From the moment airplanes went from one-off designs of enthusiasts to more or less mass-produced and suitable for practical application aircraft, aviation have earned the closest attention of the military, over time becoming an integral part military doctrine most developed countries.
All the more difficult were the losses in the first days of the Great Patriotic War, when the vast majority of aircraft were destroyed before they even took off from the ground. However, the current situation became the best incentive for the development of aircraft manufacturing in all classes - it was necessary not just to replenish the Air Force fleet. In the current critical situation, with an acute shortage of time and resources, to create fundamentally different aircraft that could at least fight on an equal footing with Luftwaffe aircraft, and ideally surpass them.
Combat teacher
One of the most recognizable Soviet aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, which made a huge contribution to the Victory, was the primitive U-2 biplane, later renamed Po-2. This two-seater airplane was originally conceived for primary piloting training, and could practically not carry any payload - neither the dimensions of the aircraft, nor its design, nor the take-off weight, nor the small 110-horsepower engine allowed. But the U-2 coped with the role of a “study desk” all its life remarkably well.
However, quite unexpectedly, the U-2 found quite a combat use. Equipped with suppressors and holders for light bombs, the aircraft became a light, miniature but stealthy and dangerous night bomber, firmly established in this role until the end of the war. Later we even managed to find some free weight to install a machine gun. Before this, pilots made do with only personal small arms.
Air Knights
Some aviation enthusiasts consider the Second World War to be the golden age of fighter aviation. No computers, radars, television, radio or heat-seeking missiles. Only personal skill, experience and luck.
At the end of the 30s, the USSR came close to a qualitative breakthrough in the production of fighter aircraft. No matter how beloved and mastered the capricious “Donkey” I-16 was, if it could resist the Luftwaffe fighters, it was only due to the heroism of the pilots, and at an unrealistically high price. At the same time, in the depths of the Soviet design bureaus, despite rampant repressions, fundamentally different fighters were created.
The first-born of the new approach, the MiG-1, quickly transformed into the MiG-3, which became one of the most dangerous Soviet aircraft of the Second World War, the main German enemy. The plane could accelerate over 600 km/h and climb to a height of more than 11 kilometers, which was clearly beyond the capabilities of its predecessors. This is what determined the niche for the use of the MiG-a - it showed itself excellently as a high-altitude fighter operating in the air defense system.
However, at altitudes up to 5000 meters, the MiG-3 began to lose speed to enemy fighters, and in this niche it was supplemented first by the Yak-1, and then by the Yak-9. These light vehicles had a high thrust-to-weight ratio and quite powerful weapons, for which they quickly earned the love of pilots, and not only domestic ones - fighters of the French regiment "Normandie - Neman", having tested several models of fighters from different countries, chose the Yak-9, which they received as a gift from the Soviet government.
However, these relatively light Soviet aircraft had a noticeable drawback - weak weapons. Most often these were machine guns of 7.62 or 12.7 mm caliber, less often - a 20 mm cannon.
The Lavochkin design bureau's new product was devoid of this drawback - two ShVAK guns were installed on the La-5. The new fighter also featured a return to air-cooled engines, which were abandoned during the creation of the MiG-1 in favor of liquid-cooled engines. The fact is that the liquid-cooled engine was much more compact - and, therefore, created less drag. The disadvantage of such an engine was its “tenderness” - it only takes a small fragment or a random bullet to break a pipe or radiator of the cooling system, and the engine would immediately fail. It was this feature that forced designers to return to bulky air-cooled engines.
By that time, a new high-power engine had appeared - the M-82, which subsequently became very widespread. However, at that time the engine was frankly crude, and caused many problems to aircraft designers who used it on their machines.
However, the La-5 was a serious step in the development of fighters - this was noted not only by Soviet pilots, but also by Luftwaffe testers, who eventually received a captured aircraft in good condition.
Flying tank
The design of aircraft during the Great Patriotic War was standard - a wooden or metal frame that acted as a power structure and took on all the loads. On the outside, it was covered with sheathing - fabric, plywood, metal. An engine, armor plates, and weapons were mounted inside this structure. One way or another, all World War II aircraft were designed according to this principle.
This plane became the first-born new scheme design. The Ilyushin Design Bureau realized that such an approach noticeably overloads the design. At the same time, the armor is quite strong and can be used as an element of the aircraft’s power structure. The new approach has opened up new opportunities for rational use weight. This is how the Il-2 came into being, an aircraft that was nicknamed the “flying tank” because of its armor protection.
IL-2 was an unpleasant surprise for the Germans. At first, the attack aircraft was often used as a fighter, and in this role it showed itself far from brilliantly - its low speed and maneuverability did not allow it to fight on equal terms with the enemy, and the lack of any serious protection for the rear hemisphere quickly began to be used by Luftwaffe pilots.
And for the developers, this aircraft did not become problem-free. Throughout the war, the aircraft's armament was constantly changing, and the addition of a second crew member (the aircraft was originally a single-seater) shifted the center of gravity so far back that the aircraft threatened to become uncontrollable.
However, the efforts paid off. The original armament (two 20 mm cannons) was replaced with a more powerful caliber - 23 mm, and then 37 mm. With such armament, almost everyone began to fear the aircraft - both tanks and heavy bombers.
According to the recollections of the pilots, when firing from such guns, the plane literally hung in the air due to recoil. The tail gunner successfully covered the rear hemisphere from fighter attacks. In addition, the plane could carry several light bombs.
All this was a success, and the Il-2 became an indispensable aircraft on the battlefield, and not only the most popular and recognizable attack aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, but also the most popular combat aircraft - more than 36 thousand of them were produced. And if you consider that at the beginning of the war there were only 128 of them in the Air Force, then there is no doubt about its relevance.
Destroyers
The bomber has been an integral part of combat aviation almost from the very beginning of its use on the battlefield. Small, large, super-large - they have always been the most technologically advanced type of combat aircraft.
One of the most recognizable Soviet aircraft of the Second World War of this type is the Pe-2. Conceived as a super-heavy fighter, the aircraft evolved over time, becoming one of the most dangerous and effective dive bombers of the war.
It is worth saying that the dive bomber, as a class of aircraft, made its debut precisely in World War II. Its appearance was due to the evolution of weapons: the development of air defense systems forced the creation of higher and higher altitude bombers. However, the higher the height at which bombs are dropped, the lower the bombing accuracy. The developed tactics for using bombers implied a breakthrough to targets on high altitude, descent to bombing altitude, and departure again at high altitude. It was only a matter of time before the idea of dive bombing emerged.
The dive bomber does not drop bombs in horizontal flight. It literally falls on the target and releases it from a minimum height of literally hundreds of meters. The result is the highest possible accuracy. However, at low altitude the aircraft is maximally vulnerable to anti-aircraft guns - and this could not but leave its mark on its design.
It turns out that the dive bomber must combine the incompatible. It should be as compact as possible to minimize the risk of being shot down by anti-aircraft gunners. At the same time, the plane must be spacious enough, otherwise there will simply be nowhere to hang the bombs. Moreover, we must not forget about strength, because the loads on the aircraft structure during a dive, and especially during recovery from a dive, are enormous. And the failed Pe-2 fighter coped well with its new role.
“Pawn” was complemented by its relative in the Tu-2 class. The small twin-engine bomber could “operate” both from a dive and using the classic bomber method. The problem is that at the beginning of the war the plane was very, very rare. However, the machine turned out to be so effective and successful that the number of modifications created on its basis is perhaps the maximum for Soviet aircraft of the Second World War.
The Tu-2 was a bomber, attack aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, interceptor, torpedo bomber... In addition to all this, there were several different variations that differed in range. However, these machines were far from truly long-range bombers.
To Berlin!
This bomber is perhaps the most beautiful of the wartime aircraft, making the IL-4 impossible to confuse with anyone else. Despite the difficulty in control (this explains the high accident rate of these aircraft), the Il-4 was very popular among the troops and was used not only as a “land” bomber. Despite its excessive flight range, the aircraft was used by the Air Force as a torpedo bomber.
However, the Il-4 left its mark on history as the aircraft that carried out the first combat missions against Berlin. This happened in the fall of 1941. However, soon the front line shifted to the East so much that the capital of the Third Reich became inaccessible to the Il-4, and then other aircraft began to “work” on it.
Heavy and rare
During the Great Patriotic War, this aircraft was so rare and “closed” that it was often attacked by its own air defenses. But he performed perhaps the most difficult operations of the war.
Although the Pe-8 long-range bomber appeared in the late 30s, for a long time it was not just the most modern aircraft of its class - it was the only one. The Pe-8 had a high speed (more than 400 km/h), and the fuel reserve made it possible not only to fly to Berlin and back, but also to carry large-caliber bombs, up to the five-ton FAB-5000. It was the Pe-8s that bombed Koenigsberg, Helsinki, and Berlin when the front line was dangerously close to Moscow. Because of its “operating range,” the Pe-8 is sometimes called a strategic bomber, and at that time this class of aircraft was just in its infancy.
One of the most specific operations performed by the Pe-8 was the transportation of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov to the UK and the USA. The flights took place in the spring of 1942, the route crossed the occupied territories of Europe. The People's Commissar traveled on a special passenger version of the Pe-8. A total of two such aircraft were built.
