The best Soviet planes of the Second World War. Aircraft of the Second World War. Fighters, the production of which was directed by Lavochkin

At the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the fascist invaders destroyed almost 900 Soviet aircraft. Most of aircraft equipment, not having time to take off, was burned at the airfields as a result of the massive bombing of the German army. However, in a very short time, Soviet enterprises became world leaders in terms of the number of aircraft produced and thereby brought the victory of the Soviet Army in World War II closer. Consider which aircraft were in service with the Soviet Union and how they could withstand the aircraft of Hitler's Germany.

Aviation industry of the USSR

Before the start of the war, Soviet aircraft occupied a leading position in the world aviation industry. I-15 and I-16 fighters took part in hostilities with Japanese Manchuria, fought in the skies of Spain, and attacked the enemy during the Soviet-Finnish conflict. In addition to fighter aircraft, Soviet aircraft designers paid great attention to bomber technology.

Transport heavy bomber

So, just before the war, the heavy bomber TB-3 was demonstrated to the world. This multi-ton giant was capable of delivering a deadly cargo thousands of kilometers away. At that time, it was the most massive combat aircraft of the Second World War, which was produced in unheard of numbers and was the pride of the USSR Air Force. However, the model of gigantomania did not justify itself in real war conditions. The mass combat aircraft of the Second World War, according to modern experts, was significantly inferior to the Luftwaffe assault bombers of the Messerschmitt aircraft manufacturer in terms of speed and number of weapons.

New pre-war aircraft

The war in Spain and on Khalkhin Gol showed that the most important indicators in modern conflicts are the maneuverability and speed of aircraft. The Soviet aircraft designers were tasked with preventing a lag in military equipment and creating new aircraft models that could compete with the best examples of the world aircraft industry. Emergency measures were taken, and by the beginning of the 40s the next generation of competitive aircraft appeared. So, Yak-1, MiG-3, LaGT-3 became the leaders of their class of military aviation equipment, the speed of which at the design flight altitude reached or exceeded 600 km / h.

Start of serial production

In addition to fighter aircraft, high-speed equipment was developed in the class of dive and assault bombers (Pe-2, Tu-2, TB-7, Er-2, Il-2) and the Su-2 reconnaissance aircraft. During the two pre-war years, aircraft designers of the USSR created unique and modern attack aircraft, fighters and bombers for those times. All military equipment was tested in various training and combat conditions and recommended for serial production. However, there were not enough construction sites in the country. The rates of industrial growth of aviation equipment before the start of the Great Patriotic War lagged significantly behind world manufacturers. On June 22, 1941, the brunt of the war fell on the aircraft of the 30s. Only from the beginning of 1943, the military aviation industry of the Soviet Union reached the required level of production of combat aircraft and achieved an advantage in the airspace of Europe. Consider the best Soviet planes of the Second World War, according to the world's leading aviation experts.

Educational and training base

Many Soviet aces of the Second World War began their path to air aviation with training flights on the legendary multipurpose U-2 biplane, the production of which was mastered in 1927. The legendary plane served the Soviet pilots with faith and truth until the very Victory. By the mid-30s, biplane aviation was somewhat outdated. New combat missions were set, and the need arose to build a completely new training aircraft that would meet modern requirements. So, on the basis of A.S. Yakovlev's design bureau, a training monoplane Ya-20 was created. The monoplane was created in two modifications:

• with an engine from the French "Renault" in 140 liters. from.;
• with an M-11E aircraft engine.

In 1937, three international records were set on a Soviet-made engine. A car with a Renault engine took part in air competitions on the route Moscow-Sevastopol-Moscow, where it won a prize. Until the very end of the war, young pilots were trained on the aircraft of the A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau.

MBR-2: flying boat of war

Naval aviation during the Great Patriotic War played an important role in military battles, bringing the long-awaited victory over fascist Germany... Thus, the second naval reconnaissance aircraft, or MBR-2, a seaplane capable of taking off and landing on the water surface, became a Soviet flying boat. Among the pilots, the aircraft had the nickname "heavenly cow" or "barn". The seaplane made its first flight in the early 30s, and later, until the very victory over Nazi Germany, was in service with the Red Army. Interesting fact: An hour before the German attack on the Soviet Union, the first planes of the Baltic flotilla were destroyed along the entire perimeter of the coastline. German troops destroyed all of the country's naval aviation in the region. During the war years, naval aviation pilots successfully carried out the tasks assigned to them to evacuate the crews of downed Soviet aircraft, to adjust the enemy's coastal defensive lines, and to provide transport convoys of the country's naval forces.

MiG-3: the main night fighter

The high-altitude Soviet fighter differed from other pre-war aircraft in its high-speed characteristics. At the end of 1941, it was the most massive aircraft of the Second World War, the total number of units of which was more than 1/3 of the entire aircraft fleet. air defense country. The novelty of aircraft construction was not sufficiently mastered by combat pilots, they had to tame the MiG "third" in combat conditions. Two aviation regiments of the best representatives of Stalin's "falcons" were urgently formed. However, the most massive WWII aircraft was significantly inferior to the fighter fleet of the late 30s. Exceeding in speed characteristics at an altitude of more than 5000 m, at medium and low altitudes, the combat vehicle was inferior to the same I-5 and I-6. Nevertheless, when repelling attacks on rear cities at the beginning of the war, it was the "third" MiGs that were used. Combat vehicles participated in air defense Moscow, Leningrad and other cities of the Soviet Union. Due to the lack of spare parts and the renewal of the aircraft fleet with new aircraft in June 1944, the massive WWII aircraft was decommissioned from the armament of the USSR Air Force.

Yak-9: air defender of Stalingrad

In the pre-war time, A. Yakovlev's design bureau mainly produced light sports aircraft intended for training and participating in various thematic shows dedicated to the strength and power of Soviet aviation. The Yak-1 possessed excellent flight qualities, the serial production of which was mastered in 1940. It was this aircraft that had to repulse the first attacks of Hitlerite Germany at the very beginning of the war. In 1942, a new aircraft from the design bureau of A. Yakovlev, the Yak-9, began to enter service with the Air Force. It is believed that this is the most massive front-line type aircraft during the Second World War. Fighting machine participated in air battles along the entire front line. Having retained all the main dimensions, the Yak-9 was improved with a powerful M-105PF engine with a nominal power of 1210 horsepower under flight conditions. exceeding 2500 meters. The mass of the fully equipped combat vehicle was 615 kg. The weight of the aircraft was added by ammunition and metal I-section spars, which were wooden before the war. Also, the fuel tank was converted into the aircraft, increasing the volume of fuel, which affected the flight range. The new development of aircraft manufacturers possessed high maneuverability, allowing for active fighting in close proximity to the enemy at high and low altitudes. Over the years of serial production of the military fighter (1942-1948), about 17 thousand combat units were mastered. The Yak-9U, which appeared in service with the USSR Air Force in the fall of 1944, was considered a successful modification. Among combat pilots, the letter "y" meant the word killer.

La-5: air tightrope walker

In 1942, the combat aircraft of the Second World War were replenished with the La-5 single-engine fighter, created in OKB-21 S.A. Lavochkin. The aircraft was made of classified construction materials, which made it possible to withstand dozens of direct enemy machine-gun hits. The WWII combat aircraft possessed impressive maneuverability and high-speed qualities, misleading the enemy with its air feints. So, La-5 could freely enter the "tailspin", and just as well get out of it, which in combat conditions made it practically invulnerable. It is believed that this is the most combat aircraft of the Second World War, which played one of the key roles in air battles during the battle on Kursk Bulge and military battles in the skies of Stalingrad.

Li-2: cargo carrier

In the 30s of the last century, the main means of air transport was the PS-9 passenger aircraft, a slow-moving machine with an indestructible chassis. However, the level of comfort and performance characteristics of the "air bus" did not meet international requirements. So, in 1942, the Soviet military transport aircraft Li-2 was created on the basis of licensed production of the American air-main transport aircraft Douglas DC-3. The car was assembled entirely from American-made units. The aircraft served faithfully until the very end of the war, and in post-war years continued to carry out cargo transportation on the local airlines of the Soviet Union.

