Military aircraft during the war. Soviet military aircraft from the Great Patriotic War

Soviet aircraft from the Great Patriotic War are a topic that deserves special attention. After all, it was aviation that played a huge role in the victory over fascism. Without the winged helpers of the USSR army, it would have been many times more difficult to defeat the enemy. War birds significantly brought the cherished moment closer, which cost the lives of millions of Soviet citizens...

And although at the very beginning of the war our forces lost more than nine hundred aircraft, by the middle of it, thanks to the dedicated work of designers, engineers and ordinary workers, domestic aviation was again at its best. So, what kind of steel birds carried victory to the Motherland on their wings?

MiG-3

At that time, this fighter, designed on the basis of the MiG-1, was considered the highest altitude and became a real threat to the German kites. He was able to climb 1200 meters, and it was here that he felt best, developing highest speed(up to 600 kilometers per hour). But at an altitude of less than 4.5 km, the MiG-3 was significantly inferior to other fighters. The very first battle involving this aircraft model dates back to July 22, 1941. It took place over Moscow and was successful. The German plane was shot down. Throughout World War II, MiG-3 fighters guarded the skies over the capital of the Soviet Union.

The brainchild of the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev, which in the 30s was engaged in the production of lightweight sports “birds”. Serial production of the first fighter began in 1940, and at the dawn of the war, Yak-1 aircraft were used Active participation in combat. And already in 1942 soviet aviation received the Yak-9.

The fighter boasted excellent maneuverability, which made it the king of close combat situations at relatively low altitudes. Another feature of the model is its lightness, achieved by replacing wood with duralumin.

Over the 6 years of production, more than 17 thousand aircraft of this model rolled off the assembly line, and this allows us to call it the most popular among the “birds” of this type. The Yak-9 has gone through 22 modifications, having served as a fighter-bomber, a reconnaissance aircraft, a passenger aircraft, and a training aircraft. In the enemy camp, this machine received the nickname “killer,” which says a lot.

A fighter that became one of the most successful developments of the Lavochkin design bureau. The aircraft had a very simple design, which at the same time was amazingly reliable. The robust La-5 remained in service even after several direct hits. Its engine was not ultra-modern, but it was characterized by power. And the air cooling system made it much less vulnerable than liquid-cooled engines, widespread at that time.

La-5 proved to be an obedient, dynamic, maneuverable and high-speed machine. Soviet pilots loved him, but his enemies were terrified of him. This model became the first of the domestic aircraft of the Second World War period, which was not inferior to the German kites and could fight with them on equal terms. It was on La-5 that Alexey Meresyev accomplished his exploits. Also at the helm of one of the cars was Ivan Kozhedub.

The second name of this biplane is U-2. It was developed by the Soviet designer Nikolai Polikarpov back in the 20s, and then the model was considered a training model. But in the 40s, the Po-2 had to fight as a night bomber.

The Germans called Polikarpov’s brainchild “ sewing machine", thereby emphasizing his tirelessness and massive impact. The Po-2 could drop more bombs than its heavy “colleagues”, since it could lift up to 350 kilograms of ammunition. The aircraft was also distinguished by the fact that it was capable of making several sorties in one night.

The legendary female pilots from the 46th Guards Taman Aviation Regiment fought with the enemy on the Po-2. These 80 girls, a quarter of whom were awarded the title of Hero of the USSR, terrified the enemy. The Nazis nicknamed them “night witches.”

Polikarpov's biplane was produced at a plant in Kazan. Over the entire production period, 11 thousand aircraft rolled off the assembly line, which allowed the model to be considered the most popular among biplanes.

And this aircraft is the leader in the number of units produced in the entire history of combat aviation. 36 thousand cars took to the skies from the factory floors. The model was developed at Ilyushin Design Bureau. Production of the IL-2 began in 1940, and from the first days of the war the attack aircraft was in service.

The IL-2 was equipped with a powerful engine, the crew was protected by armored glass, and the “bird” fired rockets and was the main striking force of domestic aviation. The attack aircraft simply shocked with its invincibility and durability. There were cases when planes returned from battle with traces of hundreds of hits and were able to fight further. This made the IL-2 a real legend among both Soviet soldiers and the Nazis. His enemies called him the “winged tank,” “the black death,” and “the plane made of concrete.”

IL-4

Another brainchild of the Ilyushin Design Bureau is the Il-4, considered the most attractive aircraft of the Second World War. His appearance immediately catches the eye and is etched in the memory. The model went down in history, first of all, due to the fact that it was the very first to bomb Berlin. Moreover, not in ’45, but in ’41, when the war was just beginning. The aircraft was quite popular among pilots, although it was not easy to operate.