Nowadays, airplanes operate several dozen intercontinental flights daily, carrying thousands of passengers. However, in those years such a flight was a real feat not only for pilots, but also for passengers. The point is not even that there was a war going on, and the plane could be shot down at any moment. In the 40s, comfort and life support systems on airplanes were very, very primitive, and navigation systems, in the modern sense, were completely absent. The navigator could only rely on radio beacons, the range of which was very limited, and there were none over the occupied territories, and on the navigator’s own experience and special instinct - after all, on long-distance flights, he, in fact, became the main person on the plane. It depended on him whether the plane would arrive at given point, or will wander over poorly oriented and, moreover, enemy territory. Whatever you say, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov had no shortage of courage.
Concluding this short review Soviet aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, it would probably be useful to remember all those who, in conditions of hunger, cold, lack of the most necessary things (often even freedom), developed all these machines, each next of which was a serious step forward for the entire world aviation. The names of Lavochkin, Pokryshkin, Tupolev, Mikoyan and Gurevich, Ilyushin, Bartini will forever remain in world history. Behind them will forever stand all those who helped the chief designers - ordinary engineers.
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 problems with the engines gave Zimmerman a lot of trouble, and the Second World War ended before they could be eliminated.
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 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 in the field of military aircraft construction and was distinguished by 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 part 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 transported separately, which greatly reduced the system's combat effectiveness.
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 in the early jet planes, for example “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” 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 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 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 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.
65th anniversary great victory dedicated to
I-16 nicknames donkey, donkey - Soviet single-engine piston fighter-monoplane of the 30s, created at the Polikarpov Design Bureau.
The first flight on the prototype was made by Valery Chkalov (test pilot of the State Aviation Plant No. 39) - December 30, 1933.
Participated in civil war in Spain in 1936, in the Soviet-Japanese conflict on the Khalkhin Gol River, in the Soviet-Finnish War, by the beginning of the Second World War, the aircraft formed the basis of the USSR fighter fleet. Many Soviet ace pilots began their service on the I-16.
Yak-3 - Soviet single-engine fighter aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. The design bureau was developed under the direction of Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev. It was a continuation of the Yak-1. Produced from 1944 to 1945, a total of 4,848 aircraft were built. Recognized as the best low-altitude fighter in World War II. At the end of the war, French pilots of the Normandy-Niemen regiment flew to France on 41 Yak-3 fighters donated. These aircraft were in service with France until 1956. 
Yak-7 or UTI-26 - Soviet single-engine aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. It was developed by the design bureau under the direction of Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev as a training aircraft similar to the Yak-1. Produced since 1942, total built
6399 aircraft. 
K-9 was the most popular Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War. Produced from October 1942 to December 1948, a total of 16,769 aircraft were built. The Yak-9 was a natural continuation of the Yak-1 and Yak-7 fighters. WITH
From a constructive point of view, it represented a further development of the Yak-7. Slightly different from it in appearance, the Yak-9 at the same time was more advanced in all respects. This is natural, since when creating this aircraft, we took into account
almost two years of production experience and combat use Yak-1 took part in all operations Soviet army, starting with the Battle of Stalingrad. 
Pe-2 (Peshka) - Soviet dive bomber of World War II. The most widespread frontline bomber produced in the USSR. The Pe-2 was actively used in front-line units, as well as in naval aviation units from the first days of the Great
Patriotic War until its end, and also took part in battles with Japanese troops in the summer of 1945. 
Pe-3 is a Soviet twin-engine heavy fighter of all-metal construction. Developed at OKB-29 on the basis of the Pe-2 dive bomber under the leadership of V. M. Petlyakov. The first flight took place in August 1941. From the bomber
was distinguished by the absence of a lower hatch firing unit and brake grilles. 
MiG-3 is a Soviet high-altitude fighter from the Second World War. During the Great Patriotic War, the MiG-3 was used in various versions. Its main qualities - a large ceiling (12 thousand m) and speed at altitudes of more than 5 thousand m allowed
our pilots successfully conduct battles with enemy bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. 
LaGG-3 is a single-seat, single-engine piston fighter monoplane, which was in service with the Red Army Air Force before and during the Great Patriotic War. Used as a fighter, fighter-interceptor, fighter-bomber,
reconnaissance aircraft, produced in 1941-1944. One of three new generation fighters put into service just before the war (the other two are MiG-3 and Yak-1).
The name is deciphered by the names of the designers: Lavochkin, Gorbunov, Gudkov.
Positive qualities: powerful weapons in the first series, high survivability, minimal use of scarce materials - the main material is pine and plywood impregnated with resin - delta wood, availability of manufacturing technology. 
Lavochkin La-5 is a single-engine monoplane fighter. Single-seat, with a closed cabin, a wooden frame with fabric covering and wooden wing spars. The first production aircraft began to roll off the assembly line in July 1942.
Initially, the La-5 was armed with two automatic 20-mm ShVAK cannons, which were located in the front part of the fuselage above the engine. The instrumentation was very poor. The plane didn’t even have a single gyroscopic device,
such as an attitude indicator or a gyrocompass. If we compare the La-5 with similar aircraft from Germany, Great Britain or the USA, it may seem that technically it was significantly inferior to them. However, in its own way flight qualities it fully corresponded to the requirements of the time. In addition, its simple design, lack of need for complex maintenance and undemanding conditions for take-off fields made it ideal for the conditions in which Soviet Air Force units had to operate. During 1942, 1,129 La-5 fighters were manufactured.
La-5FN
The letters FN in the aircraft markings indicate Forced Direct Fuel Injection. The ASh-82FN engine could develop a power of 1850 hp. and maintain the forced mode for 10 minutes. In April 1943, a series of air battles took place in Lyubertsy between the pre-production La-5FN and the captured Bf.109G-2. The training battles revealed the overwhelming superiority of the Soviet fighter in speed at low and medium altitudes - the main altitudes of the air war on the Eastern Front. The La-5FN was also superior to the Bf.109G-2 in vertical maneuverability. 
Lavochkin La-7 is a Soviet single-engine, single-seat monoplane fighter. The La-7 is a further development of the La-5FN aircraft. In January 1944, the first prototype of the La-7 was produced. On February 2, it took off, and on February 16, it entered state tests. In May 1944, the new fighter was put into production under the name La-7 and by November completely replaced the La-5FN from the production line. All pilots who are Heroes of the Soviet Union, in addition to other aircraft, fought on the La-7. One of the most famous Soviet aces is three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub. 
U-2 (PO-2) is a multi-purpose biplane created under the leadership of N. N. Polikarpov in 1928. The U-2 was developed for initial training of pilots and had good aerobatic qualities. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, standard versions of the U-2 were available at hand. 2 began to be converted into light night bombers. The bomb load varied from 100 kg to 350 kg.
In 1943, the number of regiments equipped with the U-2 reached its maximum - up to 70 air regiments of night bombers and reconnaissance aircraft operated at the front.
After the death of N.N. Polikarpov in 1944, the plane was renamed Po-2 in honor of its creator. The U-2 was built serially until 1953, 33,000 vehicles were built. 
The Tu-2, also known as the ANT-58 and 103 Tu-2, is a twin-engine Soviet high-speed day bomber (high-speed day bomber/front-line bomber) from World War II. A total of 2,257 aircraft were built.
The Tu-2 remained in service until 1950. Some Chinese Tu-2s were shot down by British and American aircraft during the Korean War. It was also used by the PRC in battles with Chiang Kai-shek. The Tu-2 was used to a limited extent by the Far Eastern Air Force during the Vietnam War as an attack aircraft - for this purpose, several aircraft were equipped with a homemade multiple rocket launch system, consisting of several dozen Soviet PPSh submachine guns, which was mounted in place of the internal bomb bay. During the dive to the object, the navigator opened the bomb hatch doors and activated the multiple launch rocket system. 
DB-3F/IL-4 Twin-engine long-range bomber. Development of the DB-3 with a new navigator's cabin, a new fuselage (for a different production technology developed for the DC-3/Li-2), a wing with a new spar and pneumatic landing gear retraction control. The aircraft received the name Il-4 in March 1942. Together with the DB-3, about 6,800 copies were produced (of which 5,256 were IL-4). Most famous achievement These planes bombed Berlin at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. 
ER-2 (DB-240) - long-range bomber, twin-engine monoplane with a reverse gull wing. The aircraft was designed by OKB-240 under the leadership of V. G. Ermolaev. The bomber became a development passenger plane"Steel-7", designed at the Civil Air Fleet Research Institute by aircraft designer R.L. Bartini. The experimental DB-240 first took to the air on May 14, 1940.
Serial production began in October 1940. Er-2 was produced at plants No. 18 in Voronezh and No. 125 (39) in Irkutsk. Production was interrupted in September 1941 and resumed in 1944. A total of 462 examples were built. 
The Tupolev TB-3 (also known as the ANT-6) was a heavy bomber used by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and during World War II. The TB-3 was used during the battles at Khalkin Gol as a night bomber. In total, more than 500 combat missions were carried out. It was used in the same way as a military transport aircraft. Around 1938, a daytime flyby was made over Japanese islands during which propaganda leaflets were scattered. TB was also used during the Soviet-Finnish war. Despite the fact that the aircraft was officially withdrawn from service in 1939, at the start of the Great Patriotic War on June 22, 1941, the USSR Air Force had 516 ready-made aircraft, not counting the 25 that were subordinate to the USSR Navy. On June 23, TB-3 began night bombing of enemy territory. The lack of combat-ready aircraft forced the TB-3 to be used in the daytime without fighter escort, which is why the bombers, mostly used at low altitudes, suffered greatly from enemy fighters and ground fire crews. At the same time, the use of TB-3 at night was much more successful and widespread. By August 1941, the TB-3 accounted for 25% of the Air Force's bombing force and, flown by experienced pilots, the bomber could fly up to three combat missions per night. The aircraft took part in all important battles of 1941 -1943, including the Battle of Smolensk, the Battle of Moscow, Battle of Stalingrad, breaking the blockade of Leningrad and the Battle of Kursk. By July 1, 1945, the 18th Air Division still had ten TB-3 aircraft in combat readiness. 