Po-2: "night witches" in the sky

Remembering the combat aircraft of the Second World War, it is difficult to ignore one of the most massive workers in combat battles - the multipurpose biplane U-2, or Po-2, created in the design bureau of Nikolai Polikarpov back in the 20s of the last century. Initially, the aircraft was intended for training purposes and operation as an air transport in agriculture... However, the Great Patriotic War made the "sewing machine" (as the Germans called the Po-2) the most formidable and effective attacking means of night bombardment. One plane could make up to 20 sorties per night, delivering a deadly cargo to enemy combat positions. It should be noted that women pilots mostly fought on such biplanes. During the war years, four female squadrons of 80 pilots were formed. For their bravery and fighting courage, the German invaders called them "night witches". The female air regiment in the Great Patriotic War made more than 23.5 thousand combat missions. Many did not return from combat battles. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 23 "witches", most of them posthumously.

IL-2: machine of the great Victory

The Soviet attack aircraft of the design bureau of Sergei Yakovlev is the most popular type of combat air transport during the Great Patriotic War. Aircraft of the Second World War Il-2 took an active part in the theater of military operations. In the entire history of world aircraft construction, the brainchild of S.V. Yakovlev is considered the most massive combat aircraft of its class. In total, more than 36 thousand units of combat air weapons have been commissioned. Aircraft of the Second World War with the Il-2 logo terrified the German aces of the Luftwaffe and were nicknamed by them "concrete aircraft". The main technological feature of the combat vehicle was the inclusion of armor in the power circuit of the aircraft, which was able to withstand a direct hit from an enemy's 7.62 mm armor-piercing bullet from an almost zero distance. There were several serial modifications of the aircraft: Il-2 (single), Il-2 (double), Il-2 AM-38F, Il-2 KSS, Il-2 M82 and so on.

Conclusion

In general, air machines, created by the hands of Soviet aircraft manufacturers, continued to perform combat missions in the post-war period. For example, the Air Force of Mongolia, the Air Force of Bulgaria, the Air Force of Yugoslavia, the Air Force of Czechoslovakia and other states of the post-war socialist camp were armed with aircraft of the USSR for a long time, which ensured the protection of airspace.

War creates a need unseen in peacetime. Countries are competing to create the next the most powerful weapon, and engineers sometimes resort to intricate methods of designing their killing machines. Nowhere else has this manifested itself more clearly than in the skies of World War II: daring aircraft designers invented the strangest aircraft in human history.

At the start of World War II, the German Reich Air Ministry spurred the development of a tactical reconnaissance aircraft to provide information support for army operations. Two companies responded to the assignment. Focke-Wulf modeled a fairly standard twin-engine airplane, while Blohm & Voss miraculously came up with one of the most unusual aircraft at the time - the asymmetrical BV 141.

Although at first glance it might seem that this model was dreamed of by the engineers in delirium, it successfully served a specific purpose. By removing the skin from the right side of the aircraft, the BV 141 received an incomparable field of view for the pilot and observers, especially from the right and front, as the pilots were no longer burdened by the huge engine and rotating propeller of a familiar single-engine aircraft.

The design was developed by Richard Vogt, who realized that the then aircraft already had, in fact, asymmetric handling characteristics. With a heavy engine in the bow, the single-engine airplane experienced high torque demanding constant attention and control. Vogt sought to compensate for this by introducing an original asymmetric design, creating a stable reconnaissance platform, easier to fly than most of her contemporary airliners.

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 divert 80 percent of Blohm & Voss's production space to build Focke-Wulf aircraft. Since the already tiny staff of the company began to work for the benefit of the latter, work on the "BV 141" was stopped after the release of only 38 copies. They were all destroyed during the war.

Another unusual Nazi project, “Horten Ho 229”, was launched almost before the end of the war, after German scientists improved their jet technology. By 1943, the Luftwaffe commanders realized that they had made a huge mistake in 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 a 3x1000 demand: to develop a bomber capable of carrying 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 set about designing a "flying wing" (a type of aircraft without a tail or fuselage, like the later stealth bombers). In the 1930s, Walter and Raimar experimented with gliders of this type, which demonstrated superior handling characteristics. Using this experience, the brothers built a non-powered model to underpin their bomber concept. The design impressed Göring, and he handed the project over to the aircraft manufacturer Gothaer Wagonfaebrik for mass production. After some refinement, the Horten glider acquired a jet engine. It was also converted to serve as a fighter jet for the Luftwaffe in 1945. They managed to create only one prototype, which at the end of the war passed into 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 to the B-2 was put into service, aerospace experts became interested in the stealth characteristics of its German ancestor. In 2008, Northrop Grumman engineers re-created a copy of the Ho 229 from a surviving prototype at the Smithsonian. By emitting radar signals at the frequencies used during World War II, specialists discovered that the Nazi plane was actually directly related to stealth technology: it had a much lower radar signature than its combat contemporaries. Quite by accident, the Horten brothers invented the first stealth fighter-bomber.

In the 1930s, Charles H. Zimmerman, an engineer at the American company Vought, began experimenting with disc-shaped aircraft. The first flying model was the V-173, which took off in 1942. It had gearbox problems, but overall it was a solid, highly maneuverable aircraft. While his firm was churning out the famous “F4U Corsair”, Zimmermann continued work on the disc-shaped fighter, which eventually saw 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 aircraft was expected to reach a high speed of about 885 kilometers per hour, slowing down to 32 kilometers per hour on landing. To give the airframe strength while keeping the weight as low as possible, the prototype was built from metalite, a material made up of a thin sheet of balsa wood coated with aluminum. However, various engine problems caused Zimmermann a lot of trouble, and the Second world War ended before they could be eliminated.

Vought did not close the project, but by the time the fighter was ready for testing, the US Navy decided to focus 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 that fell on the airplane only bounced off the metal. Finally, after several new attempts, the body of the aircraft caved in, and the blowtorches incinerated the remains.

Of all the aircraft presented in the article, the Boulton Paul Defiant was in service the longest. Unfortunately, this resulted in many deaths of young pilots. The airplane appeared as a result of the delusion of the 1930s regarding the further development of the situation on the air front. The British command believed that the enemy bombers would be unprotected and mostly without reinforcements. In theory, a fighter with a powerful turret could infiltrate an attacking formation and destroy it from within. This arrangement of weapons would relieve the pilot of the responsibility of the gunner, allowing him to concentrate on bringing the aircraft to the optimal firing position.

And the Defiant did an excellent job during its first missions on operations, as many unsuspecting German fighter pilots mistook the aircraft for an outwardly similar Hawker Hurricane, attacking it from above or from the rear - ideal points for a machine gunner "Defiant". However, the Luftwaffe pilots quickly realized what was happening, and began to attack from below and in front. With no frontal weapons and low maneuverability due to the heavy turret, the Defiant aviators suffered huge losses during the Battle of Britain. The air force of foggy Albion lost almost an entire fighter squadron, and the “Defiant” arrows were unable to leave the plane in emergency situations.

While the pilots were able to come up with various temporary tactics, the Royal Air Force soon realized that the turret fighter was not designed for modern air combat. The Defiant was downgraded to a night fighter, after which he gained some success sneaking up and destroying enemy bombers on night missions. The British's rugged hull was also used as a target for shooting practice and in testing the first Martin-Baker ejection seats.

In the period between the First and Second World Wars, there was growing concern in various states about the issue of defense against strategic bombing during the next hostilities. Italian general Giulio Douet believed that it was impossible to defend against massive air attacks, and British politician Stanley Baldwin coined the phrase "the bomber will always break through." In response, the major powers have invested heavily in the development of "bomb destroyers" - heavy fighters designed to intercept enemy formations in the sky. 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 foray into the military aircraft industry and featured many unusual features. In order to provide the Airacuda with the best chance of destroying the enemy, Bell equipped it with two 37mm M-4 guns, placing them in front of the rare pusher engines and the propellers behind them. Each gun was assigned a separate shooter, whose main responsibility was its manual reloading. Initially, the gunners also fired directly from the weapon. However, the results were a sheer disaster, and the design of the aircraft was changed, putting the control levers in the hands of the pilot.