The rarest “bird” in the sky during the Great Patriotic War. The Pe-8 was used rarely, but accurately. He was trusted to carry out the most difficult tasks. Since the appearance of the plane was not familiar, it happened that it became a victim of its own air defenses, which mistook the car for an enemy one.

The Pe-8 developed a speed that was enormous for a bomber - up to 400 kilometers per hour. It was equipped with a giant tank, which allowed the “bird” to make the longest flights (for example, get from Moscow to Berlin and back without refueling). The Pe-8 dropped large-caliber bombs (maximum weight - 5 tons).

When the Nazis came close to Moscow, this powerful defender of the Motherland circled over the capitals of enemy states and rained fire on them from the sky. Another interesting fact about the Pe-8 - USSR Foreign Minister Molotov flew on it (only on the passenger version of the model) to the UK and the United States to meet with colleagues.

It is thanks to the “magnificent seven players” presented above and, of course, other, lesser-known aircraft, soviet soldiers won a victory over Nazi Germany and its allies not 10 years after the start of the war, but only 4 years later. The strengthened aviation became the main trump card of our soldiers, and did not allow the enemy to relax. And considering that all the aircraft were developed and produced in conditions of cold, hunger and deprivation, their mission and the role of the creators looks especially heroic!

By the beginning of the war, there were significantly more MiG-3 fighters in service than other aircraft. However, the “third” MiG was not yet sufficiently mastered by combat pilots, and the retraining of most of them was not completed.

Two MiG-3 regiments were quickly formed with a large percentage of testers familiar with them. This partly helped in eliminating piloting deficiencies. But still, the MiG-3 lost even to the I-6 fighters, common at the beginning of the war. While superior in speed at altitudes above 5,000 m, at low and medium altitudes it was inferior to other fighters.

This is both a disadvantage and at the same time an advantage of the “third” MiG. MiG-3 - high-altitude aircraft, that's it best qualities which appeared at altitudes above 4500 meters. It found use as a high-altitude night fighter in the air defense system, where its high ceiling of up to 12,000 meters and speed at altitude were decisive. Thus, the MiG-3 was mainly used until the end of the war, in particular, guarding Moscow.

In the very first battle over the capital, on July 22, 1941, Mark Gallay, a pilot of the 2nd Separate Air Defense Fighter Squadron of Moscow, shot down an enemy plane in a MiG-3. At the beginning of the war, one of the ace pilots, Alexander Pokryshkin, flew on the same plane and won his first victory.

Yak-9: the “king” of modifications

Until the end of the 30s, the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev produced light, mainly sports aircraft. In 1940, the Yak-1 fighter, which has excellent flight qualities, was launched into production. At the beginning of the war, the Yak-1 successfully repelled German pilots.

Already in 1942, the Yak-9 began to enter service with our Air Force. The new Soviet vehicle had high maneuverability, allowing for dynamic combat close to the enemy at low and medium altitudes.

It was the Yak-9 that turned out to be the most popular Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War. It was produced from 1942 to 1948, in total almost 17 thousand aircraft were built.

The Yak-9's design used duralumin instead of heavy wood, making the aircraft lighter and leaving room for modifications. It was the Yak-9’s ability to upgrade that became its main advantage. It had 22 main modifications, of which 15 were mass-produced. This includes a front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft, special purpose passenger aircraft and training aircraft.

The most successful modification is considered to be the Yak-9U fighter, which appeared in the fall of 1944. Suffice it to say that his pilots called him “the killer.”

La-5: disciplined soldier

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation had an advantage in the skies of the USSR. But in 1942, a Soviet fighter appeared that could fly with by German planes combat on equal terms is the La-5, developed at the Lavochkin Design Bureau.

Despite its simplicity - the La-5 cockpit did not have even the most basic instruments like an attitude indicator - the pilots immediately liked the plane.

Lavochkin's new plane had a strong design and did not fall apart even after dozens of direct hits. At the same time, the La-5 had impressive maneuverability and speed: turn time was 16.5-19 seconds, speed was above 600 km/h.

Another advantage of the La-5 is that, as a disciplined soldier, it did not perform the “spin” aerobatics without a direct order from the pilot, and if it got into a spin, it came out of it on the first command.

La-5 fought in the skies over Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge, ace pilot Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, and it was on it that he flew famous Alexey Maresyev.