Pe-8 (other designations TB-7 and ANT-42) is a Soviet four-engine long-range heavy bomber (sometimes classified as strategic) of the Second World War. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, the Pe-8 was the only modern bomber of its class at the disposal of the USSR Air Force. It was used mainly for strategic bombing of enemy rear areas (in particular, Pe-8s bombed Berlin, Koenigsberg, Danzig, and Helsinki). During the Great Patriotic War, the TB-7 was used as a long-range night bomber. Despite their small numbers, bombers were used very intensively in combat operations; from 1941 to 1944, 1,509 combat missions were carried out, 5,371 tons of bombs were dropped, and 51,264 leaflets were dropped. Thus, the first attack on Berlin by Pe-8 aircraft was carried out on August 10, 1941, and on April 29, 1943, a 5,000-kilogram bomb was dropped on Königsberg for the first time. At the same time, 5-ton bombs were lifted on the TB-7 for the first time, earlier than in the USA and England. Pe-8s were used in strategic bombing to force Finland to withdraw from the war in 1944. In a number of cases, TB-7s were used to attack targets in the front line, in particular Pe-8s were intensively used in Battle of Kursk. Pe-8s were also used for daytime bombing only once, but despite the successful completion of the combat mission, both vehicles received so much combat damage that this practice was abandoned. Combat use of the Pe-8 was discontinued at the end of 1944, as a result of massive problems with the strength of the airframe. Serial production was discontinued in 1945, and the Tu-4 entered service with the USSR instead. 
SB (ANT-40) - high-speed front-line bomber. The most massive production aircraft developed by A. N. Tupolev Design Bureau. On October 7, 1934, test pilot K.K. Popov took the ANT?40 on its first flight. The lead production aircraft, SB, was produced in the spring of 1936. Over the years of serial construction, the SB has been modernized several times. In total, until serial production ceased in 1941, 6,831 aircraft of various modifications were produced 
Il-2 is a Soviet attack aircraft from the Great Patriotic War designed by Ilyushin. In the Red Army, the aircraft received the nickname “Humpbacked” (for the characteristic shape of the fuselage). The designers called the aircraft they developed the “Flying Tank.” German pilots called it dumb for its ability to withstand damage. "Betonflugzeug" - "concrete plane" and German. "Zementbomber" - "cemented bomber". The aircraft had a bad reputation among the Wehrmacht ground troops and earned several unpleasant nicknames, such as “butcher” (German: Schlachter), “meat grinder” (Fleischwolf), “Iron Gustav” (Eiserner Gustav), some Wehrmacht soldiers called it “ black death"(German: Schwarzer Tod). The most popular aircraft of the 1940s. He took part in battles in all theaters of military operations of the Great Patriotic War, as well as in the war with Japan. Attacks from low level flight at altitudes of 15-50 m, low altitude, high angular speed and terrain folds were supposed to protect the aircraft from anti-aircraft gun fire, in while the armor protected him from small arms fire from enemy infantry. 
Il-10 is an attack aircraft of the final period of the Great Patriotic War designed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau. Created in 1944 through a deep modernization of the Il-2 aircraft, fighting began on April 16, 1945. Serial production lasted five years. A total of 4,600 combat IL-10s and 280 training IL-10s were produced. 
And now our enemies
The Messerschmitt Bf.109 is a single-engine, low-wing piston fighter that served with the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. Used as a fighter, fighter-interceptor, high-altitude fighter, fighter-bomber, reconnaissance aircraft. In terms of the number of aircraft produced (as of April 1945 - 33,984 units) it is the most popular fighter aircraft in history. The Bf.109 accounts for 57 percent of all fighter aircraft produced by Germany. The Bf.109 was used by Germany in all theaters of war, almost all German Aces began their fighter career with the Bf 109 
The Messerschmitt Bf.110 was a twin-engine heavy strategic fighter (Zerstorer) in Luftwaffe service during World War II. Due to its inability to be used for its intended purpose, it was reclassified as a fighter-bomber and night fighter. The Bf 110 was first used during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The aircraft was widely used in aggression against Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Bf.110s were also used in North Africa and supported the rebels in Iraq in May 1941. These aircraft were used little on the Soviet-German front. They were primarily used as fighter-bombers. When attacking an air target, success accompanied them only in conditions of surprise. If a maneuverable battle ensued, the Bf.110 lost even to outdated fighters (there is a known case when, in the summer of 1941, near Taganrog, a Soviet pilot in an I-15 shot down 3 Bf.110s at once). As a large number of Yak-1s and LaGG-3s appeared at the front, the losses of the Bf.110 increased significantly and they had to fly on missions accompanied by the Bf.109. In the summer of 1943, almost all the surviving Bf.110s were recalled from the Eastern Front to the Reich Air Command (German air defense). With the start of night raids by British aviation on German industrial facilities, the Bf.110D was used quite effectively as a night fighter. Thanks to its range, powerful weapons and radar capability, the Bf 110 had a great chance to continue fighting in the night sky. The Bf 110 G-4 modification was equipped with the FuG 202/220 “Lichtenstein” radar. The radar operator, located between the pilot and gunner, increased the team to three people. Night fighters were often equipped with an “oblique music” installation. 
Messerschmitt Me.163 Comet - German missile fighter-interceptor during the Second World War. The first flight took place on September 1, 1941. Produced in a small series. By the end of 1944, 91 aircraft had been delivered. The first combat flight was carried out on May 14, 1944. These planes made only a few sorties, while 11 aircraft were shot down, while they were able to destroy only 9 American B-29s. Due to the low amount of fuel, the plane could not make a repeat approach to the target.
The Me-163 had a liquid-propellant rocket engine powered by 80 percent hydrogen peroxide and a liquid catalyst (potassium permanganate solution or a mixture of methanol, hydrazine hydrate, and water). In the combustion chamber, hydrogen peroxide decomposed to form a large volume of superheated vapor-gas mixture, creating powerful jet thrust. After takeoff, the plane dropped its landing gear and landed on a retractable ski.
Three groups were armed with such aircraft, but due to a lack of fuel, only one group was able to take part in hostilities. 
Messerschmitt Me.210 - German heavy fighter. It was designed to replace the Bf 110. The first flight took place in September 1939. The aircraft had a number of design defects that greatly limited its combat value. 90 production aircraft were built in Germany, and another 320 unfinished copies were put into storage. 267 pieces were collected in Hungary. They operated mainly in Tunisia and Sardinia. 
Messerschmitt Me.262 is a German jet fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the Second World War. It is the world's first production jet aircraft and the world's first jet aircraft to take part in combat operations. The aircraft's tail was made according to the classical design. The horizontal stabilizer was reinstalled using an electric motor. The elevators had weight compensation, and the rudder had aerodynamic and weight compensation. All rudders were equipped with trim tabs. The main armament of the serial Me.262 were four 30-mm MK 108 air cannons. Since the cannons were installed side by side in the nose of the aircraft, they provided exceptionally accurate and dense fire. The guns were installed in pairs, one pair above the other. The bottom pair had 100 rounds of ammunition per barrel, the top pair had 80 rounds of ammunition per barrel. Other weapon options were also considered, including the installation of two 50-mm aircraft cannons.
The standard sight for production aircraft was the Revi-16B, which was later replaced by the EZ.42 produced by Ascania Werke. The replacement was not very successful due to the complexity of setting and adjusting the new sight. The Me.262 were equipped with a FuG.16zy radio station, standard for German aircraft of that time, as well as a FuG.25a transponder. In addition, the Me.262 was planned to use a radio navigation complex consisting of FuG.120K, FuG.125 and FuBL.3, but only some examples received it. Command aircraft had a FuG.29 combat warning system receiver. The aircraft was equipped with a Siemens K 22.Me.262 autopilot and was designed to achieve maximum manufacturability, which should have made its production easier and cheaper in wartime conditions. Conventional aluminum alloys were used, riveting was done in a straight line whenever possible, and many structural elements were simplified. The achievement of manufacturability of production was facilitated by the not too strict weight restrictions of the project. 
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 "Shrike" was a single-seat, single-engine piston fighter monoplane that served with the Luftwaffe during World War II. One of the best fighters of its time, widely used during the Second World War. A total of 19,999 aircraft were produced, of which 13,365 were fighter and night fighter variants and 6,634 were fighter-bomber variants. Production continued from 1941 until the end of the war, during which the aircraft was modernized several times. The Fw 190 has proven itself to be a real “workhorse” of the Luftwaffe (although Soviet pilots always noted that it was more difficult to fight with the Messers than with the FW-190, the Germans themselves realized this - and on the Eastern Front, until the end of the war, the Bf remained the main fighter 109) and was successfully used in various roles, in particular as a high-altitude interceptor (especially the Fw 190 D), escort fighter, attack aircraft, and night fighter. 
Arado Ar 234 Blitz (Lightning) - the world's first jet bomber, the first jet bomber to take part in combat operations. Built in Germany by Arado during World War II. It was used by the Luftwaffe from November 1944 as a reconnaissance aircraft, and from December 1944 it carried out attacks on Allied forces. Although the aircraft was used sporadically at the end of the war due to fuel shortages, it remained a very difficult target to intercept due to its high speed. The aircraft was used for the first time in combat conditions on August 2, 1944. Piloted by Lieutenant Erich Sommer, the reconnaissance aircraft photographed the entire landing area of enemy troops in Normandy in 1.5 hours. It was used to a limited extent as a night fighter. 