Military strategists believed that with additional machine guns in defensive positions — mostly in the fuselage to counter side attacks — the aircraft would be indestructible, both when attacking enemy bombers and when escorting B-17s over enemy territory. All of these structural elements gave the aircraft a rather voluminous look, making it look like a cute cartoon airplane. "Airacuda" was a real death machine that looked like it was created for a hug.

Despite the optimistic forecasts, the tests revealed serious problems. The engines were prone to overheating and did not generate enough thrust. Therefore, in reality "Airacuda" developed a lower top speed than the bombers, which it had to intercept or defend. The original arrangement of the weapon only added to the complexity, since the gondolas in which it was housed were filled with smoke when firing, making it impossible for machine gunners to work. In addition to all this, they could not get out of their cabins in case of emergency, because the propellers were working right behind them, turning the attempt to escape by meeting with death. As a result of these problems, the US Army Air Force acquired only 13 aircraft, none of which received the baptism of fire. The remaining gliders scattered across the country to have the pilots add 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 component aerial technology Second World War. They were lifted into the air in tow and disconnected near enemy territory, ensuring the rapid delivery of goods and troops as part of airborne operations. Among all gliders of that period, the Soviet-made "flying tank" "A-40" 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. Airlifting them with gliders seemed like a worthwhile idea, but the engineers soon discovered that the tank was one of the most aerodynamically imperfect vehicles. After countless attempts to create a good system for supplying tanks by air, most states simply surrendered. But not the USSR.

In fact, Soviet aviation already had some success in landing tanks before the A-40 was developed. Small vehicles like T-27s were lifted aboard huge transport aircraft and dropped a few meters from the ground. With the gearbox in neutral, the tank landed and rolled by inertia to a stop. The problem was that the tank crew had to be delivered separately, which greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the system.

Ideally, tankers should have arrived in a tank and be ready for battle after a few minutes. To achieve these goals, Soviet planners turned to the ideas of the 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 over instantly, since no one could defend against a flying tank.

Based on the work of John Christie, the Soviet Union crossed the T-60 with an aircraft and in 1942 conducted its first test flight with the brave pilot Sergei Anokhin at the helm. And although, due to the aerodynamic drag of the tank, the glider had to be removed from the tug before reaching the planned height, Anokhin managed to land softly and even brought the tank back to base. Despite the enthusiastic report compiled 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 car - without most of the weapons and with a minimum supply of fuel). Unfortunately, the flying tank never took off from the ground again.

After Allied bombing began to undermine Germany's war effort, Luftwaffe commanders realized that their refusal to develop heavy multi-engine bombers was a huge mistake. When the authorities finally established the appropriate orders, most of the German aircraft manufacturers jumped at the opportunity. These included the Horten brothers (as noted above) and the Junkers, who already had experience building bombers. Engineer Hans Focke oversaw the design of what is arguably Germany's most advanced World War II aircraft, the Ju 287.

In the 30s, designers came to the conclusion that a straight-wing aircraft had a certain upper speed limit, but at the time this was not important, since turboprop engines could not get close to these indicators anyway. However, with the development of jet technology, everything has changed. German specialists used swept wings on early jet aircraft, such as the Me-262, to avoid the problems of air compression effects inherent in straight wing designs. Focke took this one step further and proposed the release of an aircraft with a forward-swept wing, which he believed would be able to defeat any air defense. The new wing type 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, and many parts of other aircraft, including captured Allied bombers, were taken to make the model. "Ju-287" showed itself excellently during test flights, confirming compliance with all declared operational characteristics. Unfortunately for Focke, interest in jet bombers quickly faded away, and his project was sent on the back burner until March 1945. By that time, desperate Luftwaffe commanders were looking for any fresh ideas for inflicting damage on the allied forces - production of the Ju-287 was launched in record time, but two months later the war ended, after only a few prototypes were built. It took another 40 years for the popularity of the forward-swept wing to begin to revive thanks to American and Russian aerospace engineers.

George Cornelius is a renowned American engineer who designed a number of extravagant gliders and airplanes. During the 30s and 40s, he worked on new types of designs aircraft, among other things, he experimented with a forward-swept wing (like the Ju-287). Its gliders had excellent stall characteristics and could be towed at high speeds without exerting significant braking effect on the towing airplane. When World War II broke out, Cornelius was involved in the development of the XFG-1, one of the most specialized aircraft ever built. In essence, the XFG-1 was a flying fuel tank.

George's plans were to release 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 \u200b\u200busing the unmanned "XFG-1" was revolutionary. The B-29 was 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 gas station. After emptying the fuel storage, the B-29 would detach the glider and it would dive to the ground and crash. This scheme would significantly increase the range of the 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 planted, and not just destroyed at the end of the fuel intake. Although it is worth considering which pilot would dare to undertake such a task as flying in a fuel tank over a dangerous war zone.

During testing, one of the prototypes crashed, and Cornelius's plan was left without further attention when the Allied forces captured the islands near the Japanese archipelago. With the new location of the airbases, the need for refueling "B-29" to achieve their objectives of the missions disappeared, removing the "XFG-1" from the game. After the war, George continued to pitch his idea to the United States Air Force, but by then their interest had shifted to specialized refueling aircraft. And "XFG-1" has simply become an inconspicuous footnote in the history of military aviation.

The idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a flying aircraft carrier first appeared during the First World War and was tested in the interwar period. In those years, engineers dreamed of a huge airship, carrying small fighters that could leave 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 large rigid airships of their tactical value became apparent.

But while American and British specialists were scrapping their projects, the Soviet Air Force was just preparing to enter the development arena. In 1931, aviation engineer Vladimir Vakhmistrov made a proposal to use Tupolev's heavy bombers to lift smaller fighters into the air. This made it possible to significantly increase the flight range and bomb load of the latter in comparison with their usual capabilities as dive bombers. Without bombs, aircraft could also defend their carriers from enemy attacks. Throughout the 1930s, Vakhmistrov experimented with various configurations, stopping only when he attached as many as five fighters to one bomber. By the time the Second World War began, the aircraft designer revised his ideas and came to a more practical scheme of two I-16 fighter-bombers suspended from the mother TB-3.

The USSR Supreme Command was impressed enough by this 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 made, the most famous of which was the destruction of the bridge near Chernovodsk in August 1941. The Red Army spent months trying to destroy it in vain, until it finally brought in two of Vakhmistrov's monsters. The carrier aircraft launched their fighters, which began to bomb a 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 - offspring of aviation in human history.

Most people are familiar with missions japanese kamikazeusing old planes loaded with explosives as anti-ship weapons. They even developed the MXY-7 special-purpose rocket projectile. Less widely known is Germany's attempt to build a similar weapon by converting V-1 cruise bombs into manned cruise missiles.

With the end of the war approaching, the Nazi high command desperately sought a way to thwart Allied shipping across the English Channel. The V-1 shells 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 missiles launched from the ground, the Fi-103R manned bombs were supposed to be lifted into the air and launched from He-111 bombers. After that, the pilot needed to make out the target-ship, direct his plane to it, and then take his own feet.

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 just behind the felling, the escape was probably fatal anyway. These illusory chances of survival for the pilots spoiled the impression of the Luftwaffe commanders on the program, so not a single operational mission was destined to take place. However, 175 V-1 bombs were converted to Fi-103Rs, most of which fell into Allied hands after the end of the war.

The debate before World War II about which is more important, higher speed or better maneuverability *, was finally resolved in favor of higher speed. The experience of military operations has convincingly shown that it is speed in the end that is the determining factor in victory in air combat... The pilot of a more maneuverable, but less high-speed aircraft was simply forced to defend himself, yielding the initiative to the enemy. However, when conducting aerial combat, such a fighter, having an advantage in horizontal and vertical maneuverability, will be able to decide the outcome of the battle in its favor, taking an advantageous position for firing.

