.jpg/2000px-Unmarked_Petlyakov_Pe.2FT_(7985693559).jpg)
Recent from talks
Petlyakov Pe-2
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Petlyakov Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 (Russian: Петляков Пе-2 — nickname «Пешка» (Pawn); NATO reporting name: Buck) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war, it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as a night fighter (Pe-3 variant) and as a reconnaissance aircraft. The Pe-2 was, numerically, the most important Soviet bomber of World War II, at their peak comprising 75% of the Soviet twin-engine bomber force. The Soviets manufactured Pe-2s in greater numbers (11,430 built) during the war than any other twin-engine combat aircraft except for the German Junkers Ju 88 and the British Vickers Wellington. Several Soviet bloc air forces flew the type after the war, when it became known by the NATO reporting name Buck.
In 1937, Vladimir Petlyakov was the leader of the Heavy Aircraft Brigade at the Tupolev OKB responsible for the development of the ANT-42 four-engined long-range bomber (which eventually entered service as the TB-7/Pe-8). However, that same year Stalin's Great Purge started, and none were spared suspicion; Andrei Tupolev, the head of the OKB, was coerced into signing a "confession" in October 1937 that he had formed an anti-Soviet group that included Petlyakov, and both men along with many others were arrested.
Too valuable to be simply executed, unlike many others arrested during the Great Purge, Petlyakov and other weapons designers were instead sent to sharashkas, special prisons run by the NKVD where such valuable prisoners could continue their work under close scrutiny. In 1938, Petlyakov was tasked with leading the first Special Technical Department (STO — SpetsTekhOd'yel) for aviation that also included other designers who became well-known such as Vladimir Myasishchev, a colleague of Petlyakov's at the Tupolev OKB.
Because the Russian word for "100" is "sto"("сто"), the STO was later renamed KB-100, and there Petlyakov proposed the development of a twin-engine interceptor against high-altitude long-range bombers, particularly those being developed in Germany such as the Junkers Ju 86P and Henschel Hs 130. His proposal was accepted in March 1938, with the requirement that the first prototype be ready for its first flight before the end of 1939. The project was initially given the name Samolyot 100 (lit. 'Aircraft 100') and later called VI-100 (Vysotnyi Istrebitel — "High-Altitude Fighter").
The VI-100 project was an ambitious one for its time, with advanced features such as a pressurised cabin, all-metal construction, turbo-superchargers, and many electrically actuated systems. The performance requirements were also quite demanding: it was to be capable of reaching 630 km/h (391 mph) at an altitude of 10,000 m, a ceiling of 12,500 m, and a range of 1,400 km. The aircraft would also need a reinforced structure in order to withstand the Mach stresses of making diving attacks from high altitude against enemy bomber formations. In order to assist with the challenging development of the "100", other OKBs such as those of Yakovlev, Mikoyan and Gurevich, and Sukhoi were also enlisted. The first full-scale VI-100 mock-up was completed in May 1939, and the first flight of the prototype occurred on 22 December 1939.
The VI-100 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by two Klimov M-105R engines, licence-built Hispano-Suiza 12Y engines that were the most advanced then available in the Soviet Union, driving VISh-42 three-blade variable-pitch propellers, enhanced by two TK-3 turbo-superchargers fitted in the engine nacelles. Its primary armament were two 20 mm ShVAK cannon and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, with another ShKAS in a fixed mounting in the tailcone for self-defence. The first prototype VI-100 was also designed to carry KS-76 (48 modified 76 mm artillery shells with timed fuses) or KS-100 (96 AO-25 bomblets) cassettes in the fuselage for dropping on enemy bomber formations. The second prototype was instead fitted with external bomb racks for 1,000 kg of bombs and internal bomb bays for 600 kg of bombs.
The first VI-100 prototype was demonstrated publicly during the 1940 May Day parade, flown by Maj. Stefanovsky, as Petlyakov and his team watched on from the roofs of their sharashka. During testing in 1940, the second prototype VI-100 suffered a cockpit fire due to an improperly tightened nut in the fuel supply, and crashed into a kindergarten, killing a group of young children and a teacher. Despite the loss of the second prototype and several defects being found in the first prototype, the VI-100 was judged satisfactory and suitable for further development. Its performance was superior to other Soviet high-altitude fighters such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-200 (the future MiG-3), and compared favourably with contemporary aircraft such as the Potez 630, Messerschmitt Bf 110 C, and Bristol Beaufighter Mk. I. However, events led to substantial changes in the direction of the VI-100 project.
The value of tactical dive bombing had been proven by the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers of the Luftwaffe during the Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939 and 1940, and the need for such an aircraft in the VVS-RKKA (Workers & Peasants' Red Army Air Force) suddenly became very apparent. Furthermore, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact, Soviet experts were able to visit German aircraft factories, where they discovered that Germany had no large-scale development of high-altitude long-range bombers underway. Existing aircraft were also judged to be within the capabilities of single-engined fighters like the I-200.