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engine German bomber from World War II. It was one of the main bombers of the Luftwaffe. Produced from 1937 to 1940. 
Dornier Do 217 is a German multi-role bomber from the Second World War. It was developed as a replacement for the Dornier Do 17 bomber. The first prototype (Do 217 V1) flew on 4 October 1938. It was mass-produced from November 1940 to May 1944. A total of 1,905 aircraft were built. Do-217 aircraft of various modifications were used by the Luftwaffe as photo reconnaissance aircraft, bombers, and night fighters. These aircraft were used as carriers of radio-controlled glide bombs and for laying sea mines. The first ten Do-217 aircraft with cameras installed in the bomb bay entered service at the end of 1940. And in January 1941, a photo reconnaissance squadron transferred to Romania took part in reconnaissance photography of the territory of the Soviet Union. Do-217s began to arrive in Luftwaffe bombing units later. They were used in night bombings of British cities, in addition, Do-217 units attacked Anglo-American ships in the English Channel and the North Sea. The last combat use of the Do-217 in World War II occurred on April 12, 1945. 12 Dornier bombers from a special experienced unit tried to destroy the bridge over the Oder, already captured by Soviet troops, with Hs293A glide bombs. But, despite several hits, most of the bridge spans survived. 
Heinkel He 111 is a German medium monoplane bomber, one of the main bombers of the Luftwaffe (there were also modifications of torpedo bombers and attack aircraft). Used by the Luftwaffe before and during the Second World War. In total, about 7,300 He 111s of various modifications were built, making this aircraft the second most popular German bomber in World War II. 
The Heinkel He-162 Volksjager is a single-engine jet fighter of the Luftwaffe. Developed from the Heinkel He 178 experimental aircraft at the end of the war, it was the fastest aircraft of its era to see combat. It also bore the names “Salamander” (Salamander) and “Spatz” (Sparrow). It was created as a “people's fighter” in the hope that young pilots from the Hitler Youth would fly these machines and turn the tide of the war in their favor. Despite the high performance characteristics Non-162, only one enemy aircraft was shot down on aircraft of this type. 
The Heinkel He 177 Greif is a German heavy bomber, a four-engine, twin-rotor, all-metal monoplane. Created at the Heinkel design bureau under the leadership of G. Hertel and Z. Gunter. The first flight took place on November 19, 1939. Adopted by the Luftwaffe in December 1942. 
The Heinkel He-219 "Filin" is a twin-engine piston night fighter. The first specially designed aircraft of this type in Germany. The world's first combat aircraft equipped with ejection seats. One of the most effective aircraft of the Second World War. Deliveries of the He-219 to combat units began in October 1943. The planes were mainly sent to group I/NJG1, transferred to Hahndorf for the defense of Berlin. Despite the constant shortage of aircraft and losses, it showed good performance. The group commander, Captain Manfred Meurer, had 65 victories, died on January 21, 1944 in a collision with a Lancaster. The next most successful pilot was Captain Hans-Dieter Frank with 55 victories, killed on September 27, 1943 in a collision with another night fighter. On January 1, 1944, the third commander of the group, a major, crashed, and the group was led by Werner Baake, who by that time had 41 victories. Some pilots were even able to surpass the success of Major Streib, who shot down 5 bombers in one flight with an experimental aircraft. So, on the night of November 2 to 3, 1944, Oberfeldwebel Morlock shot down 6 planes in 12 minutes, but the next night he himself died as a result of an attack by a Mosquito fighter.
By January 10, 1945, I/NJG1 had only 64 He-219As, of which 45 were combat-ready. A number of vehicles were at the headquarters of the NJG1 squadron, and also two or three vehicles were in the Norway squadron of the 5th Air Fleet. But from the beginning of 1945, the group also began to suffer losses from bombing attacks by Allied aircraft. So, on March 21, 1945, as a result of a bomb attack, 7 Heinkels were destroyed and 13 more were damaged. By April 1, the group was reduced to one squadron under the command of V. Baake. On April 9, the war actually ended for the group. 
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch is a small German aircraft, created and used en masse in the Third Reich and its allied countries from 1937 to 1945. Its production continued until the end of the 1950s, mainly for the private aircraft market. Remains widely known to this day. In 1935, the Third Reich Air Ministry (RLM) placed a tender order for a new aircraft for the Luftwaffe, capable of performing reconnaissance, terrain reconnaissance and casualty evacuation missions, in accordance with the needs of the troops identified during some studies. The competition was won by the Fieseler company; its proposal for creating an aircraft that meets the “short takeoff and landing” concept turned out to be the best. Chief designer Reinold Mewes and the company's technical director Erich Bachen proposed a design that provided the possibility of almost vertical takeoff in the event of a strong frontal wind, the wings on the ground of the aircraft folded back along the fuselage, spring springs suppressed about 45 cm of amplitude during landing. The plane could land almost anywhere; the runway, just 60 meters long, was sufficient. During transportation, the aircraft could be transported folded in the back of a truck or even slowly towed behind it. The model easily won the tender. Due to its take-off and landing characteristics, the aircraft was given the name “Stork” (German: “Storch”). 
The Junkers Ju-87 was a single-engine, two-seat (pilot and rear gunner) dive bomber and attack aircraft from World War II. The designer of the machine is Hermann Pohlmann. First flight - in 1935, combat use - in 1936 as part of the Condor Legion in Spain. The most famous pilot of the Ju-87 was Hans Ulrich Rudel, who received the highest awards among Luftwaffe pilots. Despite its low speed and mediocre aerodynamics (the landing gear was non-retractable), it was one of the most effective weapons of the Luftwaffe due to its ability to dive bomb. Yu-87 is one of the most famous symbols of the blitzkrieg. Soviet pilots had the nicknames “laptezhnik” (for the fairings of the landing gear) and “singer” (for the siren that turned on during a dive for a psychological effect). In the G version, the Ju 87 received a new life as a tank hunter (Kanonenvogel). Began to be used at the beginning of 1943 on the eastern front. Armed with two 37 mm BK 37 cannons mounted in nacelles under the wings. Power was supplied from six-round magazines using projectiles with tungsten cores. The ability to fly at low speed, a stable position in the air and the ability to attack an armored target from the least protected side contributed to the success of attacking tanks. It was the Ju 87G that flew the famous German ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who, according to the Luftwaffe, destroyed over 500 Soviet tanks from July 1943 to May 1945. 
Junkers Ju 88 - multi-role Luftwaffe aircraft from World War II. One of the most versatile aircraft of the war, it was used as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bomber, and as part of the flying bomb in Project Mistel. There are currently about 14 known surviving aircraft, although many are simply collections of wreckage. In recent years, several more or less intact aircraft have been recovered from under water. 
The Henschel Hs 129 is a German single-seat, twin-engine, specialized attack aircraft from World War II. The chief designer of the aircraft is Friedrich Nikolaus Fr. Nicolaus. In the Luftwaffe, the attack aircraft was nicknamed the Can Opener (German: Buchsenoffner). Used primarily on the Eastern Front from 1942 to 1945. A total of 865 aircraft were produced. 
And now a little about allied aviation
Tommy
The Hawker Hurricane is a British World War II single-seat fighter aircraft developed by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. in 1934. A total of approximately 14,000 were built. Various modifications of the aircraft could act as interceptors, fighter-bombers (also known as "Hurribombers") and attack aircraft. For operation from aircraft carriers there was a modification called the Sea Hurricane. used almost everywhere in the early stages of the war, Invasion of France, Battle of Britain, Defense of Malta, North Africa. Those German Aces who had the opportunity to fly traffic hurricanes called it a bucket with nuts, the plane was difficult to control and slow to climb 
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British fighter aircraft from World War II. By its design, it was a single-engine all-metal monoplane with a low wing and retractable landing gear. Various modifications of the aircraft were used as a fighter, fighter-interceptor, high-altitude fighter, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. A total of 20,300 examples were built, including two-seat trainers. Some of the vehicles remained in service until the mid-50s. used mainly at the initial stage of the war, but some units were armed until the end of the war 
The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber from World War II. Manufactured by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. from 1941 to November 1945. Remained in service until 1947. Initially developed as an interceptor to replace the Hawker Hurricane fighter. One of the most successful RAF attack aircraft during the Second World War. The first flight in October 1939 was made by the "R" version. The RAF ordered 1,000 vehicles under the designation "Tornado". But p
Assessing the decisive role of aviation as the main strike force in the fight 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 air force, autonomous 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 later became the legendary U-2, etc.) d.). The aircraft in service with the Red Army were of multiple brands, had outdated designs and poor technical condition. In the 20s, the USSR purchased a small number of German Junkers-type aircraft and a number of other types to service the air routes of the North / explore the Northern Sea Route / and carry out government special flights. It should be noted that civil aviation practically did not develop in the pre-war period, 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 built successful designs of “soft” (frameless) type “B” airships in the early 1930s. As an aside, it should be noted about the development of this type of aeronautics abroad.
In Germany, the famous rigid airship “Graf Zeppepelin”, which explored the North, was equipped with cabins for passengers, had a significant flight range and a fairly high cruising speed (up to 130 km/h or more), provided by several Maybach-designed engines. There were even several dog sleds on board the airship as part of expeditions 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, difficulty in storage and maintenance predetermined the end of the era of airships. Experiments with balloons also came to an end, proving 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.