Before the war, it was believed for a long time that in order to increase maneuverability, the aircraft must be unstable, the lack of stability of the I-16 cost the lives of more than one pilot. Having studied before the war german aircraft, the report of the Air Force Research Institute noted:

"... all German aircraft differ sharply from domestic ones in their large reserves of stability, which also significantly increases flight safety, aircraft survivability and simplifies the technique of piloting and mastering by unskilled combat pilots."

By the way, the difference between German aircraft and the newest domestic ones, which were tested at the Air Force Research Institute almost in parallel, was so striking that it forced the head of the institute, Major General A.I. Filin, to draw the attention of I.V. Stalin to this. The consequences were dramatic for Filin: he was arrested on May 23, 1941.

(Source 5 Alexander Pavlov) As you know, aircraft maneuverability depends, first of all, on two quantities. The first - the specific load on the engine power - determines the vertical maneuverability of the machine; the second - the specific load on the wing - horizontal. Let us consider these indicators for Bf 109 in more detail (see table).

* Notes to the table: 1. Bf 109G-6 / U2 with GM-1 system, which weighed 160 kg when filled, plus 13 kg of additional engine oil.

2.Bf 109G-4 / U5 with the MW-50 system, the weight of which was 120 kg when filled.

3.Bf 109G-10 / U4 was armed with one 30mm MK-108 cannon and two 13mm MG-131 machine guns, as well as the MW-50 system.

In theory, the "hundred and ninth", in comparison with its main opponents, had the best vertical maneuverability throughout the Second World War. But in practice, this was not always true. Much in battle depended on the experience and abilities of the pilot.

Eric Brown (an Englishman who tested the Bf 109G-6 / U2 / R3 / R6 in 1944 at Farnborough) recalled: “We conducted comparative tests of the captured Bf 109G-6 with the Spitfire series LF.IX, XV and XIV, with the P-51C "Mustang". The rate of climb "Gustav" surpassed all these aircraft at all echelons of heights. "

DA Alekseev, who fought on the Lavochkin in 1944, compares the Soviet vehicle with the main enemy at that time - the Bf 109G-6. “The La-5FN surpassed the Messerschmitt in climb rate. If the "mass" tried to get away from us, they would catch up. And the steeper the "Messer" went up, the easier it was to catch up.

In horizontal speed, La-5FN was slightly faster than the Messer, and the advantage of La in speed over the Fokker was even greater. In level flight, neither the Messer nor the Fokker could escape the La-5FN. If the German pilots did not have the opportunity to dive, then sooner or later we would catch up with them.

I must say that the Germans were constantly improving their fighters. The Germans had a modification of the Messer, which even surpassed the La-5FN in speed. She also appeared at the end of the war, sometime by the end of 1944. I didn’t have to meet these "messers", but Lobanov did. I well remember how Lobanov was very surprised that he came across such "messers" that left his La-5FN on pitch-up, but he could not catch up with them. "

Only at the final stage of the war, from the autumn of 1944 to May 1945, did the allied aviation take over the palm. With the advent of such vehicles as the P-51D and P-47D on the Western Front, the "classic" dive attack became quite problematic for the Bf 109G.

American fighters caught up with him and shot down on the way out. On the "hill" they also did not leave a chance for the "hundred and ninth". The newest Bf 109K-4 could break away from them both in a dive and on the vertical, but the quantitative superiority of the Americans and their tactics nullified these advantages of the German fighter.

On the Eastern Front, the situation was somewhat different. More than half of the Bf 109G-6 and G-14 that have entered the air force since 1944 were equipped with the MW50 engine boost system. The injection of a water-methanol mixture significantly increased the power-to-weight ratio of the vehicle at altitudes up to about 6500 meters. The gain in horizontal speed and dive was very significant. Remembers F. de Joffre.

“On March 20, 1945 (...) six of our Yak-3s were attacked by twelve Messers, including six Me-109 / G. They were piloted exclusively by experienced pilots. The maneuvers of the Germans were distinguished by such clarity, as if they were on an exercise. Messerschmitts-109 / G, thanks to a special system of enrichment of the combustible mixture, calmly enter the steep dive, which the pilots call "lethal". So they break away from the rest of the "Messers", and we do not have time to open fire, as they suddenly attack us from behind. Bleton is forced to jump with a parachute. "

The main problem with using the MW50 was that the system could not work during the entire flight. The injection could be used for a maximum of ten minutes, then the motor overheated and threatened to jam. Further, a five-minute break was required, after which it was possible to restart the system. These ten minutes were usually enough to carry out two or three dive attacks, but if the Bf 109 was involved in a maneuverable battle at low altitudes, it could well have lost.

Hauptmann Hans-Werner Lerche, who tested the captured La-5FN in Rechlin in September 1944, wrote in the report. “In view of the merits of its engine, the La-5FN was better suited for combat at low altitudes. Its maximum ground speed is only marginally lower than that of the FW190A-8 and the Bf 109 in afterburner. Overclocking characteristics are comparable. La-5FN is inferior to Bf 109 with MW50 in speed and climb rate at all altitudes. The efficiency of the La-5FN ailerons is higher than that of the "one hundred and ninth", the turn time at the ground is less. "

In this regard, let's consider horizontal maneuverability. As I said, horizontal maneuverability depends, first of all, on the specific load on the aircraft wing. And the lower this value of a fighter, the faster it can perform turns, rolls and other aerobatics in the horizontal plane. But this is only in theory, in practice it was often not so simple. During civil war in Spain, Bf 109B-1 met in the air with an I-16 type 10. The specific wing loading of the German fighter was slightly lower than that of the Soviet, but the battle on bends was usually won by the republican pilot.

The problem for the "German" was that after one or two turns in one direction, the pilot "shifted" his plane to the other side and here the "hundred and ninth" lost. The smaller I-16, which literally "walked" behind the control stick, had a higher roll rate and, therefore, performed this maneuver more energetically compared to the more inert Bf 109B. As a result, the German fighter lost precious fractions of seconds, and the maneuver time became a little longer.

The battles on bends developed somewhat differently during the so-called "Battle of England". Here the enemy of the Bf 109E was the more maneuverable Spitfire. Its wing loading was significantly lower than that of the Messerschmitt.

Lieutenant Max-Helmut Ostermann, later commander of 7./JG54, an expert with 102 victories, recalled: Spitfires proved to be surprisingly maneuverable aircraft. Their demonstration of aerial acrobatics - loops, rolls, shooting on a bend - all this could not but delight. "

And here is what the English historian Mike Speke wrote in general remarks about the characteristics of aircraft.

“The ability to turn depends on two factors - specific wing loading and aircraft speed. If two fighters fly at the same speed, then the fighter with less wing loading bypasses its opponent in a bend. However, if it flies much faster, the opposite often happens. " It was the second part of this conclusion that the German pilots used in battles with the British. To reduce the speed on a bend, the Germans extended the flaps by 30 °, putting them in the takeoff position, and with a further decrease in speed, the slats were automatically released.

The final conclusion of the British about the maneuverability of the Bf 109E can be taken from the report on the tests of the captured vehicle at the Flight Research Center in Farnborough:

“In terms of maneuverability, the pilots noted a small difference between the Emil and the Spitfire Mk.I and Mk.II at altitudes of 3500-5000 m - one a little better in one mode, the other in“ their ”maneuver. Above 6100 meters, the Bf 109E was slightly better. The Hurricane had higher drag, which put it below the Spitfire and the Bf 109 in acceleration. "

In 1941, new aircraft of the Bf109 F modification appeared on the fronts. And although their wing area was somewhat smaller and the takeoff weight was greater than that of their predecessors, they became faster and more maneuverable due to the use of a new wing, improved in terms of aerodynamics. ... The turn time decreased, and with the flaps extended, it was possible to "win back" one more second, which was confirmed by tests of the captured "hundred and ninth" at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force. Nevertheless, the German pilots tried not to get involved in cornering battles, since they had to slow down and, as a result, lose the initiative.

