Polikarpov R-1

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Polikarpov R-1
Polikarpov R-1
Type: Multipurpose aircraft
Design country:

Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Soviet Union

Manufacturer:

State Aircraft Plant No. 1 / Polikarpow

First flight:

1923

Production time:

1922-1931

Number of pieces:

≈3000

The Polikarpow R-1 ( Russian Поликарпов Р-1 ) was a Soviet military multi-role aircraft . It was used for reconnaissance, as a light bomber, for training and as a ground attack aircraft ; a civil version was used to transport mail. It was the first aircraft that could be mass-produced and delivered to the Soviet Air Force , thus helping to make the Soviet aviation industry independent of imports.

development

The fleet of the still young Red Air Fleet included several De Havilland DH4 and DH9 aircraft , some of which were taken over by the old tsarist air force and some of which were captured by the British intervention troops during the civil war and with which the Soviet pilots were very satisfied. In 1918, at the age of 26, Nikolai Polikarpow was appointed head of the State Aircraft Plant No. 1 ( Russian Государственный авиационный завод № 1 [ГАЗ № 1] ) in Moscow. This was supposed to maintain and repair the existing aircraft and implement new designs. Polikarpow then revised the design documents for three years and adapted them to the possibilities of Soviet industry by 1921.

The first new aircraft built in 1920/21 were 20 DH4s with Italian Fiat A.12 engines. One example received a German 260 hp Maybach MB IVa engine for testing purposes, and another was given streamlined tubular steel struts. Also on a trial basis, a machine got a thicker wing profile in 1924.

In the years 1922–1923, the first pure, DH9-based R- 1s ( R aswedtschik, Enlightenment) appeared. The associated cells were largely bought in Great Britain. They differed from the DH9 mainly in that the cabins were moved further back. A six-cylinder in - line Mercedes D IVa engine with 260 hp (191 kW) was used as the drive, 100 of which were manufactured.

A year later, another series of 130 R-2s with British Armstrong Siddeley Puma six-cylinder engines left the factory. This variant was mainly used as a training aircraft at the flying schools. In 1925 A. N. Jekatow flew with an R-2 from Moscow to Beijing.

From autumn 1923 the final R-1 series version, equipped with the M-5 , a license for the American Liberty L-12 engine, appeared, which was produced by around 2800 aircraft by 1931. With this aircraft, Mikhail Gromov undertook a long-distance flight on the Moscow-Beijing-Tokyo route in the summer of 1925.

R-1 during the Chinese Railway War (1929)

When the planes were pulled out of the first line, some of them got a BMW IVa engine and were henceforth used as training planes .

Another version was the MR-1 , which was fitted with plywood floats constructed by Polikarpow. In contrast to the land version, it had a reinforced lower wing and fuselage floor as well as a modified vertical stabilizer. After attempts in the winter of 1925, in which the float struts proved to be inadequate, the float mechanism was strengthened and tested by Mikhail Gromov in autumn 1926. 124 of the MR-1s were built in 1927/28 and used until 1932.

This was followed by the PM-2 with aluminum floats designed by the German engineer Münzel working in the USSR , which was tested by J. N. Moissejew in autumn 1927, but was not mass-produced due to the general scarcity of raw materials.

technical description

The fuselage of the R-1 consisted of a pine wood lattice construction, the front and middle sections were covered with 3 mm plywood, the rest was covered with fabric. The wing frame had two box spars and two double T-bars in the middle section of the wing, the wing ribs were made of pine wood with plywood boards. The tail unit was warped, the pitch angle of the elevator could be adjusted during the flight. The main landing gear was rigid and had a continuous axle. Skis could be mounted in winter. The tail spur was rubber-sprung.

Technical specifications

The float version MR-1
Three-sided tear
Parameter R-1 MR-1
Conception Multipurpose aircraft
Constructor (s) Nikolai Polikarpov
Manufacturer Duks
Year of construction (s) 1923-1931 1927-1928
length 9.24 m 10.58 m
Wingspan 14.02 m
height 3.50 m
Wing area 45.65 m² 44.54 m²
drive a water-cooled V12 engine M-5
Starting power 294 kW (400 hp)
Top speed 185 km / h near the ground 179 km / h near the ground
Rise time 4.5 min at 1000 m altitude
16.5 min at 3000 m altitude 		8.8 min at an altitude of 1000 m
Landing speed 90 km / h 100 km / h
Takeoff route 250 m k. A.
Service ceiling 5000 m 3680 m
Range 750 km 650 km
Flight duration 4 h
Empty mass 1463 kg 1830 kg
Takeoff mass 2217 kg 2580 kg
crew 2
Armament one rigid 7.62 mm MG PW-1
two movable 7.62 mm MG DA 		k. A.

literature

Web links

Commons : Polikarpow R-1  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Polikarpow MR-1  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vladimir Kotelnikow: The "Chinese Railway War" of 1929 . In: Fliegerrevue Extra . No. 24 . Möller, Berlin 2009, p. 36 .