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 aviation passed combat tests in Spain and demonstrated technical lag. Polikarpov's aircraft (type I-15,16) were defeated by the latest German aircraft. The race for survival has begun again. Stalin gave designers individual assignments for new aircraft models, bonuses and benefits were distributed widely and generously - 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 Voroshilov noted that the Air Force, compared to 1934, had grown in personnel by 138 percent... The aircraft fleet as a whole had 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. The altitude of aircraft was already 14-15 thousand meters. 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 skins and light maneuverable aircraft of mixed structures: wood, steel, canvas. As it expands raw material base and the development of the aluminum industry in the USSR, aluminum alloys found increasing use in aircraft construction. There was progress in engine building. 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 a lot 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 of aircraft, all important questions Aviation issues were decided by Stalin. The meeting outlined measures for 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 in the USSR seems explainable. A large delegation of Soviet aviation workers, who traveled to Germany twice shortly before the war, received fighters, bombers, guidance systems, and much more, which made it possible to dramatically advance the level of domestic aircraft production. It was decided to increase the combat power of aviation, because it was from August 1939 that the USSR began covert mobilization and was preparing 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 August 1939, i.e. before the start of the partition of Poland, showed that the number of first-line aircraft in France was 2 thousand. Of these, two thirds were completely modern aircraft. By 1940, it was planned to increase the number of aircraft in France to 3000 units. British aviation, 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 beginning of 1942, 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 brought its designer Ilyushin a lot of excitement. Manufactured initially with protection of the rear hemisphere (two-seater), in anticipation of the attack on Germany, it did not suit the customers with its extravagance.” 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 structure closer to the “clear sky” aircraft. 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 “On the reorganization of the aviation forces of the Red Army.” The resolution provided for additional measures to rearm air units. In accordance with the plans for a future war, the task was set to urgently form new air regiments, and, as a rule, equip them with new aircraft. The formation of several airborne corps began.
The doctrine of war on “foreign territory” and with “little bloodshed” gave rise to the appearance of the “clear sky” aircraft, intended for unpunished raids on bridges, airfields, cities, and factories. Before the war, hundreds of thousands
young men were preparing to transfer to the new SU-2 aircraft, developed according to Stalin’s competition, 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. The SU-2 is essentially a Soviet Yu-87, but 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 conscription into aviation began, voluntarily and forcibly. Almost all of the small civil aviation was mobilized into the Air Force. Dozens of aviation schools were opened, incl. super-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 (about 66 airfields) were urgently moved to the borders, and supplies of fuel, bombs, and shells were brought in. The raids on German airfields and the Ploieşti oil fields were carefully and in great secrecy detailed...
On June 13, 1940, the Flight Test Institute (FLI) was formed, and other design bureaus and research institutes were formed during the same period. In the war with the Soviet Union, the Nazis assigned a special role to their aviation, which by that time had already gained complete air supremacy in the West. Basically, the plan for using aviation in the East was the same as the war in the West: first to gain air supremacy, and then to transfer forces to support the ground army.
Having outlined the timing of the attack on the Soviet Union, the Nazi command set the following tasks for the Luftwaffe:
1.Destroy Soviet aviation with a surprise attack on Soviet airfields.
2.Achieve complete air supremacy.
3. After solving the first two tasks, switch aviation to supporting ground forces directly on the battlefield.
4. Disrupt the work of Soviet transport, complicate the transfer of troops 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. In just 8 hours of the war, 1,200 aircraft were lost, there was a massive death of flight personnel, storage facilities and all supplies were destroyed. Historians noted the strange “crowding” of our aviation at airfields on the eve of the war and complained about the “mistakes” and “miscalculations” of the command (i.e. Stalin) and assessment of events. In fact, “crowding” foreshadows plans for a 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 in the history of mankind occurred, which had to be revived again under enemy attacks.
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. Almost all available forces of Hitler's aviation were thrown against the Soviet Union, including units withdrawn from the Western Front. It was assumed that after the first successful operations, part of the bomber and fighter formations would be returned to the West for 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 pilots who took part in the air attack had already gone through a serious training in combat with French, Polish and English pilots. They also had a fair amount of experience interacting with their troops, acquired in the war against the countries of Western Europe. Old types of fighters and bombers, such as I-15, I-16, SB, TB-3 could not compete with the newest Messerschmitts. and Junkers. Nevertheless, in the ensuing air battles, even on outdated types of aircraft, Russian pilots caused damage to the Germans. From June 22 to July 19, Germany lost 1,300 aircraft in air battles alone.
Here is what the German General Staff Officer Greffath writes about this:
“During the period from June 22 to July 5, 1941, the German air force lost 807 aircraft of all types, and 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 whole world knows the feat of the Gastello crew (the latest research on this fact suggests that the ramming crew was not Gastello’s crew, but was the crew of Maslov, who flew with Gastello’s crew on an attack enemy columns), who threw his burning car onto a concentration of German equipment. Despite the losses, the Germans brought more and more fighters and bombers into battle in all directions. They sent 4,940 aircraft to the front, including 3,940 German, 500 Finnish, 500 Romanian, and achieved complete air supremacy.
By October 1941, the Wehrmacht armies approached Moscow, the cities supplying components for aircraft factories were occupied, the time had come to evacuate the factories and design bureaus of Sukhoi, Yakovlev and others in Moscow, Ilyushin in Voronezh, 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 central regions country parts of the equipment of some aircraft instrument factories to duplicate their production in Western Siberia, and after some time a decision had to be made to evacuate the entire aircraft industry.
On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee approved schedules for the restoration and startup of evacuated factories and production plans.
The task was set not only to restore aircraft production, but also to significantly increase their quantity and quality. In December 1941, the aircraft production plan was fulfilled by less than 40 percent, and engines by only 24 percent. In the most difficult conditions, under bombs, in the cold, cold of Siberian winters, backup factories were launched one after another. Technologies were refined and simplified, 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 World War II, aircraft supplied 4-5 percent of the total production of aircraft and other weapons produced in the United States. However, a number of materials and equipment supplied by the USA and England were unique and irreplaceable for Russia (varnishes, paints, other chemicals, devices, instruments, equipment, medicines, etc.), which cannot be described as “insignificant” or secondary.
A turning point in the work of domestic aircraft factories occurred around March 1942. At the same time, the combat experience of our pilots grew.
In the period from November 19 to December 31, 1942 alone, the Luftwaffe lost 3,000 combat aircraft in the battles for Stalingrad. Our aviation began to act more actively and showed all its combat power in the North Caucasus. Heroes of the Soviet Union appeared. This title was awarded both for the number of aircraft shot down 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 aircraft production rose from 2.1 thousand in 1942 to 2.9 thousand in 1943. In total, in 1943, the industry produced 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 - this was due to the heroic efforts of our specialists and workers and the “complacency” or unpreparedness of Germany, which had not mobilized industry in advance for war conditions.
In the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943, Germany used significant quantities aircraft, but the power of the Air Force for the first time ensured air supremacy. So, for example, in just one hour on one of the days 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 have been modernized. Aircraft with improved combat qualities appeared: YAK-3, PE-2, YAK 9T,D, LA-5, IL-10. German designers also modernized the aircraft. “Me-109F, G, G2”, etc. appeared.
Towards the end of the war, the problem of increasing the range of fighter aircraft arose - the 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. The bomb attacks were getting stronger and stronger. Thus, on April 17, 1945, bombers of the 18th Air Army in the Königsberg area carried out 516 sorties in 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 featured aces who shot down 100,150 or more aircraft (a record of 300 downed combat aircraft).
At the end of the war, the Germans used jet aircraft, which were significantly faster than propeller aircraft in speed (Me-262, etc.). However, this did not help either. 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. In passing, it should be noted that not all types of aircraft were accepted into service in the USSR. For example, in October 1941, the production of MiG-3 fighters was stopped, and in 1943, the production of IL-4 bombers.
Improved and aviation weapons. 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.
Greffoat writes: “Considering 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 the necessary number of aircraft, back to the West. Air connections intended for direct support were to remain in the East 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 there was no longer any 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 features of warfare in Russia and ensured maximum simplicity of technology. As a result, Russian factories produced great amount weapons, which were distinguished by their great simplicity of design. It was relatively easy to learn to wield such a weapon...”
The 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 aircraft design.
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 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 in new locations in 1943 and 1944 produced several times more production than before the evacuation.
Germany had in addition own resources resources of 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 in 1941.
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 Force had 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. Nevertheless, 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 take “numbers”, and not 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 transformation from a propeller-driven aircraft to a jet aircraft. To increase the flight speed, a more powerful engine is installed. However, at speeds above 700 km/h, an increase in speed from engine power cannot be achieved. The way out is to use jet propulsion. A turbojet /TRD/ or liquid jet /LPRE/ engine is used. In the second half of the 30s, jet aircraft were intensively created in the USSR, England, Germany, Italy, and later in the USA. In 1938, the world's first German jet engines, BMW and Junkers, appeared. In 1940, the first Campini-Caproni jet aircraft, created in Italy, made test flights; later the German Me-262, Me-163 XE-162 appeared. In 1941, a Gloucester aircraft with a jet engine was tested in England, and in 1942 a jet aircraft, the Aircomet, was tested in the USA. In England, the Meteor twin-engine jet was soon created, which took part in the war. In 1945, the Meteor-4 plane set a world speed record of 969.6 km/h.