Later versions of the Bf 109, produced after 1943, significantly "put on weight" and indeed slightly worsened the horizontal maneuverability indicators. This was due to the fact that, as a result of massive American bombers' raids on German territory, the Germans gave priority to air defense tasks. And in the fight against heavy bombers, horizontal maneuverability is not so important. Therefore, the stake was made on strengthening the onboard armament, which led to an increase in the takeoff weight of the fighter.

The only exception was the Bf 109 G-14, which was the lightest and most maneuverable aircraft of the "G" modification. Most of these vehicles entered the Eastern Front, where mobile battles were fought much more often. And those that got to the west, as a rule, were involved in the fight against enemy escort fighters.

Remembers I.I.Kozhemyako, who had a duel in the Yak-1B with the Bf 109G-14. “It turned out like this: as soon as we took off with attack aircraft, we didn’t even approach the front line, and the Messerschildren piled on us. I was the host of the "top" pair. We saw the Germans from afar, my squadron commander Sokolov managed to give me the command: “Ivan! A couple of "skinny" ones on top! Fight back! " It was then that my pair and came together with this pair of "one hundred and ninth". The Germans started a maneuvering battle, the stubborn Germans were. During the battle, both I and the leader of the German pair broke away from their wingmen. We were spinning together for about twenty minutes. Converged - diverged, converged - diverged! Nobody wanted to give in! What did I not do to get the German in the tail - "Yak" literally put on the wing, not a damn thing happened! While we were spinning, we lost speed to a minimum, and as soon as none of us broke into a spin? .. Then we disperse, make a bigger circle, catch our breath, and again - the gas sector "to full", turn as steeply as possible!

It all ended with the fact that at the exit from the bend, we stood "wing to wing" and fly in the same direction. The German looks at me, I - at the German. The situation is stalemate. I examined the German pilot in all details: a young guy in a mesh helmet is sitting in the cockpit. (I remember that I still envied him: “The bastard is lucky! ..”, because sweat was pouring out from under my headset.)

What to do in such a situation is completely incomprehensible. Someone of us will try to turn to go, do not have time to get up, the enemy will shoot. He will try to go to the vertical - and there he will shoot, only his nose will have to be raised. While they were spinning, only one thought was - to beat this bastard, and then "came to my senses" and I understand that my affairs are "not very good." Firstly, it turns out that the German tied me in force, tore me away from the attack aircraft's cover. God forbid, while I was spinning with him, the stormtroopers lost someone - to have me "pale appearance and crooked legs."

Although my squadron commander gave me a command for this battle, it turns out that I, having got involved in a protracted battle, chased after the "shot down", and neglected the fulfillment of the main combat mission - covering the "silts". Explain later why you could not break away from the German, prove that you are not a camel. Secondly, there is now another "messer" and the end of me, I, as a tied one. But, apparently, the German thought was the same, at least about the appearance of the second "Yak" was definitely.

I watched the German slowly move aside. I pretend not to notice. He - on the wing and in a sharp dive, I - "full throttle" and from him in the opposite direction! Fuck you so skillful. "

Summing up, I. I. Kozhemyako said that the "Messer" as a fighter for maneuverable combat was excellent. If there was then a fighter designed specifically for maneuverable combat, it was a Messer! High-speed, highly maneuverable (especially on the vertical), highly dynamic. I don’t know about everything else, but if we take into account only the speed and maneuverability, the "messer" for the "dog dump" was almost perfect. Another thing is that most of the German pilots frankly did not like this type of combat, and I still cannot understand why?

I don’t know what “didn’t allow” the Germans there, but not the performance characteristics of the “Messer”. On the Kursk Bulge a couple of times they pulled us into such "merry-go-rounds", our head almost flew off from the spinning, so the "messengers" were spinning around us.

Honestly, the whole war I dreamed of fighting on such a fighter - fast and superior to everyone on the vertical. But it didn't work. "

And on the basis of the memoirs of other veterans of the Second World War, we can conclude that the Bf 109G was not at all drawn to the role of a "flying log". For example, E. Hartmann demonstrated excellent horizontal maneuverability of the Bf 109G-14 in a battle with the Mustangs at the end of June 1944, when he single-handedly shot down three fighters, and then managed to fight off the eight P-51Ds, which did not even succeed get into his car.

Dive. Some historians argue that the Bf109 is extremely difficult to control in a dive, the rudders are not effective, the plane "sucks in", and the planes do not withstand loads. Probably, they make these conclusions based on the conclusions of the pilots who tested the captured samples. For example, I will give a few such statements.

In April 1942, the future colonel and commander of the 9th IAD, ace with 59th air victories A.I. Pokryshkin, arrived in Novocherkassk, in a group of pilots mastering captured Bf109 E-4 / N. According to him, two Slovak pilots flew over and surrendered in the Messerschmitts. Perhaps Aleksandr Ivanovich confused something with the dates, since the Slovak fighter pilots at that time were still in Denmark, at the Karup Grove airfield, where they studied the Bf 109E. And on the eastern front, they appeared, judging by the documents of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, on July 1, 1942, consisting of 13. (Slovak.) / JG52. But back to the memories.

“For several days in the zone I worked out a simple and complex aerobatics and began to confidently fly the Messerschmitt. We must pay tribute - the plane was good. It had a number of positive qualities in comparison with our fighters. In particular, the Me-109 had an excellent radio station, the front glass was armored, the lantern cap was dropped. We have only dreamed of this so far. But there were also serious shortcomings in the Me-109. Diving qualities are worse than that of the "instant". I knew about this even at the front, when on reconnaissance I had to break away from the groups of Messerschmitts attacking me in a steep dive. "

Another pilot, the Englishman Eric Brown, who tested the Bf 109G-6 / U2 / R3 / R6 in 1944 at Farnborough (Great Britain), tells about the dive performance.

“With a relatively low cruising speed, she was only 386 km / h, it was just wonderful to drive the Gustav. However, as the speed increased, the situation changed rapidly. When diving at a speed of 644 km / h and the occurrence of high-speed pressure, the controls behaved as if they were frozen. Personally, I achieved a speed of 708 km / h when diving from an altitude of 3000 m, and it seemed that the controls were simply blocked. "

And here is one more statement, this time - from the book "Tactics of Fighter Aviation" published in the USSR, in 1943: "The draft of the aircraft during the withdrawal from the dive at the Me-109 fighter is large. A steep dive with a withdrawal at low altitude is difficult for the Me-109 fighter. It is also difficult for the Me-109 fighter to change direction during a dive and in general during a high-speed attack. ”

Now let's turn to the memoirs of other pilots. Remembers the pilot of the squadron "Normandy" Francois de Joffre, ace with 11 victories.

“The sun hits my eyes so hard that I have to make incredible efforts not to lose sight of Challe. He, like me, loves a frantic race. I get attached to him. Wing to wing we continue to patrol. Everything, it seemed, should have ended without any adventures, when suddenly two Messerschmitts fell on us from above. We are taken by surprise. I, like a madman, take the pen on myself. The car shudders terribly and rears, but fortunately does not go into a tailspin. Fritz's line passes 50 meters from me. Had I been a quarter of a second late with the maneuver, the German would have sent me straight to the world from which they are not returning.

An air battle begins. (...) I have an advantage in maneuverability. The enemy feels it. He understands that now I am the master of the situation. Four thousand meters ... Three thousand meters ... We are rushing to the ground ... So much the better! The advantage of the "yak" should be evident. I clench my teeth tighter. Suddenly "Messer", all white, except for the ominous, black cross and disgusting, spider-like swastika, comes out of its dive and flees on low level flight to Goldap.

