Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320

Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320 (R)
Two-sided view of the I-320 (R-2)
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	Soviet Union
Manufacturer:	Mikoyan-Gurevich
First flight:	April 16, 1949
Number of pieces:	3 prototypes

Mikoyan-Gurewitsch I-320 ( Russian Микоян-Гуревич И-320 ) or Project R is the name for a two-seat interceptor aircraft that was developed by the Mikoyan-Gurewitsch design office. The "I" refers to the Russian abbreviation for fighter aircraft, the "R" was the code name of the project.

history

Based on a specification published in 1948, the design offices Lavochkin , Sukhoi and Mikojan-Gurewitsch began developing an all-weather jet fighter for air defense, after which the La-200 , Sukhoi Project P and the I-320 types were developed. It had engines in the fuselage that were offset one above the other. The swept wings were taken over from the MiG-15 , which was already in service, but had to be lengthened by four meters and increased in depth due to the 100 percent higher armament mass. The first prototype I-320 (R-1) had RD-45F engines and a Korschun radio measuring device and was flown for the first time by AA Wernikow on April 16, 1949 and tested by him together with JA Antipow until 1950. The second prototype I-320 (R-2) that followed in 1950 received somewhat more powerful Klimow WK-1 engines and a higher cockpit hood to improve all-round visibility, and the cabin was also raised. The tests with this aircraft showed flutter phenomena on the wings at high speeds , which made it necessary to limit the maximum speed in order not to destroy the wings. For this reason, the arrow areas on the third and last prototype I-320 (R-3) were reinforced so that the speed could be increased to 1100 km / h. Since the dangerous wing flutter could not be completely stopped here either, the tests with this type were abandoned, especially since the above specification had been supplemented by the point of greater range, which the I-320 could not meet. In the end, none of the three fighters was taken into production, as the Jak-25 developed by OKB Jakowlew met these criteria and went into series production.

Technical specifications

Parameter	I-320 (R-1)	I-320 (R-2)
crew	2
span	14.20 m
length	15.77 m
Wing area	41.20 m²
Front edge arrow of the structure	35 °
Wing V-position	−3 °
Wing loading	249.15 kg / m²	260.19 kg / m²
Start / power load	231 kg / kN	202 kg / kN
Empty mass	7,367 kg	7,827 kg
Total payload	2,898 kg	2,923 kg
Takeoff mass	10,265 kg	10,725 kg, maximum 12,095 kg
drive	two jet engines RD-45F (take-off thrust 22.7 kN each)	two jet engines Klimow WK-1 (take-off thrust each 26.2 kN)
Top speed	1,060 km / h near the ground, 1,040 km / h at an altitude of 5,000 m	1,040 km / h near the ground 994 km / h at an altitude of 10,000 m
Landing speed	200 km / h	187 km / h
Rise time	k. A.	2.3 min at 5,000 m altitude 5.65 min at 10,000 m altitude
practical summit height	15,000 m	15,500 m
Range	1,100 km	1,950 km with additional tanks
Flight duration	3.0 h	k. A.
Takeoff route	k. A.	610 m
Landing route	k. A.	770 m
Armament	three 37 mm MK NS-37 (60 shells each)

literature

• Karl-Heinz Eyermann : MiG aircraft . Transpress, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00193-0 .
• Rudolf Höfling: MiG. Aircraft since 1939 . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03335-1 .
• Nikolai Jakubowitsch: Mikojan I-320 . In: Aviation Classics . No. 3/2014 , p. 52-55 .

Web links

Commons : Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Pictures at suchoj.com
• Микоян, Гуревич И-320. Retrieved July 8, 2019 (Russian).