Po-2: night bomber

The Po-2 (U-2) aircraft is considered the most popular biplane in the history of world aviation. When creating a training aircraft in the 1920s, Nikolai Polikarpov did not imagine that there would be another, serious application for his unpretentious machine.

During World War II, the U-2 developed into an effective night bomber. Aviation regiments armed exclusively with U-2s appeared in the Soviet Air Force. It was these biplanes that carried out more than half of all Soviet bomber missions during the war.

“Sewing machines” - that’s what the Germans called the U-2s that bombed their units at night. One biplane could make several sorties per night, and given the maximum bomb load of 100-350 kg, the aircraft could drop more ammunition than a heavy bomber.

It was on Polikarpov’s biplanes that the famous 46th Guards Taman Aviation Regiment fought. Four squadrons of 80 pilots, 23 of whom received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. For their courage and aviation skill, the Germans nicknamed the girls Nachthexen - “night witches.” During the war years, the women's air regiment flew 23,672 combat missions.

In total, 11 thousand U-2 biplanes were produced during the war. They were produced at aircraft factory No. 387 in Kazan. Cabins for airplanes and skis for them were mass-produced at the plant in Ryazan. Today it is the State Ryazan Instrument Plant (GRPZ), part of KRET.

Only in 1959 did the U-2, renamed Po-2 in 1944 in honor of its creator, end its impeccable thirty-year service.

IL-2: winged tank

Il-2 is the most produced combat aircraft in history; in total, more than 36 thousand aircraft were produced. Il-2 attacks brought huge losses to the enemy, for which the Germans nicknamed the attack aircraft “Black Death”, and among our pilots they called this bomber “humpbacked”, “winged tank”, “concrete plane”.

The IL-2 entered production just before the war - in December 1940. The first flight on it was made by the famous test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki. These serial armored attack aircraft entered service at the beginning of the war.

The Il-2 attack aircraft became the main striking force of Soviet aviation. The key to excellent combat performance was a powerful aircraft engine, armored glass necessary to protect the crew, as well as high-speed aircraft guns and rockets.

The best enterprises in the country, including those that are part of Rostec today, worked on the creation of components for the most mass-produced attack aircraft in history. The leading enterprise for the production of ammunition for aircraft was the famous Tula Instrument Design Bureau. Transparent armored glass for glazing the Il-2 canopy was produced at the Lytkarino optical glass plant. The assembly of engines for attack aircraft was carried out in the workshops of plant No. 24, today known as the Kuznetsov enterprise. The propellers for the attack aircraft were produced in Kuibyshev at the Aviaagregat plant.

Thanks to modern technologies at that time, the IL-2 became a real legend. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a mission and was hit more than 600 times. After quick repairs, the “winged tanks” were sent into battle again.

Soviet military aviation the beginning of the Great Patriotic War

When the Nazis attacked the USSR, Soviet aviation was destroyed at the airfields. And the Germans dominated the skies in the first year of the war, as well as in the second. What kind of fighter aircraft were in service with the Soviet army at that time?

The main one, of course, was I-16.

There were also I-5(biplanes) received by the Nazis as trophies. Modified from I-5 fighters I-15 bis, which remained after the attack on the airfields, fought in the first months of the war.

"Seagulls" or I-153, also biplanes, lasted in the skies until 1943. Their retractable landing gear made it possible to increase flight speed. And four small caliber machine guns (7.62) fired directly through the propeller. All of the above aircraft models were outdated before the start of the war. For example, the speed of the best fighter

I-16(with different engines) was from 440 to 525 km/h. The only good thing was its weapons, two ShKAS machine guns and two cannons SHVAK(latest issues). And the range that the I-16 could fly reached a maximum of 690 km.

Germany was in service in 1941 Me-109, produced by industry since 1937, of various modifications, which attacked the Soviet borders in 1941. The armament of this aircraft was two machine guns (MG-17) and two cannons (MG-FF). The fighter's flight speed was 574 km/h, which was the maximum speed that the 1,150 hp engine could achieve. With. The highest lifting height or ceiling reached 11 kilometers. Only in terms of flight range, for example, the Me-109E was inferior to the I-16, it was equal to 665 km.

