Icarus IK-2
| Icarus IK-2 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Single-engine fighter |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
April 22, 1935 |
| Commissioning: |
1935 |
| Number of pieces: |
12 |
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The Ikarus IK-2 was a single-engine Yugoslav fighter aircraft of the 1930s in high- wing design.
History and construction
At the beginning of the 1930s, Yugoslav aircraft designers, who had designed a number of successful training and reconnaissance aircraft to date, contemplated designing a modern fighter aircraft, which from the very beginning marked the height of design ability and technical maturity of an aviation industry.
This idea was also represented by two young engineers, Ljubomir Ilić and Kosta Sivčev, who returned from France in 1931 , where Ilić graduated from the aeronautical college with flying colors, while Sivčev gained experience in the design offices and workshops of Breguet and Hispano-Suiza for years . Both got to know state-of-the-art aircraft construction in France, and on their return to Yugoslavia they entered the service of the technical department of the Yugoslav Air Force Command.
Immediately they began with the project of an all-metal monoplane with Puławski wings , which should replace the already outdated French Dewoitine D.1 and the Czechoslovak Avia BH-33 . After successful wind tunnel tests in the Paris wind tunnel by Gustave Eiffel , the project was presented to the management of the technical department of the Yugoslav Air Force Command in 1933. In 1935 the first prototype of the IK-2 was finally built.
Although the IK-2 showed better flight characteristics and higher speed than the then most modern Yugoslav fighter Hawker Fury MK.I , it was not until October 1938 when the first 12 IK-2s built by the Ikarus works near Novi Sad were transferred to the Yugoslav 6. Hunting regiment near Belgrade were delivered. At that time the IK-2 were already out of date and no serious opponents compared to more modern fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 .
In 1939 the IK-2 were handed over to the 4th fighter regiment near Zagreb . With the attack of the Axis Powers on Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941, the IK-2 got their first combat mission. With the surrender of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslavs destroyed the remaining IK-2s, only three IK-2s captured by the Axis powers were given to Hitler's puppet state of the Ustaše .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 7.88 m |
| span | 11.40 m |
| height | 3.84 m |
| Empty mass | 1,502 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 1,857 kg |
| drive | a Hispano-Suiza HS 12Ycrs Vee with 860 HP / 641 KW |
| Top speed | 435 km / h at an altitude of 4,000 m |
| Ascent time to 5,000 m | 5.24 min |
| Service ceiling | 10,500 m |
| Range | 700 km |
| Armament | a 20 mm MK Hispano-Suiza HS.404 , two 7.92 mm machine guns |
Countries of operation
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See also
literature
- William Green: War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., London 1961.
- Zlatomir Grujic: Airforce of Serbia and Yugoslavia 1901–1994. Military book, Belgrade 1997.
- Šime I. Oštrić, Čedomir J. Janić: Ik Fighters (Yugoslavia: 1930–40s) Aircraft in Profile, Volume 13. Profile Publications Ltd., Windsor 1973, s. 169-193.
- Janić Čedomir, O. Petrović: Short History of Aviation in Serbia. Aerokomunikacije, Beograd 2010.
- Јанић Чедомир, О. Петровић: Век авијације у Србији 1910–2010 225 значајних летјелица. Аерокомуникације, Београд 2010, ISBN 978-86-913973-0-2 .
- Огњан М. Петровић: Војни аероплани Краљевине СХС / Југославије (Део I: 1918–1930). Лет - Flight (2/2000), (Београд: Музеј југословенског ваздухопловства) 2: стр. 21-84. ISSN 1450-684X .