In the USSR in the initial period practical work work on the creation of jet engines was carried out in the direction of liquid-propellant rocket engines. Under the leadership of S.P. Korolev and A.F. Tsander, designers A.M. Isaev and L.S. Dushkin developed the first domestic jet engines. The pioneer of turbojet engines was A.M. Lyulka. At the beginning of 1942, G. Bakhchivandzhi made the first flight on a domestic jet aircraft. Soon this pilot died while testing the aircraft. Creation work jet plane practical application was resumed after the war with the creation of the Yak-15, MiG-9 using German YuMO 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 we had 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 to bring our own to mass production promising developments, as a rule, it was not possible. The exception was the M-82 and its further development, the M-82FN, which gave birth to perhaps the best Soviet fighter of the war, the 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 surpassed the 2000, and then 2500 hp mark. With. Well, by and large, no one has seriously engaged 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.
For a long time, our aircraft industry compensated for the lag in quality through 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 production conditions, 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 operation 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.
In World War II, aviation was one of the main branches of the military and played a very important role during the fighting. It is no coincidence that each of the warring parties sought to ensure a constant increase in the combat effectiveness of their aviation by increasing the production of aircraft and their continuous improvement and renewal. As never before, scientific and engineering potential was widely involved in the military sphere; many research institutes and laboratories, design bureaus and testing centers operated, through whose efforts the latest military equipment was created. It was a time of unusually rapid progress in aircraft manufacturing. At the same time, the era of evolution of aircraft with piston engines, which had reigned supreme in aviation since its inception, seemed to be ending. The combat aircraft of the end of the Second World War were the most advanced examples of aviation technology created on the basis of piston engines.
A significant difference between the peacetime and war periods of the development of combat aviation was that during the war the effectiveness of equipment was determined directly by experiment. If in peacetime military specialists and aircraft designers, ordering and creating new aircraft models, relied only on speculative ideas about the nature of a future war or were guided by limited experience of local conflicts, then large-scale military operations dramatically changed the situation. The practice of air combat has become not only a powerful catalyst in accelerating the progress of aviation, but also the only criterion when comparing the quality of aircraft and choosing the main directions for further development. Each side improved its aircraft based on its own experience in combat operations, the availability of resources, the capabilities of technology and the aviation industry as a whole.
During the war years in England, the USSR, the USA, Germany and Japan, it was created big number aircraft that played a significant role during the armed struggle. Among them there are many outstanding examples. A comparison of these machines is of interest, as is a comparison of the engineering and scientific ideas that were used in their creation. Of course, among the numerous types of aircraft that took part in the war and represented different schools of aircraft construction, it is difficult to single out the undeniably best. Therefore, the choice of cars is to some extent conditional.
Fighters were the main means of gaining air superiority in the fight against the enemy. The success of combat operations of ground troops and other types of aviation and the safety of rear facilities largely depended on the effectiveness of their actions. It is no coincidence that it was the fighter class that developed most intensively. The best of them are traditionally called the Yak-3 and La-7 (USSR), North American P-51 Mustang (Mustang, USA), Supermarine Spitfire (England) and Messerschmitt Bf 109 ( Germany). Among the many modifications of Western fighters, the P-51D, Spitfire XIV and Bf 109G-10 and K-4 were selected for comparison, that is, those aircraft that were mass-produced and entered service military air force at the final stage of the war. All of them were created in 1943 - early 1944. These vehicles reflected the wealth of combat experience already accumulated by that time by the warring countries. They became, as it were, symbols of military aviation equipment of their time.
Before comparing different types of fighters, it is worth saying a little about the basic principles of comparison. The main thing here is to keep in mind the conditions of combat use for which they were created. The war in the East showed that in the presence of a front line, where the main force of armed struggle was ground troops, aviation was required to have relatively low flight altitudes. The experience of air battles on the Soviet-German front shows that the vast majority of them were fought at altitudes of up to 4.5 km, regardless of the altitude of the aircraft. Soviet designers, while improving fighter aircraft and engines for them, could not help but take this circumstance into account. At the same time, the English Spitfires and American Mustangs were distinguished by their higher altitude, since the nature of the actions for which they were designed was completely different. In addition, the P-51D had a much longer range to escort heavy bombers and was therefore significantly heavier than Spitfires, German Bf 109s and Soviet fighters. Thus, since British, American and Soviet fighters were created for different combat conditions, the question of which of the machines as a whole was the most effective loses its meaning. It is advisable to compare only the main technical solutions and features of the machines.
The situation is different with German fighters. They were intended for air combat on both the Eastern and Western fronts. Therefore, they can quite reasonably be compared with all Allied fighters.
So what made the best fighters of World War II stand out? What was their fundamental difference from each other? Let's start with the main thing - with the technical ideology laid down by the designers in the designs of these aircraft.
The most unusual in terms of the concept of creation were, perhaps, the Spitfire and the Mustang.
“It’s not just a good plane, it’s a Spitfire!” - this assessment by the English test pilot G. Powell undoubtedly applies to one of the last fighting versions of the fighter of this family - the Spitfire XIV, the best fighter of the British air force during the war. It was the Spitfire XIV that shot down the German Me 262 jet fighter in an air battle.
When creating the Spitfire in the mid-30s, the designers tried to combine seemingly incompatible things: high speed, characteristic of the high-speed monoplane fighters that were then coming into use, with excellent maneuverability, altitude and takeoff and landing characteristics inherent in biplanes. The goal was largely achieved. Like many other high-speed fighters, the Spitfire had a cantilever monoplane design with well-streamlined shapes. But this was only an external resemblance. For its weight, the Spitfire had a relatively large wing, which gave a small load per unit of bearing surface, much less than that of other monoplane fighters. Hence, excellent maneuverability in the horizontal plane, high ceiling and good takeoff and landing properties. This approach was not something exceptional: Japanese designers, for example, did the same. But the creators of the Spitfire went further. Due to the high aerodynamic drag of a wing of such significant size, it was impossible to count on achieving a high maximum flight speed - one of the most important indicators of the quality of fighter aircraft of those years. To reduce drag, they used profiles with a much smaller relative thickness than other fighters and gave the wing an elliptical planform. This further reduced aerodynamic drag when flying at high altitude and in maneuver modes.
The company managed to create an outstanding combat aircraft. This does not mean that the Spitfire was without any shortcomings. They were. For example, due to the low wing load, it was inferior to many fighters in terms of acceleration properties during a dive. It responded more slowly in roll to the pilot’s actions than German, American, and especially Soviet fighters. However, these shortcomings were not fundamental, and in general the Spitfire was undoubtedly one of the strongest air combat fighters, which demonstrated excellent qualities in action.
Among the many variants of the Mustang fighter, the greatest success fell on the planes equipped with English Merlin engines. These were the P-51B, C and, of course, the P-51D - the best and most famous American fighter of the Second World War. Since 1944, it was these aircraft that ensured the safety of heavy American B-17 and B-24 bombers from attacks by German fighters and demonstrated their superiority in battle.
Home distinctive feature In terms of aerodynamics, the Mustang had a laminar wing, which was the first in world aircraft manufacturing to be installed on a combat aircraft. Special mention should be made about this “highlight” of the aircraft, born in the laboratory of the American NASA research center on the eve of the war. The fact is that the opinion of experts regarding the advisability of using a laminar wing on fighters of that period is ambiguous. If before the war high hopes were placed on laminar wings, since under certain conditions they had less aerodynamic drag compared to conventional ones, then the experience with the Mustang diminished the initial optimism. It turned out that in real operation such a wing is not effective enough. The reason was that to implement laminar flow on part of such a wing, very careful surface finishing and high precision in maintaining the profile were required. Due to the roughness that arose when applying protective paint to the aircraft, and even slight inaccuracies in the profiling that inevitably appeared in mass production (slight undulations of thin metal skin), the effect of laminarization on the P-51 wing was greatly reduced. In terms of their load-bearing properties, laminar profiles were inferior to conventional ones, which caused difficulties in ensuring good maneuverability and takeoff and landing properties.
At low angles of attack, laminar wing profiles (sometimes called laminated) have less aerodynamic drag than conventional airfoils.
In addition to lower resistance, laminar profiles had better speed properties - with equal relative thickness, the effects of air compressibility (wave crisis) appeared in them at higher speeds than on conventional profiles. This had to be taken into account even then. When diving, especially at high altitudes, where the speed of sound is significantly less than that of the ground, aircraft began to reach speeds at which features associated with approaching the speed of sound already appeared. It was possible to increase the so-called critical speed either by using higher speed profiles, which turned out to be laminar, or by reducing the relative thickness of the profile, while putting up with the inevitable increase in the weight of the structure and a reduction in wing volumes, often used (including on the P-51D) for placement of gas tanks and. Interestingly, due to the much smaller relative thickness of the profiles, the wave crisis on the Spitfire wing occurred at a higher speed than on the Mustang wing.
Research at the English aviation research center RAE showed that, due to the significantly smaller relative thickness of the wing profiles, the Spitfire fighter at high speeds had a lower aerodynamic drag coefficient than the Mustang. This was explained by the later manifestation of the wave flow crisis and its “softer” nature.
If air battles were fought at relatively low altitudes, the crisis phenomena of air compressibility almost did not manifest themselves, so the need for a special high-speed wing was not acutely felt.
The path to creating the Soviet Yak-3 and La-7 aircraft turned out to be very unusual. Essentially, they were deep modifications of the Yak-1 and LaGG-3 fighters, developed in 1940 and mass-produced.
In the Soviet Air Force at the final stage of the war there was no fighter more popular than the Yak-3. At that time it was the lightest fighter aircraft. The French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment, who fought on the Yak-3, spoke about its combat capabilities this way: “The Yak-3 gives you complete superiority over the Germans. On the Yak-3, two people can fight against four, and four can fight against sixteen!”