Soviet aircraftI-16(type 29) made it possible to reach a ceiling of 9.8 kilometers with a 900-horsepower engine. Their range was only 440 km. The take-off run length of the “donkeys” was on average 250 meters. German fighters have designer Messerschmitt the takeoff run was approximately 280 meters. If we compare the time it takes the plane to rise to a height of three kilometers, it turns out that the Soviet I-16 of the twenty-ninth type loses to the ME-109 seconds 15. In terms of payload weight, the “donkey” is also behind the “Messer”, 419 kg versus 486.
To replace "donkey" was designed in the USSR I-180, all metal. V. Chkalov crashed on it before the war. After him, tester T. Susi fell to the ground on the I-180-2 along with the plane, blinded by the hot oil ejected from the engine. Before the war, the serial I-180 was discontinued as a failure.

Polikarpov OKB also worked on the creation I-153, a biplane with an engine power of 1100 hp. With. But its maximum speed in the air reached only 470 km/h, it was not a competitor ME-109. Other Soviet aircraft designers also worked on the creation of modern fighters. Produced since 1940 YAK-1, which can fly at a speed of 569 km/h and has a ceiling of 10 km. A cannon and two machine guns were installed on it.

And Lavochkin’s fighter LAGG-3, with a wooden body and a 1050 hp engine. s, showed a speed of 575 km/h. But it, designed in 1942, was soon replaced by another model - LA-5 with a flight speed at six-kilometer altitudes of up to 580 km/h.

Arrived under Lend-Lease "Air Cobras" or P-39, which had the engine behind the cockpit, were all-metal monoplanes. On turns they went around "Messers", getting behind them. It was on the Airacobra that ace Pokryshkin flew.

In flight speed, the P-39 also exceeded the ME-109 by 15 km/h, but was inferior in ceiling by one and a half kilometers. And the flight range of almost a thousand kilometers made it possible to carry out deep raids behind enemy lines. The foreign aircraft was armed with a 20-mm cannon and two or three machine guns.

• Tupolevs: father, son and airplanes

Once on the site we held an “Air Parade” competition dedicated to the anniversary of the Victory, where readers were asked to guess the names of some of the most famous aircraft of World War II by their silhouettes. The competition has been completed, and now we are publishing photos of these combat vehicles. We invite you to remember what the winners and losers used to fight in the sky.

Germany

Messerschmitt Bf.109

In fact, a whole family of German combat vehicles, the total number of which (33,984 units) makes the 109th one of the most popular aircraft of the Second World War. It was used as a fighter, fighter-bomber, fighter-interceptor, and reconnaissance aircraft. It was as a fighter that the Messer earned its notorious reputation among Soviet pilots - at the initial stage of the war, Soviet fighters, such as the I-16 and LaGG, were clearly technically inferior to the Bf.109 and suffered heavy losses. Only the advent of more advanced aircraft, such as the Yak-9, allowed our pilots to fight the Messers almost on an equal footing. The most popular modification of the vehicle was the Bf.109G (“Gustav”).

Messerschmitt Bf.109

Messerschmitt Me.262

The plane was remembered not for its special role in World War II, but for the fact that it turned out to be the first-born of jet aircraft on the battlefield. Me.262 began to be designed even before the war, but Hitler’s real interest in the project awoke only in 1943, when the Luftwaffe had already lost its combat power. The Me.262 had unique speed (about 850 km/h), altitude and climb rates for its time and therefore had serious advantages over any fighter of that time. In reality, for every 150 Allied aircraft shot down, there were 100 Me.262s lost. The low effectiveness of combat use was explained by the “crude” design, little experience in using jet aircraft and insufficient training of pilots.

Messerschmitt Me.262

Heinkel-111

Heinkel-111

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

The Ju 87 dive bomber, produced in several modifications, became a kind of forerunner of modern high-precision weapons, since it threw bombs not from a great height, but from a steep dive, which made it possible to more accurately target the ammunition. It was very effective in the fight against tanks. Due to the specific nature of its use in conditions of high overloads, the vehicle was equipped with automatic air brakes to recover from a dive in the event of the pilot losing consciousness. To enhance the psychological effect, during the attack the pilot turned on the “Jericho trumpet” - a device that emitted a terrible howl. One of the most famous ace pilots to fly the Stuka was Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who left some rather boastful memories of the war on the Eastern Front.

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

The tactical reconnaissance aircraft Fw 189 Uhu is interesting primarily for its unusual double-boom design, for which soviet soldiers They called him "Rama". And it was on the Eastern Front that this reconnaissance spotter turned out to be most useful to the Nazis. Our fighters knew well that bombers would arrive after the “Rama” and strike the scouted targets. But it was not so easy to shoot down this low-speed aircraft due to its high maneuverability and excellent survivability. When Soviet fighters approached, he could, for example, begin to describe circles of a small radius, into which high-speed vehicles simply could not fit.

