Engineering:Tupolev I-4
| Tupolev I-4 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Fighter |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Manufacturer | Tupolev |
| Designer | Pavel Sukhoi |
| First flight | 1927 |
| Retired | 1933 |
| Primary user | Soviet Air Force |
| Number built | 369 |
The Tupolev I-4 was a Soviet sesquiplane single-seat fighter. It was conceived in 1927 by Pavel Sukhoi as his first aircraft design for the Tupolev design bureau, and was the first Soviet all-metal fighter.
Design and development
After the first prototype (under the development name Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev fighter 5 | ANT-5), the I-4 was redesigned with a new engine cowling to decrease drag, with added rocket launchers on the upper wing and a larger tailfin. The lower wing was predominantly an attachment for the wing struts; it was almost removed in the second series, the I-4Z (where the lower wings were greatly shortened), and totally removed from the I-4bis, thus transforming the aircraft from a sesquiplane into a parasol-wing monoplane.
Operational history
The I-4 was used as a parasite fighter in experiments with the Tupolev TB-1 bomber. The aircraft was in Soviet service from 1928–1933. A total of 369 were built.[1]
Variants
- ANT-5 : Prototype.
- I-4 : Single-seat fighter aircraft.
- I-4Z : Single-seat fighter with span of lower wings greatly reduced.
- I-4bis : Monoplane version (lower wings totally removed).
- I-4P : Floatplane version.
Operators
Soviet Union
Specifications (I-4)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 7.27 m (23 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 11.42 m (37 ft 6 in)
- Height: 2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 23.8 m2 (256 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 978 kg (2,156 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,430 kg (3,153 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov M-22 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 343 kW (460 hp) (Bristol Jupiter)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 257 km/h (160 mph, 139 kn)
- Range: 524 km (326 mi, 283 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 7,655 m (25,115 ft)
- Wing loading: 60 kg/m2 (12 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.25 kW/kg (0.15 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns
See also
Related lists
References
Bibliography
- Lesnitchenko, Vladimir (November–December 1999). "Combat Composites: Soviet Use of 'Mother-ships' to Carry Fighters, 1939–1941". Air Enthusiast (84): 4–21. ISSN 0143-5450.
External links
The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.
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