I try to keep up and, furious with rage, pursue him, squeezing out of the yak everything he can give. The arrow shows the speed of 700 or 750 kilometers per hour. I increase the dive angle and, when it reaches about 80 degrees, I suddenly remember Bertrand, who crashed in Alytus, falling victim to a colossal load that destroyed the wing.

Instinctively, I grab the pen. It seems to me that it is served hard, even too hard. I tug more, careful not to damage anything, and little by little I choose it. Movement regains the same confidence. The nose of the plane goes to the horizon. The speed drops slightly. How is it all on time! I almost don't understand anything. When, after a split second, consciousness fully returns to me, I see that the enemy fighter rushes close to the ground, as if playing a game of leapfrog with white tops of trees. "

Now I think everyone understands what a “steep dive with an output at low altitude” is performed by Bf 109. As for AI Pokryshkin, he is right in his conclusion. The MiG-3, indeed, accelerated faster on a dive, but for different reasons. First, it had better aerodynamics, the wing and horizontal tail had a smaller relative profile thickness compared to the wing and tail of the Bf 109. And, as you know, it is the wing that creates the maximum air resistance of the aircraft (about 50%). Secondly, the power of the fighter's engine plays an equally important role. At "Mig", at low altitudes, it was approximately equal to or slightly higher than that of "Messerschmitt". And thirdly, the MiG was heavier than the Bf 109E by almost 700 kilograms, and the Bf 109F by more than 600. In general, a slight advantage in each of the factors mentioned was expressed in the higher dive speed of the Soviet fighter.

Former pilot of the 41st GIAP, Colonel Retired A. Alekseev, who fought on La-5 and La-7 fighters, recalls: “German fighter planes were strong. High-speed, maneuverable, durable, with very strong weapons (especially the Fokker). On a dive, they caught up with La-5, and they dived away from us. A coup and a dive, only we saw them. By and large, in a dive, neither the Messer, nor the Fokker even caught up with the La-7. "

Nevertheless, D. A. Alekseev knew how to shoot down a Bf 109 leaving in a dive. But this "trick" could only be done by an experienced pilot. “Although, while diving, there is a chance to catch a German. The German dives, you follow him, and here you have to act correctly. Give full throttle, and the screw, for a few seconds, "tighten" as much as possible. In these few seconds, Lavochkin literally makes a leap. On this "dash" it was quite possible to get close to the German at a distance of fire. So they got closer and knocked down. But if you missed this moment, then really everything is not to catch up. "

Let's go back to Bf 109G-6, which was tested by E. Brown. Here, too, there is one "small" nuance. This aircraft was equipped with a GM1 engine boost system, the 115-liter tank of this system was located behind the cockpit. It is known for certain that the British failed to fill GM1 with the appropriate mixture and they simply poured gasoline into its tank. Not surprisingly, with such an additional load of 160 kg total weight, it is more difficult to take the fighter out of its dive.

As for the figure of 708 km / h given by the pilot, then, in my opinion, either it is strongly underestimated, or he dived at a low angle. The maximum dive speed developed by any modification of the Bf 109 was significantly higher.

For example, from January to March 1943 at the Luftwaffe Research Center in Travemunde, the Bf 109F-2 was tested for maximum dive speeds from various heights. In this case, the following results were obtained for the true (and not the indicated) speed:

From the memoirs of German and British pilots, it can be seen that sometimes higher dive speeds were achieved in battle.

Without a doubt, Bf109 accelerated perfectly on a dive and easily got out of it. At least not one of the Luftwaffe veterans I know spoke negatively about the Messer's dive. A stabilizer adjustable in flight, which was used instead of a trimmer and was rearranged by a special control wheel to an angle of attack from + 3 ° to -8 °, provided a huge help to the pilot in getting out of a steep dive.

Eric Brown recalled: “If the stabilizer was set for level flight, it was necessary to apply a lot of force to the control stick to get the plane out of the dive at a speed of 644 km / h. If it was set to dive, the exit was somewhat difficult, unless you turn the control wheel back. Otherwise, the handle is overloaded. "

In addition, on all the steering surfaces of the Messerschmitt there were flötners - plates bent on the ground, which made it possible to remove part of the load transmitted from the rudders to the handle and pedals. On machines of the "F" and "G" series, the flats were increased in area due to the increased speeds and loads. And on modifications Bf 109G-14 / AS, Bf 109G-10 and Bf109K-4, the flatners, in general, became double.

The technical staff of the Luftwaffe was very attentive to the installation procedure of the flutners. All fighters before each combat mission were carefully adjusted using a special protractor. Perhaps the allies who tested captured German samples simply did not pay attention to this moment. And if the flatner was incorrectly adjusted, the loads transferred to the controls could indeed increase several times.

In fairness, it should be noted that on the Eastern Front, battles took place at altitudes of 1000, up to 1500 meters, there was nowhere to go with a dive ...

In the middle of 1943, at the Air Force Research Institute joint tests of Soviet and German aircraft were carried out. So, in August, they tried to compare the latest Yak-9D and La-5FN in training air battles with the Bf 109G-2 and FW 190A-4. The emphasis was placed on flight and combat qualities, in particular, on the maneuverability of fighters. Seven pilots at once, changing from cockpit to cockpit, conducted training battles, first in horizontal and then in vertical planes. The acceleration advantages were determined by the acceleration of cars from a speed of 450 km / h to maximum, and a free air battle began with a meeting of fighters during frontal attacks.

After the "battle" with the "three-point" "Messer" (piloted by Captain Kuvshinov), test pilot Senior Lieutenant Maslyakov wrote: "The La-5FN aircraft up to an altitude of 5000 m had an advantage over the Bf 109G-2 and could conduct an offensive battle both in the horizontal, and in vertical planes. On bends, our fighter went into the tail of the enemy through 4-8 bends. On a vertical maneuver up to 3000 m "Lavochkin" had a clear advantage: it gained "extra" 50-100 m for a combat turn and a hill. From 3000 m this superiority decreased and at an altitude of 5000 m the aircraft became the same. When climbing to 6000 m, La-5FN lagged behind somewhat.

On a dive, the Lavochkin also lagged behind the Messerschmitt, but when the planes were withdrawn, they caught up with it again, due to the smaller radius of curvature. This moment must be used in aerial combat. We must strive to fight the German fighter at altitudes up to 5000 m, using a combined maneuver in the horizontal and vertical planes. "

It turned out to be more difficult for the Yak-9D to "fight" the German fighters. The relatively large fuel supply had a negative effect on the maneuverability of the "yak", especially the vertical one. Therefore, their pilots were advised to fight on bends.

Combat pilots were given recommendations on the preferred tactics of combat with one or another enemy aircraft, taking into account the booking scheme used by the Germans. The conclusion signed by the head of the department of the institute, General Shishkin, said: “The production aircraft Yak-9 and La-5 in terms of their combat and flight-tactical data up to an altitude of 3500-5000 m are superior to German fighters of the latest modifications (Bf 109G-2 and FW 190A-4) and with the correct operation of aircraft in the air, our pilots can successfully fight against enemy vehicles. "

Below is a table of the characteristics of Soviet and German fighters based on test materials at the Air Force Research Institute. (For domestic machines, data from prototypes are given).

* Using forced mode

Real battles on the Soviet-German front differed markedly from the "staged" battles in the testing institute. German pilots did not engage in maneuvering battles both in the vertical and horizontal plane. Their fighters aimed to shoot down a Soviet plane with a surprise attack, and then went into the clouds or into their own territory. Stormtroopers also unexpectedly attacked our ground forces. It was seldom possible to intercept both those and others. Special tests carried out at the Air Force Research Institute were aimed at practicing techniques and methods of dealing with Focke-Wulf attack aircraft. They were attended by captured FW 190A-8 No. 682011 and "lightweight" FW 190A-8 No. 58096764, which were intercepted by the most modern fighters of the Red Army Air Force: Yak-3. Yak-9U and La-7.