A radical redesign of the Yak design was undertaken in 1943 with the goal of dramatically improving flight characteristics with a very modest power plant power. The decisive direction in this work was to lighten the aircraft (including by reducing the wing area) and significantly improve its aerodynamics. Perhaps this was the only opportunity to qualitatively promote the aircraft, since the Soviet industry had not yet mass-produced new, more powerful engines suitable for installation on the Yak-1.
Such a path of development of aviation technology, extremely difficult to implement, was extraordinary. The usual way to improve the complex of aircraft flight characteristics then was to improve aerodynamics without noticeable changes in the dimensions of the airframe, as well as to install more powerful engines. This was almost always accompanied by a noticeable weight gain.
The designers of the Yak-3 coped with this difficult task brilliantly. It is unlikely that in aviation during the Second World War one can find another example of similar and so effectively completed work.
The Yak-3, compared to the Yak-1, was much lighter, had a smaller relative profile thickness and wing area, and had excellent aerodynamic properties. The aircraft's power supply has increased significantly, which has dramatically improved its rate of climb, acceleration characteristics and vertical maneuverability. At the same time, such an important parameter for horizontal maneuverability, takeoff and landing as the specific wing load has changed little. During the war, the Yak-3 turned out to be one of the easiest fighters to pilot.
Of course, in tactical terms, the Yak-3 did not at all replace aircraft with stronger armament and longer endurance. combat flight, but perfectly complemented them, embodying the idea of a light, high-speed and maneuverable air combat vehicle, designed primarily to combat enemy fighters.
One of the few, if not the only fighter with an air-cooled engine, which can rightfully be considered one of the best air combat fighters of the Second World War. Using the La-7, the famous Soviet ace I.N. Kozhedub shot down 17 German aircraft (including the Me-262 jet fighter) out of 62 he destroyed on La fighters.
The history of the La-7 is also unusual. At the beginning of 1942, on the basis of the LaGG-3 fighter, which turned out to be a rather mediocre combat vehicle, the La-5 fighter was developed, which differed from its predecessor only in the power plant (the liquid-cooled engine was replaced with a much more powerful two-row “star”). During the further development of the La-5, the designers focused on its aerodynamic improvement. During the period 1942-1943. La brand fighters were the most frequent “guests” in the full-scale wind tunnels of the leading Soviet aviation research center TsAGI. The main purpose of such tests was to identify the main sources of aerodynamic losses and determine design measures that help reduce aerodynamic drag. Important Feature This work was that the proposed design changes did not require major alterations to the aircraft or changes in the production process and could be relatively easily carried out by serial factories. It was truly “jewelry” work, when seemingly mere trifles produced a rather impressive result.
The fruit of this work was the La-5FN, which appeared at the beginning of 1943 - one of the strongest Soviet fighters of that time, and then the La-7 - an aircraft that rightfully took its place among the best fighters of the Second World War. If, during the transition from the La-5 to the La-5FN, an increase in flight performance was achieved not only due to better aerodynamics, but also thanks to a more powerful engine, then the improvement in the characteristics of the La-7 was achieved solely by means of aerodynamics and a reduction in the weight of the structure. This plane had a speed of 80 km/h more than the La-5, of which 75% (that is, 60 km/h) was due to aerodynamics. Such an increase in speed is equivalent to an increase in engine power by more than a third, without increasing the weight and dimensions of the aircraft.
The best features of an air combat fighter were embodied in the La-7: high speed, excellent maneuverability and rate of climb. In addition, compared to the other fighters discussed here, it had greater survivability, since only this aircraft had an air-cooled engine. As is known, such motors are not only more viable than liquid-cooled engines, but also serve as a kind of protection for the pilot from fire from the front hemisphere, since they have large cross-sectional dimensions.
The German fighter Messerschmitt Bf 109 was created around the same time as the Spitfire. Like the English aircraft, the Bf 109 became one of the most successful examples of a combat vehicle during the war and went through a long path of evolution: it was equipped with more and more powerful engines, improved aerodynamics, operational and aerobatic characteristics. In terms of aerodynamics, the most significant changes were last made in 1941, when the Bf 109F appeared. Further improvement of flight data was achieved mainly through the installation of new engines. Externally latest modifications This fighter - the Bf 109G-10 and K-4 differed little from the much earlier Bf 109F, although they had a number of aerodynamic improvements.
This aircraft was the best representative of the light and maneuverable combat vehicle of Hitler's Luftwaffe. Throughout almost the entire Second World War, Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters were among the best examples of aircraft in their class, and only towards the end of the war did they begin to lose their position. It turned out to be impossible to combine the qualities inherent in the best Western fighters, designed for relatively high combat altitudes, with the qualities inherent in the best Soviet “medium-altitude” fighters.
Like their English colleagues, the designers of the Bf 109 tried to combine a high maximum speed with good maneuverability and takeoff and landing qualities. But they solved this problem in a completely different way: unlike the Spitfire, the Bf 109 had a large specific wing load, which made it possible to achieve high speed, and to improve maneuverability they used not only the well-known slats, but also flaps, which at the right time the battle could be deviated by the pilot at a small angle. The use of controlled flaps was a new and original solution. To improve takeoff and landing characteristics, in addition to automatic slats and controlled flaps, hovering ailerons were used, which worked as additional sections of flaps; A controlled stabilizer was also used. In short, the Bf 109 had unique system direct control of lift, which is largely characteristic of modern aircraft with their inherent automation. However, in practice, many of the designers' decisions did not take root. Due to the complexity, it was necessary to abandon the controlled stabilizer, hovering ailerons, and flap release system in combat. As a result, in terms of its maneuverability, the Bf 109 was not very different from other fighters, both Soviet and American, although it was inferior to the best domestic aircraft. The takeoff and landing characteristics turned out to be similar.
The experience of aircraft construction shows that the gradual improvement of a combat aircraft is almost always accompanied by an increase in its weight. This is due to the installation of more powerful and therefore heavier engines, an increase in fuel reserves, an increase in the power of weapons, the necessary structural reinforcements and other related measures. Eventually there comes a time when the reserves of a given design are exhausted. One of the limitations is the specific wing load. This, of course, is not the only parameter, but one of the most important and common to all aircraft. Thus, as Spitfire fighters were modified from variant 1A to XIV and Bf 109 from B-2 to G-10 and K-4, their specific wing load increased by about a third! Already the Bf 109G-2 (1942) had 185 kg/m2, while the Spitfire IX, which was also released in 1942, had about 150 kg/m2. For the Bf 109G-2, this wing load was close to the limit. With its further growth, the flight, maneuverability and takeoff and landing characteristics of the aircraft sharply deteriorated, despite the very effective mechanization of the wing (slats and flaps).
Since 1942, German designers have been improving their best air combat fighter under very strict weight restrictions, which greatly limited the possibilities for qualitative improvement of the aircraft. But the creators of the Spitfire still had sufficient reserves and continued to increase the power of the installed engines and strengthen the weapons, without particularly taking into account the increase in weight.
The quality of their mass production has a great influence on the aerodynamic properties of aircraft. Careless manufacturing can negate all the efforts of designers and scientists. This doesn't happen very rarely. Judging by captured documents, in Germany, conducting a comparative study of the aerodynamics of German, American and British fighters at the end of the war, they came to the conclusion that the Bf 109G had worst quality production performance, and, in particular, for this reason its aerodynamics turned out to be the worst, which can most likely be extended to the Bf 109K-4.
From the above it is clear that in terms of the technical concept of creation and aerodynamic design features, each of the compared aircraft is completely original. But they also have many common features: well-streamlined shapes, careful engine bonneting, well-developed local aerodynamics and aerodynamics of cooling devices.
As for the design, Soviet fighters were much simpler and cheaper to produce than British, German and, especially, American aircraft. Scarce materials were used in very limited quantities. Thanks to this, the USSR was able to ensure a high rate of aircraft production in conditions of severe material restrictions and a lack of qualified labor. It must be said that our country finds itself in the most difficult situation. From 1941 to 1944 inclusively, a significant part of the industrial zone, where many metallurgical enterprises were located, was occupied by the Nazis. Some factories were evacuated inland and production was set up in new locations. But a significant part of the production potential was still irretrievably lost. In addition, a large number of skilled workers and specialists went to the front. They were replaced at the machines by women and children who could not work at the appropriate level. And yet, the aircraft industry of the USSR, although not immediately, was able to meet the needs of the front for aircraft.
Unlike the all-metal Western fighters, Soviet aircraft made extensive use of wood. However, metal was used in many of the power elements, which actually determined the weight of the structure. That is why, in terms of weight perfection, the Yak-3 and La-7 were practically no different from foreign fighters.
In terms of technological sophistication, ease of access to individual units and ease of maintenance in general, the Bf 109 and Mustang looked somewhat preferable. However, Spitfires and Soviet fighters were also well adapted to combat conditions. But according to these very important characteristics, both the quality of equipment and the level of automation, the Yak-3 and La-7 were inferior to Western fighters, the best of which in terms of the degree of automation were German aircraft (not only the Bf 109, but also others).
The most important indicator of an aircraft’s high flight performance and its combat effectiveness as a whole is the power plant. It is in aircraft engine building that the latest achievements in the field of technology, materials, control systems and automation are primarily implemented. Engine building is one of the most knowledge-intensive branches of the aircraft industry. Compared to an airplane, the process of creating and fine-tuning new engines takes much longer and requires more effort.
