Sukhoi Su-12
| Sukhoi Su-12 (RK) | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Reconnaissance plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
August 26, 1947 |
| Commissioning: |
- |
| Production time: |
1947 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
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The Sukhoi Su-12 ( Russian Сухой Су-12 , NATO code name : Type 23 ), also known as Project RK, was a Soviet twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft that was realized shortly after the Second World War . It was the last piston engine type developed in OKB Suchoi .
development
The Experimental-Konstruktionsbüro (OKB) Suchoi orientated itself strongly on the German reconnaissance aircraft Focke-Wulf Fw 189 . Some specimens of this type were captured by the Red Army during the war and tested at the Scientific Research Institute of the Soviet Air Forces (NII WWS). As a result, a similar project was commissioned in July 1943, which was given the designation RK (for Raswedtschik-correctirovshchik, reconnaissance scout). Many assemblies of the aircraft called the "flying frame" by the Soviet soldiers were redesigned for the new project, such as the fully glazed crew nacelle, which is arranged in the wing center section and offers excellent all-round visibility, and the design with double hulls equipped with bomb bays and the main landing gear as well as in the front part took up the engines. The drive was carried out by two radial engines Shvetsov ASch-82 , powered the four-leaf propellers. The wings were arranged on the fuselages in a middle-deck design . In November 1943, the drafts had been drawn up, but there was no contract to build a prototype .
After the end of the war, the Marshal for Artillery , Nikolai Voronov, wrote a letter to the government in mid-1946 calling for the development of an armed artillery observation aircraft with good all-round visibility and photo equipment. The Council of Ministers of the USSR approved the proposal on July 10 of that year and gave Sukhoi the development contract. Based on the plans from 1943, the project planning work was completed in March 1947 and the construction of a prototype began. The aircraft, now known as the Su-12, was completed in August 1947 and flight tests began on the 26th of the month with the first flight. Initially, two ASch-82M were used as the drive, but they were soon replaced by more powerful ASch-82FN. The other tests were carried out at the LII , where the Su-12 was certified as having good maneuverability, excellent all-round visibility and a spacious cabin. However, changes were also requested, for example the chassis design, the fuel system, the instrumentation and the effect of the propellers . The defensive armament for the rear area, consisting of 20 mm cannons , also caused problems. The changes, which also included an extension of the tail unit and the installation of two AW-9WF-21 propellers, took some time. In the meantime, the Su-12 was shown publicly at the Tuschino air parade in 1948 . It was not until September 1949 that the aircraft began state testing for the second time. Once again, good flight characteristics and promising performance were attested, but again no order for series production was received, so that Marshal Voronov again proposed in a letter to the Council of Ministers the construction of a small, ten-piece pilot series, which, since the country's aviation industry was involved at that time the large-scale production of aircraft was fully used, a subsequent production in Czechoslovakia should follow. The installation of more powerful ASch-62 engines was also considered. The following debate dragged on until June 1950 and ultimately ended with the abandonment of the project. This decision was justified with the design as a piston engine aircraft , which in the dawning jet engine era no longer met the requirements. So the Su-12, although initially planned in a number of 550 and urgently required by the artillery, remained only a one-off. It was flown by Sergei Anochin and Mark Gallai, among others .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | OKB Sukhoi |
| Construction year | 1947 |
| crew | 4th |
| length | 13.05 m |
| span | 21.58 m |
| height | 4.26 m |
| Wing area | 52.4 m² |
| Empty mass | 7,552 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 9,510 kg |
| drive | two Schwezow ASch-82 FN |
| power | 1,850 PS (1,361 kW) |
| Top speed | 530 km / h at an altitude of 5,300 m |
| Marching speed | 460 km / h |
| Rise time | 5.3 minutes at an altitude of 5,000 m |
| Service ceiling | 11,000 m |
| Range | 1,140 km |
| Take-off / landing runway | each 220 m |
| Armament | four 20 mm B-20E cannons with a total of 200 rounds |
| Bomb load | 450 kg |
literature
- Wilfried Bergholz: Russia's great aircraft manufacturer. The complete type book. Jakowlew, Mikojan / Gurewitsch, Suchoj. Aviatec, Oberhaching 2002, ISBN 3-925505-73-3 , p. 170.
- Wilfried Bergholz: Suchoi. Since 1927. (= type compass), Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-613-04045-8 , pp. 59–61.
Web links
- Colored drawing of the Su-12 on a kit cover
- Su-12 on the side of the manufacturer (English)
- History, pictures and dates of the Su-12 (russ.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Mühlbauer: Focke-Wulf Fw 189 - The Soviet "clone". In: Flugzeug Classic No. 10/1019, GeraMond, Munich, p. 45.