The "battles" showed that in order to successfully combat low-flying German aircraft, it is necessary to develop new tactics. After all, most often "Focke-Wulfs" approached at low altitudes and left in low-level flight at maximum speeds. In these conditions, it turned out to be difficult to detect the attack in time, and the pursuit became more difficult, since the gray matte paint hid the German vehicle against the background of the terrain. In addition, the FW 190 pilots turned on the engine forcing device at low altitudes. The testers determined that in this case, near the ground, the Focke-Wulfs reached a speed of 582 km / h, that is, neither the Yak-3 (the aircraft available in the Air Force Research Institute could reach a speed of 567 km / h), nor the Yak- 9U (575 km / h). Only the La-7 accelerated to 612 km / h in afterburner, but the speed reserve was insufficient to quickly reduce the distance between the two aircraft to the range of aimed fire. Based on the test results, the management of the institute issued recommendations: it is necessary to echelon our fighters on patrols at altitudes. In this case, the task of the upper tier pilots would be to disrupt the bombing, as well as to attack the cover fighters accompanying the attack aircraft, and the attack aircraft themselves would most likely be able to intercept the vehicles of the lower patrol, which had the ability to accelerate in a gentle dive.

Special mention should be made of the armor protection of the FW-190. The appearance of the FW 190A-5 modification meant that the German command considered the Focke-Wulf as the most promising attack aircraft. Indeed, the already significant armor protection (its weight on the FW 190A-4 reached 110 kg) was enhanced by 16 additional plates with a total weight of 200 kg, mounted in the lower parts of the center section and the engine. Removal of two wing cannons "Oerlikon" reduced the weight of the second salvo to 2.85 kg (for the FW 190A-4 it was 4.93 kg, for the La-5FN 1.76 kg), but made it possible to partially compensate for the increase in take-off weight and had a beneficial effect on the aerobatic properties FW 190 - due to the forward centering shift the stability of the fighter has increased. The climb during the combat turn increased by 100 m, the turn-around time was reduced by about a second. The plane accelerated to 582 km / h at 5000 m and gained this altitude in 12 minutes. Soviet engineers made an assumption: the real flight data of the FW190A-5 is higher, since the automatic mixture control worked abnormally and there was strong smoke from the engine even when it was running on the ground.

At the end of the war, German aviation, although it posed a certain danger, did not conduct active hostilities. In the conditions of complete air supremacy of the Allied aviation, none of the most advanced aircraft could change the nature of the war. German fighters only defended themselves in extremely unfavorable conditions. In addition, there was practically no one to fly on them, since the entire color of German fighter aircraft died in fierce battles on the Eastern Front.

* - The maneuverability of the aircraft in the horizontal plane is described by the turn time, i.e. full reversal time. The radius of turn will be the smaller, the lower the specific load on the wing, that is, an aircraft with a larger wing and lower flight weight (having a greater lift, which will be equal to the centrifugal force here), will be able to perform a steeper turn. Obviously, an increase in lift with a simultaneous decrease in speed can occur with the release of wing mechanization (release of flaps and with a decrease in the speed of automatic slats), however, exiting a turn at a lower speed is fraught with a loss of initiative in battle.

Second, in order to perform a turn, the pilot must first of all bank the plane. The roll rate depends on the lateral stability of the aircraft, the efficiency of the ailerons, and the moment of inertia, which is the lower (M \u003d L m), the smaller the wingspan and its mass. Hence, maneuverability will be worse in an aircraft with two engines on the wing, fueled with tanks in the wing consoles or mounted on the wing weapons.

The maneuverability of an aircraft in the vertical plane is described by its rate of climb and depends, first of all, on the specific power load (the ratio of the aircraft mass to the power of its power plant, and in other words expresses the amount of kg of weight that one horsepower carries) and, obviously, at lower values, the aircraft has a higher rate of climb. Obviously, the rate of climb also depends on the ratio of the flight mass to the total aerodynamic drag.

Sources

• How to compare WWII aircraft. /TO. Kosminkov, "As" No. 2.3 1991 /
• Comparison of World War II fighters. / "Wings of the Motherland" №5 1991 Victor Bakursky /
• Race for the ghost of speed. Fallen from the nest. / "Wings of the Motherland" №12 1993 Viktor Bakursky /
• The German trace in the history of Russian aviation. / Sobolev D.A., Khazanov D.B. /
• Three myths about "Messer" / Alexander Pavlov "AviAMaster" 8-2005./

Russian history

Contour maps help you learn Newest history XX - early XXI century. When completing assignments, you can use the textbook and history atlas. It is included in educational and methodological complexes for the lines of history textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

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A link of his fighters entered into battle with German bombers in the first minutes of the war. In a battle with another group of Luftwaffe vehicles, Soviet pilots used up all their ammunition, there was barely enough fuel to reach the airfield, but stopping the German vehicles was much more important than surviving. Realizing this, I.I.Ivanov made the first air ram in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

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The legendary Lavochkin became a real workhorse of Soviet aviation: it was this aircraft that enjoyed the greatest popularity among Soviet aces - the most effective pilots of Russian aviation. Ivan Kozhedub, Nikolay Gulaev, Kirill Evstigneev fought on La-5 - the list goes on for a very long time! The famous Alexei Maresyev flew on this plane - a pilot who lost both legs due to injury, but remained in service.

The textbook gives an idea about the place of Russia in the world, about the main events of the national and world history of the XX - early XXI century. It will help schoolchildren learn to analyze the phenomena of the past, compare the features of the historical path of Russia and other countries, introduce them to sources and opinions of scientists that are new to them. The textbook is written in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Secondary (Complete) General Education.

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Pe-2 dive bombers, which became the most massive bomber-class aircraft in the USSR, also contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany. All-metal, nimble and maneuverable, these winged vehicles became a real disaster for the German ground forces - the accuracy of the bomb strikes was extremely high, and thanks to the high speed of the Pe-2, the Soviet aces-bombers avoided attacks by German fighter aircraft. Zholudev, Anpilov, Dolina and many more pilots at the helm of their favorite "pawns" - so they affectionately nicknamed the Pe-2 - made a huge contribution to the victory soviet army in the Great Patriotic War.

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Another legendary Soviet aviation bomber, the Il-4, also performed well and even became famous during the bombing of Berlin in the summer and autumn of 1941. After the outbreak of the war, in August, the aviation command of the Soviet Baltic Fleet drew up a plan for bombing the German capital. After careful reconnaissance, the Air Force formed a special strike group of fifteen Il-4 aircraft. On the night of 7-8 August, the flight bombed Berlin. The Nazis were so dumbfounded that they could not react in time and shoot down Soviet bombers with their air defense forces. All Soviet vehicles returned to base intact.

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On May 28, 1935, the first flight of the German Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter, the most massive aircraft of this class in the last war, took place. But in other countries in those years wonderful aircraft were also created for the defense of their own skies. Some of them fought on equal terms with the Messerschmitt Bf.109. Some surpassed him in a number of tactical and technical characteristics.

The Free Press decided to compare the German aviation masterpiece with the best fighters of Berlin's opponents and allies in that war - the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and Japan.

1. Illegitimate German

Willie Messerschmitt was "at knives" with the Secretary of State of the German Air Ministry, General Erhard Milch. Therefore, the designer was not admitted to the competition for the development of a promising fighter, which was supposed to replace the outdated Henkel biplane - He-51.

Messerschmitt, in order to prevent the bankruptcy of his company, in 1934 concluded an agreement with Romania to create a new machine. For which he was immediately accused of treason. The Gestapo got down to business. After the intervention of Rudolf Hess, Messerschmitt was still allowed to participate in the competition.

The designer decided to act without paying attention to the military specifications for the fighter. He reasoned that otherwise it would be a middling fighter. And, given the prejudiced attitude towards the aircraft designer of the mighty Milch, the competition cannot be won.

Willie Messerschmitt's calculation turned out to be correct. Bf 109 was one of the best on all fronts of World War II. By May 1945, Germany had produced 33984 of these fighters. However, briefly tell about their tactical and technical characteristics very difficult.