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

Probably the most recognizable Luftwaffe bomber was developed in the early 1930s under the guise of a civilian transport aircraft (the creation of a German air force was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles). At the beginning of World War II, the Heinkel-111 was the most popular Luftwaffe bomber. He became one of the main characters in the Battle of Britain - it was the result of Hitler's attempt to break the will to resist the British through massive bombing raids on the cities of Foggy Albion (1940). Even then it became clear that this medium bomber was obsolete, it lacked speed, maneuverability and security. Nevertheless, the aircraft continued to be used and produced until 1944.

Allies

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The American “flying fortress” constantly increased its security during the war. In addition to excellent survivability (in the form, for example, the ability to return to base with one intact engine out of four), the heavy bomber received thirteen 12.7 mm machine guns in the B-17G modification. A tactic was developed in which “flying fortresses” flew over enemy territory in a checkerboard formation, protecting each other with crossfire. The plane was equipped with a high-tech Norden bomb sight at that time, built on the basis of an analog computer. If the British bombed the Third Reich mainly in the dark, the “flying fortresses” were not afraid to appear over Germany during daylight hours.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Avro 683 Lancaster

One of the main participants in the Allied bomber raids on Germany, the British heavy bomber of World War II. The Avro 683 Lancaster accounted for ¾ of the total bomb load dropped by the British on the Third Reich. The carrying capacity allowed the four-engine aircraft to take on board “blockbusters” - the Tallboy and Grand Slam super-heavy concrete-piercing bombs. Low security implied the use of Lancasters as night bombers, but night bombing was characterized by low accuracy. During the day, these planes suffered significant losses. Lancasters actively participated in the most destructive bombing raids of World War II - on Hamburg (1943) and Dresden (1945).

Avro 683 Lancaster

North American P-51 Mustang

One of the most iconic fighters of World War II, which played an exceptional role in the events on the Western Front. No matter how well the Allied heavy bombers defended themselves when they went on raids on Germany, these large, low-maneuverability and relatively slow-moving aircraft suffered heavy losses from German fighter aircraft. The North American company, commissioned by the British government, urgently created a fighter that could not only successfully fight against Messers and Fokkers, but also have a sufficient range (due to drop tanks) to accompany bomber raids on the continent. When Mustangs began to be used in this capacity in 1944, it became clear that the Germans had finally lost the air war in the West.

North American P-51 Mustang

Supermarine Spitfire

The main and most popular fighter of the British Air Force during the war, one of the best fighters of the Second World War. Its altitude and speed characteristics made it an equal rival to the German Messerschmitt Bf.109, and the skill of the pilots played a big role in the head-to-head battle between these two machines. The Spitfires performed well, covering the evacuation of the British from Dunkirk after the success of Hitler's blitzkrieg, and then during the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940), when British fighters had to fight both German bombers He-111, Do-17, Ju 87, as well as with Bf fighters. 109 and Bf.110.

Supermarine Spitfire

Japan

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese carrier-based fighter A6M Raisen was the best in the world in its class, even though its name contained the Japanese word “Rei-sen”, that is, “zero fighter”. Thanks to the drop tanks, the fighter had a high flight range (3105 km), which made it indispensable for participation in raids on the ocean theater. Among the aircraft that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor were 420 A6Ms. The Americans learned lessons from dealing with the nimble, fast-climbing Japanese, and by 1943 their fighter aircraft had surpassed their once dangerous enemy.

Mitsubishi A6M Raisen

The most popular dive bomber of the USSR began production before the war, in 1940, and remained in service until the Victory. The low-wing aircraft with two engines and a double fin was a very progressive machine for its time. In particular, it was equipped with a pressurized cabin and fly-by-wire control (which, due to its novelty, became the source of many problems). In reality, the Pe-2, unlike the Ju 87, was not so often used as a dive bomber. Most often, he launched bombing attacks on areas from horizontal flight or from a flat rather than deep dive.

Pe-2

The most massive combat aircraft in history (36,000 of these “silts” were produced) is considered a true battlefield legend. One of its features is the load-bearing armored hull, which replaced the frame and skin in most of the fuselage. The attack aircraft operated at altitudes of several hundred meters above the ground, becoming not the most difficult target for ground-based anti-aircraft weapons and the object of hunting by German fighters. The first versions of the Il-2 were built as single-seat aircraft, without a gunner, which led to fairly high combat losses among aircraft of this type. And yet, the IL-2 played its role in all theaters of war where our army fought, becoming a powerful means of supporting ground forces in the fight against enemy armored vehicles.