Hub AI
Petlyakov Pe-2 AI simulator
(@Petlyakov Pe-2_simulator)
Petlyakov Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 (Russian: Петляков Пе-2 — nickname «Пешка» (Pawn); NATO reporting name: Buck) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war, it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as a night fighter (Pe-3 variant) and as a reconnaissance aircraft. The Pe-2 was, numerically, the most important Soviet bomber of World War II, at their peak comprising 75% of the Soviet twin-engine bomber force. The Soviets manufactured Pe-2s in greater numbers (11,430 built) during the war than any other twin-engine combat aircraft except for the German Junkers Ju 88 and the British Vickers Wellington. Several Soviet bloc air forces flew the type after the war, when it became known by the NATO reporting name Buck.
In 1937, Vladimir Petlyakov was the leader of the Heavy Aircraft Brigade at the Tupolev OKB responsible for the development of the ANT-42 four-engined long-range bomber (which eventually entered service as the TB-7/Pe-8). However, that same year Stalin's Great Purge started, and none were spared suspicion; Andrei Tupolev, the head of the OKB, was coerced into signing a "confession" in October 1937 that he had formed an anti-Soviet group that included Petlyakov, and both men along with many others were arrested.
Too valuable to be simply executed, unlike many others arrested during the Great Purge, Petlyakov and other weapons designers were instead sent to sharashkas, special prisons run by the NKVD where such valuable prisoners could continue their work under close scrutiny. In 1938, Petlyakov was tasked with leading the first Special Technical Department (STO — SpetsTekhOd'yel) for aviation that also included other designers who became well-known such as Vladimir Myasishchev, a colleague of Petlyakov's at the Tupolev OKB.
Because the Russian word for "100" is "sto"("сто"), the STO was later renamed KB-100, and there Petlyakov proposed the development of a twin-engine interceptor against high-altitude long-range bombers, particularly those being developed in Germany such as the Junkers Ju 86P and Henschel Hs 130. His proposal was accepted in March 1938, with the requirement that the first prototype be ready for its first flight before the end of 1939. The project was initially given the name Samolyot 100 (lit. 'Aircraft 100') and later called VI-100 (Vysotnyi Istrebitel — "High-Altitude Fighter").
The VI-100 project was an ambitious one for its time, with advanced features such as a pressurised cabin, all-metal construction, turbo-superchargers, and many electrically actuated systems. The performance requirements were also quite demanding: it was to be capable of reaching 630 km/h (391 mph) at an altitude of 10,000 m, a ceiling of 12,500 m, and a range of 1,400 km. The aircraft would also need a reinforced structure in order to withstand the Mach stresses of making diving attacks from high altitude against enemy bomber formations. In order to assist with the challenging development of the "100", other OKBs such as those of Yakovlev, Mikoyan and Gurevich, and Sukhoi were also enlisted. The first full-scale VI-100 mock-up was completed in May 1939, and the first flight of the prototype occurred on 22 December 1939.
The VI-100 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by two Klimov M-105R engines, licence-built Hispano-Suiza 12Y engines that were the most advanced then available in the Soviet Union, driving VISh-42 three-blade variable-pitch propellers, enhanced by two TK-3 turbo-superchargers fitted in the engine nacelles. Its primary armament were two 20 mm ShVAK cannon and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, with another ShKAS in a fixed mounting in the tailcone for self-defence. The first prototype VI-100 was also designed to carry KS-76 (48 modified 76 mm artillery shells with timed fuses) or KS-100 (96 AO-25 bomblets) cassettes in the fuselage for dropping on enemy bomber formations. The second prototype was instead fitted with external bomb racks for 1,000 kg of bombs and internal bomb bays for 600 kg of bombs.
The first VI-100 prototype was demonstrated publicly during the 1940 May Day parade, flown by Maj. Stefanovsky, as Petlyakov and his team watched on from the roofs of their sharashka. During testing in 1940, the second prototype VI-100 suffered a cockpit fire due to an improperly tightened nut in the fuel supply, and crashed into a kindergarten, killing a group of young children and a teacher. Despite the loss of the second prototype and several defects being found in the first prototype, the VI-100 was judged satisfactory and suitable for further development. Its performance was superior to other Soviet high-altitude fighters such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-200 (the future MiG-3), and compared favourably with contemporary aircraft such as the Potez 630, Messerschmitt Bf 110 C, and Bristol Beaufighter Mk. I. However, events led to substantial changes in the direction of the VI-100 project.
The value of tactical dive bombing had been proven by the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers of the Luftwaffe during the Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939 and 1940, and the need for such an aircraft in the VVS-RKKA (Workers & Peasants' Red Army Air Force) suddenly became very apparent. Furthermore, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact, Soviet experts were able to visit German aircraft factories, where they discovered that Germany had no large-scale development of high-altitude long-range bombers underway. Existing aircraft were also judged to be within the capabilities of single-engined fighters like the I-200.
Recent media