6 years of production, more than 17 thousand aircraft of this model rolled off the assembly line, and this allows us to call it the most popular among the “birds” of this type. The Yak-9 has gone through 22 modifications, having served as a fighter-bomber, a reconnaissance aircraft, a passenger aircraft, and a training aircraft. In the enemy camp, this machine received the nickname “killer,” which says a lot.
A fighter that became one of the most successful developments of the Lavochkin design bureau. The aircraft had a very simple design, which at the same time was amazingly reliable. The robust La-5 remained in service even after several direct hits. Its engine was not ultra-modern, but it was characterized by power. And the air cooling system made it much less vulnerable than liquid-cooled engines, widespread at that time.
La-5 proved to be an obedient, dynamic, maneuverable and high-speed machine. Soviet pilots they loved him, but his enemies were terrified of him. This model became the first of the domestic aircraft of the Second World War period, which was not inferior to the German kites and could fight with them on equal terms. It was on La-5 that Alexey Meresyev accomplished his exploits. Also at the helm of one of the cars was Ivan Kozhedub.
The second name of this biplane is U-2. It was developed by the Soviet designer Nikolai Polikarpov back in the 20s, and then the model was considered a training model. But in the 40s, the Po-2 had to fight as a night bomber.
The Germans called Polikarpov’s brainchild a “sewing machine,” thereby emphasizing his tirelessness and massive impact. The Po-2 could drop more bombs than its heavy “colleagues”, since it could lift up to 350 kilograms of ammunition. The aircraft was also distinguished by the fact that it was capable of making several sorties in one night.
The legendary female pilots from the 46th Guards Taman Aviation Regiment fought with the enemy on the Po-2. These 80 girls, a quarter of whom were awarded the title of Hero of the USSR, terrified the enemy. The Nazis nicknamed them “night witches.”
Polikarpov's biplane was produced at a plant in Kazan. Over the entire production period, 11 thousand aircraft rolled off the assembly line, which allowed the model to be considered the most popular among biplanes.
And this aircraft is the leader in the number of units produced in the entire history of combat aviation. 36 thousand cars took to the skies from the factory floors. The model was developed at Ilyushin Design Bureau. Production of the IL-2 began in 1940, and from the first days of the war the attack aircraft was in service.
The IL-2 was equipped with a powerful engine, the crew was protected by armored glass, the “bird” fired rockets and was the main striking force of domestic aviation. The attack aircraft simply shocked with its invincibility and durability. There were cases when planes returned from battle with traces of hundreds of hits and were able to fight further. This made the IL-2 a real legend among both Soviet soldiers and the Nazis. His enemies called him the “winged tank,” “the black death,” and “the plane made of concrete.”
IL-4
Another brainchild of the Ilyushin Design Bureau is the Il-4, considered the most attractive aircraft of the Second World War. His appearance immediately catches the eye and is etched in the memory. The model went down in history, first of all, due to the fact that it was the very first to bomb Berlin. Moreover, not in ’45, but in ’41, when the war was just beginning. The aircraft was quite popular among pilots, although it was not easy to operate.
The rarest “bird” in the sky during the Great Patriotic War. The Pe-8 was used rarely, but accurately. He was trusted to carry out the most difficult tasks. Since the appearance of the plane was not familiar, it happened that it became a victim of its own air defenses, which mistook the car for an enemy one.
The Pe-8 developed a speed that was enormous for a bomber - up to 400 kilometers per hour. It was equipped with a giant tank, which allowed the “bird” to make the longest flights (for example, get from Moscow to Berlin and back without refueling). The Pe-8 dropped large-caliber bombs (maximum weight - 5 tons).
When the Nazis came close to Moscow, this powerful defender of the Motherland circled over the capitals of enemy states and rained fire on them from the sky. Another interesting fact about the Pe-8 - USSR Foreign Minister Molotov flew on it (only on the passenger version of the model) to the UK and the United States to meet with colleagues.
It was thanks to the “magnificent seven players” presented above and, of course, other, lesser-known aircraft that Soviet soldiers defeated Nazi Germany and its allies not 10 years after the start of the war, but only 4 years later. The strengthened aviation became the main trump card of our soldiers, and did not allow the enemy to relax. And considering that all the aircraft were developed and produced in conditions of cold, hunger and deprivation, their mission and the role of the creators looks especially heroic!