IL-2

The Yak-3 was a development of the Yak-1M fighter, which had proven itself in combat. During the revision process, the wing was shortened and other measures were taken design changes to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. This lightweight wooden aircraft reached an impressive speed of 650 km/h and had excellent flight characteristics at low altitudes. Tests of the Yak-3 started at the beginning of 1943, and already during the battle on Kursk Bulge He entered the battle, where, with the help of a 20-mm ShVAK cannon and two 12.7-mm Berezin machine guns, he successfully resisted the Messerschmitts and Fokkers.

Yak-3

One of the best Soviet fighters, the La-7, which entered service a year before the end of the war, was a development of the LaGG-3 that met the war. All the advantages of the “ancestor” came down to two factors - high survivability and maximum use of wood in the design instead of scarce metal. However, the weak motor and heavy weight turned the LaGG-3 into an unimportant opponent of the all-metal Messerschmitt Bf.109. From LaGG-3, Lavochkin OKB-21 made the La-5, installing a new ASh-82 engine and improving the aerodynamics. The La-5FN modification with a forced engine was already an excellent combat vehicle, surpassing the Bf.109 in a number of parameters. In the La-7, the weight was again reduced, and the armament was also strengthened. The plane became very good, even while remaining wooden.

La-7

The U-2, or Po-2, created in 1928, by the beginning of the war was certainly an example of outdated technology and was not designed as a combat aircraft at all (the combat training version appeared only in 1932). However, to win, this classic biplane had to work as a night bomber. Its undoubted advantages are ease of operation, the ability to land outside airfields and take off from small sites, and low noise.

U-2

At low throttle in the dark, the U-2 approached an enemy target, remaining undetected almost until the moment of bombing. Since the bombing was carried out from low altitudes, its accuracy was very high, and the “corn bombers” inflicted serious damage on the enemy.

The article “Air Parade of Winners and Losers” was published in the magazine “Popular Mechanics” (

War creates a need unprecedented in peacetime. Countries compete to create the next great weapon, and engineers sometimes resort to intricate methods to design their killing machines. Nowhere was this more evident than in the skies of World War II: daring aircraft designers invented some of the strangest aircraft in human history.

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

Although at first glance it may seem that this model was dreamed up by delirious engineers, it successfully served certain purposes. By removing the skin from the right side of the aircraft, the BV 141 gained an incomparable field of view for the pilot and observers, especially to the right and front, since the pilots were no longer encumbered by the huge engine and spinning propeller of a familiar single-engine aircraft.

The design was developed by Richard Vogt, who realized that the aircraft of that time already had, in fact, asymmetrical handling characteristics. With a heavy engine in the nose, the single-engine airplane experienced high torque, requiring constant attention and control. Vogt sought to compensate for this by introducing an ingenious asymmetrical design, creating a stable reconnaissance platform that was easier to fly than most of her airliner contemporaries.

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 devote 80 percent of Blohm & Voss' production area to building Focke-Wulf aircraft. Since the company's already tiny staff began to work for the benefit of the latter, work on the “BV 141” was stopped after the production of only 38 copies. All of them were destroyed during the war.

Another unusual Nazi project, the Horten Ho 229, was launched almost before the end of the war, after German scientists had improved jet technology. By 1943, Luftwaffe commanders realized that they had made a huge mistake by 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 the “3x1000” requirement: to develop a bomber capable of transporting 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 began designing a "flying wing" (a type of aircraft without a tail or fuselage, like later stealth bombers). In the 1930s, Walter and Reimar experimented with similar types of gliders, which demonstrated superior handling characteristics. Using this experience, the brothers built an unpowered model to support their bomber concept. The design impressed Goering, and he transferred the project to the aircraft manufacturing company “Gothaer Waggonfaebrik” for mass production. After some modifications, the Horten airframe acquired a jet engine. It was also converted into a fighter to support the needs of the Luftwaffe in 1945. They managed to create only one prototype, which at the end of the war was placed at 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, the B-2, entered service, aerospace experts became interested in the stealth characteristics of its German ancestor. In 2008, Northrop Grumman engineers recreated a copy of the Ho 229 based on a surviving prototype housed in the Smithsonian Institution. By emitting radar signals at frequencies used during World War II, experts discovered that the Nazi aircraft actually had a lot to do with stealth technology: it had much lower radar signature compared to its combat contemporaries. Quite by accident, the Horten brothers invented the first stealth fighter-bomber.