During the Second World War, England occupied a leading position in aircraft engine building. It was the Rolls-Royce engines that equipped the Spitfires and best options"Mustangs" (P-51B, C and D). It can be said without exaggeration that it was the installation of the English Merlin engine, which was produced in the USA under license by Packard, that made it possible to realize the great capabilities of the Mustang and brought it into the category of elite fighters. Before this, the P-51, although original, was a rather mediocre aircraft in terms of combat capabilities.
A feature of English engines, which largely determined their excellent characteristics, was the use of high-grade gasoline, the nominal octane number of which reached 100-150. This made it possible to apply a greater degree of air pressurization (more precisely, the working mixture) into the cylinders and thereby obtain greater power. The USSR and Germany could not meet the aviation needs for such high-quality and expensive fuel. Typically, gasoline with an octane rating of 87-100 was used.
A characteristic feature that united all the engines that were installed on the compared fighters was the use of two-speed drive centrifugal superchargers (MCP), providing the required altitude. But the difference between Rolls-Royce engines was that their superchargers had not one, as usual, but two successive compression stages, and even with intermediate cooling of the working mixture in a special radiator. Despite the complexity of such systems, their use turned out to be completely justified for high-altitude motors, since it significantly reduced the loss of power spent by the motor on pumping. This was a very important factor.
The original was the injection system of the DB-605 engines, driven through a turbo coupling, which, under automatic control, smoothly adjusted the gear ratio from the engine to the supercharger impeller. Unlike the two-speed drive superchargers found on Soviet and British engines, the turbo coupling made it possible to reduce the drop in power that occurred between pumping speeds.
An important advantage of German engines (DB-605 and others) was the use of direct fuel injection into the cylinders. Compared to a conventional carburetor system, this increased the reliability and efficiency of the power plant. Of the other engines, only the Soviet ASh-82FN, which was installed on the La-7, had a similar direct injection system.
A significant factor in increasing the flight performance of the Mustang and Spitfire was that their engines had relatively short-term operating modes. increased power. In combat, the pilots of these fighters could for some time use, in addition to the long-term, that is, nominal, either combat (5-15 minutes), or in emergency cases, emergency (1-5 minutes) modes. Combat, or, as it was also called, military mode, became the main mode for engine operation in air combat. The engines of Soviet fighters did not have high-power modes at altitude, which limited the possibility of further improving their flight characteristics.
Most versions of the Mustangs and Spitfires were designed for high combat altitudes, characteristic of aviation operations in the West. Therefore, their engines had sufficient altitude. German engine builders were forced to solve a complex technical problem. Given the relatively high design altitude of the engine required for air combat in the West, it was important to provide the necessary power at low and medium altitudes required for combat operations in the East. As is known, a simple increase in altitude usually leads to increasing power losses at low altitudes. Therefore, the designers showed a lot of ingenuity and used a number of extraordinary technical solutions. In terms of its height, the DB-605 motor occupied an intermediate position between English and Soviet engines. To increase power at altitudes below the design one, the injection of a water-alcohol mixture (MW-50 system) was used, which made it possible, despite the relatively low octane number of the fuel, to significantly increase the boost, and, consequently, the power without causing detonation. The result was a kind of maximum mode, which, like the emergency mode, could usually be used for up to three minutes.
At altitudes above the calculated one, the injection of nitrous oxide (GM-1 system) could be used, which, being a powerful oxidizer, seemed to compensate for the lack of oxygen in a rarefied atmosphere and made it possible to temporarily increase the altitude of the engine and bring its characteristics closer to those of Rolls engines. Royce. True, these systems increased the weight of the aircraft (by 60-120 kg) and significantly complicated the power plant and its operation. For these reasons, they were used separately and were not used on all Bf 109G and K.
A fighter's weaponry has a significant impact on its combat effectiveness. The aircraft in question differed greatly in the composition and arrangement of weapons. If the Soviet Yak-3 and La-7 and the German Bf 109G and K had a central location of weapons (cannons and machine guns in the forward part of the fuselage), then the Spitfires and Mustangs had them located in the wing outside the area swept by the propeller. In addition, the Mustang had only large-caliber machine gun armament, while other fighters also had cannons, and the La-7 and Bf 109K-4 had only cannon armament. In the Western Theater of Operations, the P-51D was intended primarily to combat enemy fighters. For this purpose, the power of his six machine guns turned out to be quite sufficient. Unlike the Mustang, the British Spitfires and the Soviet Yak-3 and La-7 fought against aircraft of any purpose, including bombers, which naturally required more powerful weapons.
Comparing the wing and central weapons installations, it is difficult to answer which of these schemes was the most effective. But still, Soviet front-line pilots and aviation specialists, like the German ones, preferred the central one, which ensured the greatest accuracy of fire. This arrangement turns out to be more advantageous when an enemy aircraft is attacked from extremely short distances. And this is exactly how Soviet and German pilots usually tried to act on the Eastern Front. In the West, air battles were fought mainly at high altitudes, where the maneuverability of fighters deteriorated significantly. Getting close to the enemy became much more difficult, and with bombers it was also very dangerous, since the fighter’s sluggish maneuver made it difficult to evade the fire of air gunners. For this reason, they opened fire from a long distance and the wing-mounted weapon, designed for a given range of destruction, turned out to be quite comparable to the central one. In addition, the rate of fire of weapons with a wing configuration was higher than that of weapons synchronized for firing through a propeller (cannons on the La-7, machine guns on the Yak-3 and Bf 109G), the weapons were close to the center of gravity and ammunition consumption had virtually no effect on its position. But one drawback was still organically inherent in the wing design - an increased moment of inertia relative to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, which caused the fighter's roll response to the pilot's actions to deteriorate.
Among the many criteria that determined the combat effectiveness of an aircraft, the most important for a fighter was the combination of its flight data. Of course, they are important not on their own, but in combination with a number of other quantitative and qualitative indicators, such as stability, flight properties, ease of operation, visibility, etc. For some classes of aircraft, training, for example, these indicators are of paramount importance. But for combat vehicles of the last war, it was the flight characteristics and weapons that were decisive, representing the main technical components of the combat effectiveness of fighters and bombers. Therefore, the designers sought first of all to achieve priority in flight data, or rather in those of them that played a primary role.
It is worth clarifying that the words “flight data” mean a whole range of important indicators, the main of which for fighters were maximum speed, rate of climb, range or time of sortie, maneuverability, ability to quickly gain speed, and sometimes service ceiling. Experience has shown that the technical perfection of fighter aircraft cannot be reduced to any one criterion, which would be expressed in a number, formula, or even an algorithm designed for implementation on a computer. The question of comparing fighters, as well as finding the optimal combination of basic flight characteristics, still remains one of the most difficult. How, for example, can you determine in advance what was more important - superiority in maneuverability and practical ceiling, or some advantage in maximum speed? As a rule, priority in one comes at the expense of the other. Where is the “golden mean” that gives the best fighting qualities? Obviously, much depends on the tactics and nature of the air war as a whole.
It is known that the maximum speed and rate of climb significantly depend on the operating mode of the engine. Long-term or nominal mode is one thing, and extreme afterburner is quite another. This is clearly seen from a comparison of the maximum speeds of the best fighters in the final period of the war. The presence of high-power modes significantly improves flight characteristics, but only for a short time, since otherwise the motor may be destroyed. For this reason, a very short-term emergency mode of operation of the engine, which provided the greatest power, was not considered at that time the main one for the operation of the power plant in air combat. It was intended for use only in the most emergency, deadly situations for the pilot. This position is well confirmed by an analysis of the flight data of one of the last German piston fighters - the Messerschmitt Bf 109K-4.
The main characteristics of the Bf 109K-4 are given in a fairly extensive report prepared at the end of 1944 for the German Chancellor. The report covered the state and prospects of German aircraft manufacturing and was prepared with the participation of the German aviation research center DVL and leading aviation companies such as Messerschmitt, Arado, Junkers. In this document, which has every reason to be considered quite serious, when analyzing the capabilities of the Bf 109K-4, all its data provided correspond only to the continuous operation mode of the power plant, and the characteristics at maximum power mode are not considered or even mentioned. And this is not surprising. Due to thermal overloads of the engine, the pilot of this fighter, when climbing at maximum take-off weight, could not use even the nominal mode for a long time and was forced to reduce speed and, accordingly, power within 5.2 minutes after take-off. When taking off with less weight the situation did not improve much. Therefore, it is simply not possible to talk about any real increase in the rate of climb due to the use of an emergency mode, including the injection of a water-alcohol mixture (MW-50 system).
The above graph of the vertical rate of climb (in fact, this is the rate of climb characteristic) clearly shows what kind of increase the use of maximum power could provide. However, such an increase is more of a formal nature, since it was impossible to climb in this mode. Only at certain moments of the flight could the pilot turn on the MW-50 system, i.e. extreme power boost, and even then when the cooling systems had the necessary reserves for heat removal. Thus, although the MW-50 boost system was useful, it was not vital for the Bf 109K-4 and therefore it was not installed on all fighters of this type. Meanwhile, the press publishes data on the Bf 109K-4, corresponding specifically to the emergency regime using the MW-50, which is completely uncharacteristic of this aircraft.
The above is well confirmed by combat practice at the final stage of the war. Thus, the Western press often talks about the superiority of Mustangs and Spitfires over German fighters in the Western theater of operations. On the Eastern Front, where air battles took place at low and medium altitudes, the Yak-3 and La-7 were beyond competition, which was repeatedly noted by pilots of the Soviet Air Force. And here is the opinion of the German combat pilot W. Wolfrum:
The best fighters I encountered in combat were the North American Mustang P-51 and the Russian Yak-9U. Both fighters had a clear performance advantage over the Me-109, regardless of modification, including the Me-109K-4
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