Firstly, almost 30 significantly different modifications of the Bf 109 were produced. Secondly, the characteristics of the aircraft were constantly improving. And the Bf 109 at the end of the war was significantly better than the 1937 fighter. But nevertheless, there were "generic features" of all these combat vehicles, which determined the style of their conduct of air combat.

Advantages:

- powerful engines of the Daimler-Benz company allowed to develop high speed;

- the significant mass of the aircraft and the strength of the knots made it possible to develop dive speeds unattainable for other fighters;

- a large payload made it possible to achieve increased armament;

- high armor protection increased the safety of the pilot.

Disadvantages:

- the large mass of the aircraft reduced its maneuverability;

- the location of the guns in the wing pylons slowed down the execution of turns;

- the aircraft was ineffective for supporting bombers, since in this capacity it could not use high-speed advantages;

- high training of pilots was required to control the aircraft.

2. "I am a Yak-fighter"

The design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev made a fantastic breakthrough before the war. Until the end of the 30s, it produced light aircraft intended mainly for sports purposes. And in 1940, the Yak-1 fighter was launched into series, in the design of which, along with aluminum, there was wood and canvas. He had excellent flying qualities. At the beginning of the war, the Yak-1 successfully rebuffed the Fokers, while losing out to the Messers.

But in 1942, the Yak-9 began to enter service with our Air Force, which fought with the Messers already on equal terms. Moreover, the Soviet vehicle had a clear advantage in close combat at low altitudes. Yielding, however, in battles at high altitudes.

It is not surprising that the Yak-9 proved to be the most massive Soviet fighter. Until 1948, 16,769 Yak-9s were built in 18 modifications.

For the sake of fairness, it is necessary to note three more of our beautiful aircraft - Yak-3, La-5 and La-7. At low and medium altitudes, they outnumbered the Yak-9 and beat the Bf 109. But this "trinity" was released in smaller quantities, and therefore the main burden of fighting the Nazi fighters fell on the Yak-9.

Advantages:

- high aerodynamic qualities, allowing a dynamic battle in close proximity to the enemy at low and medium altitudes. High maneuverability.

Disadvantages:

- low armament, largely caused by insufficient engine power;

- low engine resource.

3. Armed to the teeth and very dangerous

The Englishman Reginald Mitchell (1895 - 1937) was a self-taught designer. He completed his first independent project - the Supermarine Type 221 fighter - in 1934. During the first flight, the car accelerated to a speed of 562 km / h and climbed to an altitude of 9145 meters in 17 minutes. None of the fighters that existed at that time in the world could do this. No one had comparable firepower: Mitchell placed eight machine guns in the wing console at once.

In 1938, the Supermarine Spitfire (Spitfire - "spitting fire") was mass-produced for the British Royal Air Force. But the chief designer did not see this happy moment. He died of cancer at the age of 42.

Further modernization of the fighter was carried out by the designers of the Supermarine company. The first production model was called the Spitfire MkI. It was equipped with a 1300-horsepower engine. There were two options for weapons: eight machine guns or four machine guns and two cannons.

It was the most massive British fighter, produced in the amount of 20 351 copies in various modifications. The Spitfire's performance improved steadily throughout the war.

The British fire-breathing Spitfire fully demonstrated its belonging to the elite of the world's fighters, turning the so-called Battle of Britain in September 1940. The Luftwaffe launched a powerful air attack on London, in which 114 Dornier 17 and Heinkel 111 bombers took part, accompanied by 450 Me 109 and several Me 110. They were opposed by 310 British fighters: 218 Hurricane and 92 Spitfire Mk.I. 85 enemy aircraft were destroyed, the overwhelming majority in aerial combat. The RAF lost eight Spitfires and 21 Hurricane.

Advantages:

- excellent aerodynamic qualities;

- high speed;

- long flight range;

- excellent maneuverability at medium and high altitudes.

- large firepower;

- optional high training of pilots;

- some modifications have a high rate of climb.

Disadvantages:

- focused on concrete runways only.

4. Comfortable "Mustang"

Created by the American company North American by order of the British government in 1942, the P-51 Mustang fighter is significantly different from the three fighters we have already reviewed. First of all, by the fact that completely different tasks were assigned to him. It was an escort aircraft for long-range bombers. Based on this, the "Mustangs" had huge fuel tanks. Their practical range exceeded 1,500 kilometers. The ferry line is 3,700 kilometers long.

The flight range was ensured by the fact that a laminar wing was used for the first time on the Mustang, due to which there is an air flow without turbulence. The Mustang, paradoxically, was a comfortable fighter. It is no coincidence that he was called the "flying Cadillac". This was necessary so that the pilot, staying several hours at the controls of the aircraft, did not unnecessarily waste his energy.

By the end of the war, the Mustang began to be used not only as an escort aircraft, but also as an attack aircraft, equipping it with missiles and increasing firepower.

Advantages:

- good aerodynamics;

- high speed;

- long flight range;

- high ergonomics.

Disadvantages:

- high qualification of pilots is required;

- low survivability against anti-aircraft artillery fire;

- vulnerability of the water cooling radiator

5. Japanese "overdone"

Paradoxically, but the most massive Japanese fighter was carrier-based - Mitsubishi A6M Reisen. He was nicknamed "Zero" ("zero" - eng.). The Japanese produced 10939 of these "zeroes".

Such a great love for carrier-based fighters is explained by two circumstances. First, the Japanese had a huge aircraft carrier fleet - ten floating airfields. Secondly, at the end of the war, "Zero" began to be massively used for "kamikaze" In this connection, the number of these aircraft was rapidly declining.

The terms of reference for the A6M Reisen carrier-based fighter were transferred to Mitsubishi at the end of 1937. For its time, the plane was supposed to be one of the best in the world. The designers were asked to create a fighter that had a speed of 500 km / h at an altitude of 4000 meters, armed with two cannons and two machine guns. The flight duration is up to 6-8 hours. The take-off distance is 70 meters.

At the start of the war, Zero dominated the Asia-Pacific region, surpassing US and British fighters in maneuverability and speed at low and medium altitudes.

On December 7, 1941, during the attack by the Japanese Navy on the American base at Pearl Harbor, "Zero" fully confirmed their worth. Six aircraft carriers took part in the attack, on which 440 fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighter-bombers were based. The result of the attack was disastrous for the United States.

The difference in losses in the air is most telling. The United States destroyed 188 aircraft, disabled 159. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft: 15 dive bombers, five torpedo bombers and only nine fighters.

But by 1943, the Allies had created competitive fighters.

Advantages:

- long flight range;

- good maneuverability;

H food residues:

- low engine power;

- low rate of climb and flight speed.

Comparison of characteristics

Before comparing the parameters of the same name for the considered fighters, it should be noted that this is not entirely correct. First of all, because different countries, who participated in the Second World War, set various strategic tasks for their fighter aircraft. The Soviet Yaks were primarily occupied with air support for the ground forces. In this connection, they usually flew at low altitudes.

The American Mustang was designed to escort long-range bombers. Approximately the same goals were set for the Japanese "Zero". The British Spitfire was versatile. It was equally effective at low altitudes and at high altitudes.

The word "fighter" is most suitable for the German "Messers", who, above all, were supposed to destroy enemy aircraft near the front.

The parameters are given as they decrease. That is, the best airplane takes the first place in this "nomination". If two planes have approximately the same parameter, then they are separated by commas.

- maximum speed at the ground: Yak-9, Mustang, Me.109 - Spitfire - Zero

- -maximum speed at altitude: Me.109, Mustang, Spitfire - Yak-9 - Zero

- engine power: Me.109 - Spitfire - Yak-9, Mustang - Zero

- rate of climb: Me.109, Mustang - Spitfire, Yak-9 - Zero

- practical ceiling: Spitfire - Mustang, Me.109 - Zero - Yak-9

- practical range: Zero - Mustang - Spitfire - Me.109, Yak-9

- armament: Spitfire, Mustang - Me.109 - Zero - Yak-9.

Photo by ITAR-TASS / Marina Lystseva / archive photo.