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

Vought did not cancel the project, but by the time the fighter was ready for testing, the US Navy decided to focus its attention 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 dropped on the airplane only bounced off the metal. Finally, after several new attempts, the body of the aircraft bent, and blowtorches incinerated its remains.

Of all the aircraft presented in the article, the Boulton Paul Defiant remained in service the longest. Unfortunately, this resulted in many deaths of young pilots. The airplane was born out of a 1930s misconception about further development situation on the air front. The British command believed that the enemy bombers would be poorly protected and largely without reinforcements. In theory, a fighter with a powerful turret could penetrate the attacking formation and destroy it from the inside. Such a weapon arrangement would free the pilot from the duties of a gunner, allowing him to concentrate on getting the aircraft into the optimal firing position.

And the Defiant coped well with all the tasks during its first missions, as many unsuspecting German fighter pilots mistook the aircraft for an appearance similar to the Hawker Hurricane, attacking it from above or from the rear - ideal points for the machine gunner Defiant. However, the Luftwaffe pilots quickly realized what was happening and began to attack from below and from the front. Without frontal weapons and limited maneuverability due to the heavy turret, Defiant aviators suffered huge losses during the Battle of Britain. The Foggy Albion Air Force lost almost an entire fighter squadron, and the Defiant gunners were not able to leave the plane in emergency situations.

Although the pilots were able to come up with various makeshift tactics, the Royal Air Force soon realized that the turret fighter was not designed for modern air combat. The Defiant was demoted to a night fighter role, after which it found some success sneaking up on and destroying enemy bombers on night missions. The Briton's robust hull was also used as a target for target practice and in testing the first Martin-Baker ejection seats.

During the period between the First and Second World Wars, various countries became increasingly concerned about the issue of defense against strategic bombing during subsequent hostilities. Italian General Giulio Douhet believed that it was impossible to defend against massive air attacks, and British politician Stanley Baldwin coined the phrase “the bomber will always get through.” In response, major powers invested heavily in developing “bomber busters”—heavy fighters designed to intercept enemy formations in the skies. 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 attempt at military aircraft construction and featured many unusual features. In order to give the Airacuda the highest chance of destroying the enemy, Bell equipped it with two 37mm M-4 guns, placing them in front of the rare pusher engines and propellers located behind them. Each gun was assigned a separate shooter, whose main responsibility was to manually reload it. Initially, gunners also directly fired weapons. However, the results were a complete disaster, and the design of the aircraft was changed, placing the control levers of the guns in the hands of the pilot.

Military strategists believed that with additional machine guns in defensive positions - in the main fuselage to repel flank attacks - the aircraft would be indestructible both when attacking enemy bombers and when escorting B-17s over enemy territory. All these design elements gave the aircraft a rather three-dimensional appearance, making it look like a cute cartoon airplane. The Airacuda was a veritable death machine that looked like it was made for cuddling.

Despite optimistic forecasts, tests revealed serious problems. The engines were prone to overheating and did not produce enough thrust. Therefore, in reality, “Airacuda” developed a lower maximum speed than the bombers it was supposed to intercept or protect. The original arrangement of the weapon only added to the difficulties, since the gondolas in which it was placed filled with smoke when firing, making the work of the machine gunners extremely difficult. In addition to this, they could not escape from their cabins in an emergency because the propellers were working right behind them, turning their attempt to escape into a meeting with death. As a result of these problems, the US Army Air Forces acquired only 13 aircraft, none of which received a baptism of fire. The remaining gliders were scattered around the country for pilots to add notes about 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 part of the air technology of World War II. They were lifted into the air in tow and detached near enemy territories, providing fast delivery cargo and troops as part of airborne operations. Among all the gliders of that period, the Soviet-made A-40 “flying tank” 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. Transferring them using gliders seemed like a worthwhile idea, but 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 gave up. But not the USSR.

In fact, Soviet aviation had already achieved some success in landing tanks before the A-40 was developed. Small equipment like the T-27 was lifted aboard huge transport aircraft and dropped a few meters from the ground. With the gearbox set to neutral, the tank landed and rolled by inertia until it stopped. The problem was that the tank crew had to be transported separately, which greatly reduced the system's combat effectiveness.

Ideally, tank crews would fly in on a tank and be ready for battle within a few minutes. To achieve these goals, Soviet planners turned to the ideas of 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 instantly over, since no one would be able to defend against a flying tank.

Based on the work of John Christie Soviet Union crossed the T-60 with an aircraft and in 1942 carried out the first test flight with the brave pilot Sergei Anokhin at the helm. And although, due to the aerodynamic resistance of the tank, the glider had to be removed from the tug before reaching the planned altitude, Anokhin managed to land softly and even brought the tank back to base. Despite the enthusiastic report written 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 machine - without most weapons and with a minimal fuel supply). Unfortunately, the flying tank never left the ground again.

After Allied bombing began to undermine the German war effort, Luftwaffe commanders realized that their failure to develop heavy multi-engine bombers was a huge mistake. When the authorities finally established the corresponding orders, most German aircraft manufacturers seized on this opportunity. These included the Horten brothers (as noted above) and the Junkers, who already had experience building bombers. Company engineer Hans Focke led the design of perhaps the most advanced German aircraft of the Second World War - the Ju-287.

In the 1930s, designers came to the conclusion that a straight-wing aircraft had a certain upper speed limit, but at that time this did not matter, since turboprop engines could not get close to these indicators in any case. However, with the development of jet technology, everything has changed. German specialists used swept wings on early jet aircraft, such as the Me-262, which avoided the problems - air compression effects - inherent in a straight wing design. Focke took this one step further and proposed the introduction of an aircraft with a forward-swept wing, which he believed would be capable of defeating any air defense. The new type of wing 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; many parts from other aircraft, including captured Allied bombers, were taken to make the model. “Ju-287” performed excellently during test flights, confirming compliance with all declared operational characteristics. Unfortunately for Focke, interest in jet bombers quickly faded, and his project was shelved until March 1945. By that time, desperate Luftwaffe commanders were looking for any fresh ideas to inflict damage on the Allied forces - production of the Ju-287 was launched in record time, but the war ended two months later, after the construction of only a few prototypes. It took another 40 years for the forward-swept wing to begin to revive in popularity, thanks to American and Russian aerospace engineers.

George Cornelius is a famous American engineer, designer of a number of extravagant gliders and aircraft. 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 a significant braking effect on the towing airplane. When World War II broke out, Cornelius was brought in to design the XFG-1, one of the most specialized aircraft ever built. In essence, the XFG-1 was a flying fuel tank.

George's plan was to produce 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 ​​using the unmanned XFG-1 was revolutionary. The B-29s were 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 refueling station. After emptying the fuel storage, the B-29 would detach the airframe and it would dive to the ground and crash. This scheme would significantly increase the flight range of 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 landed, and not simply destroyed after the fuel intake was completed. Although it is worth wondering what kind of pilot would dare to undertake such a task as flying a fuel tank over danger zone military operations.

During testing, one of the prototypes crashed, and Cornelius's plan was abandoned without further attention when the Allied forces captured the islands near the Japanese archipelago. With the new location of the air bases, the need to refuel the B-29 to achieve its mission objectives was eliminated, taking the XFG-1 out of the game. After the war, George continued to pitch his idea to the US Air Force, but by then their interest had shifted to specialized refueling aircraft. And the “XFG-1” simply became an inconspicuous footnote in the history of military aviation.

The idea of ​​a flying aircraft carrier first appeared during the First World War and was tested during the interwar period. In those years, engineers dreamed of a huge airship carrying small fighters capable of leaving 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 tactical value by large rigid airships became obvious.

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

The USSR High Command was sufficiently impressed with the 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 carried out, the most famous of which was the destruction of the bridge near Chernovodsk in August 1941. The Red Army spent months trying to destroy him to no avail, until they finally deployed two of Vakhmistrov's monsters. The carrier aircraft released their fighters, which began to bomb the 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 - aviation creations in human history.

Most people are familiar with Japanese kamikaze missions, which used old planes loaded with explosives as anti-ship weapon. They even developed the special-purpose rocket plane projectile “MXY-7”. Less widely known is Germany's attempt to build a similar weapon by turning the V-1 "cruise bomb" into manned "cruise missile."

As the end of the war approached, the Nazi High Command desperately sought a way to disrupt Allied shipping across the English Channel. The V-1 rounds 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, which were launched from the ground, the Fi-103R manned bombs were supposed to be lifted into the air and launched from He-111 bombers. After which the pilot had to see the target ship, direct his plane at it, and then fly away.

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 directly behind the wheelhouse, escape would probably have been fatal in any case. These slim chances of the pilots' survival soured the Luftwaffe commanders' impression of the program, so no operational mission was destined to take place. However, 175 V-1 bombs were converted into Fi-103Rs, most of which fell into Allied hands at the end of the war.