Combat aircraft. When the whole world is haughty

2024 Author: Matthew Elmers | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:49

Bomber from Ju-86 failed. The plane was outdated before it dropped the first bombs from its compartments back in Spain, was sold for export quite normally, but “did not enter” the Luftwaffe for many reasons, which make no sense to disassemble.

The fact is that the Ju-86Z (from Zivil - civilian), a 10-seater passenger aircraft that became the progenitor of military modifications, is so different from our hero that there is simply no point in following the entire development of the aircraft. Let's just say the Ju-86P was just actually a different aircraft. With completely different tasks and opportunities.

The military life of the Ju-86 bombers of the A, B, C, D, E and G series turned out to be more than short. By the beginning of World War II, the Luftwaffe had only one unit armed with these aircraft.

But the fate of the scouts of the P and R series turned out to be completely different.

It all started with an unspoken competition between German and Soviet designers in the development of the stratosphere. That is, the goal was to create an aircraft capable of climbing as high as possible.

In the USSR, the team of the BOK (Bureau of Special Designs) under the leadership of the most talented designer Vladimir Antonovich Chizhevsky worked quite normally on stratospheric aircraft.

Combat aircraft. When the whole world is haughty …

The team developed the gondolas of the first Soviet stratospheric balloons "Osoaviakhim-1" and "USSR-1", aircraft BOK-1, BOK-5, BOK-7, BOK-11, BOK-15. But the planes did not go into production, despite the fact that in 1940 BOK-11 was built in duplicate and successfully tested.

Preparations were made for a long-distance high-altitude flight, but in the pre-war situation, such flights could no longer take place. BOK was included in the P. O. Sukhoi Design Bureau.

But Hugo Junkers outplayed competitors and kept all the developments in the strictest confidence. By the way, the moment that the Germans did not show any of their developments to the Soviet delegations played an important role in the fate of the BOK stratospheric aircraft, which was the reason for the termination of work on the BOK-11.

Yes, the high-altitude fighter "100" with pressurized cabins was also scrapped.

But on the sly the Germans continued work on the super-high plane, and that's what they got in the end.

First, we finally got an engine that could be used in such aircraft. This is a diesel Junkers Jumo-207 with two centrifugal superchargers: the first is driven by the exhaust, the second is mechanically driven and has an intercooler.

At the same time, the Junkers worked out a program for high-altitude flights using pressurized cabins.

Further, the creation of the aircraft began. Today, there are several versions about which model of the 86th made the modification. There are opinions that from the "D" series, I am of the opinion voiced by Viktor Shunkov that the Ju-86P was created on the basis of the Ju-86G, which differed from other models by the forward-shifted cockpit and increased glazing of the pilot's and navigator's cabins. Yes, the Ju-86G was a continuation of work on the Ju-86E.

On the basis of the Ju-86G, the Ju-86P was made, having inscribed a pressurized cabin for two people in the bow. In fact, a new bow was made with special glazing from double plexiglass panels with air dried between the glasses.

The pressure in the cockpit was maintained equivalent to an altitude of 3000 m, the air boost was taken from the left engine. Access to the cockpit was quite peculiar, through the lower hatch.

The first Ju.86P V1 prototype took off in February 1940, and a month later the V2 was flown. During the tests, both aircraft with a pair of Jumo 207A-1 diesel engines climbed to an altitude of over 10,000 m. On the third prototype with an enlarged wing area, the Ju-86P could fly 11,000 m for over 2.5 hours.

The Luftwaffe representatives liked the test results so much that they ordered 40 vehicles in two versions.

The first version of the Ju.86P-1 was a super-high-altitude bomber capable of carrying 4 bombs of 250kg or 16 bombs of 50kg.

In addition to bombs, the Ju-86P-1 was armed with a remote-controlled installation with an MG-17 rifle caliber machine gun. Not very luxurious weapons, but the very essence of the use of a bomber somehow did not imply air battles at all.

The combat flight plan was seen as follows: the plane took off, then climbed to 11,000 m. This altitude was to be reached after 45 minutes of flight. After that, the flight continued at this altitude, at a cruising speed of 345 km / h.

At 200 km from the target, the climb to 12,000 m began. This height was reached 100 km from the target. Further, a decrease began with a kind of half-dive to an altitude of 9500-10000 meters, from where the bombs were dropped. This was followed by a leisurely climb of 12,000 meters and a return to the airfield.

The fuel supply consisted of 1000 liters, which provided a four-hour flight.

In general, even considering the excellent German sights and optics, we will not talk about how accurate the bombing from that height was. It was work on areas "somewhere", nothing more.

The Ju.86P-2 reconnaissance aircraft, which became the second variant, was a more interesting vehicle.

The scout's armament consisted of three automatic cameras. He did not need a machine gun at all, since not a single fighter of that time, even theoretically, could rise to the operating altitude of this aircraft.

As for the anti-aircraft artillery, the ground observation posts had to somehow manage to find a plane flying at such an altitude.

In the summer of 1940, one of the prototypes in the test rank entered the reconnaissance unit of the main command of the Luftwaffe and was immediately aimed at reconnaissance of objects on the territory of Great Britain. In its first flight, the Ju.86P-2 reached an altitude of 12,500 m and returned undetected.

Several scouts were concentrated in 2nd Squadron and in the same year they often appeared over the base of the British fleet at Scapa Flow. From that moment in Germany, if the weather conditions allowed, everyone or almost everyone knew about the movements of the British fleet.

The British were furious, but so far they could not do anything and were frantically looking for methods of dealing with the Ju.86P. In the meantime, Ju.86P-1 bombers began to send "greetings" to British cities, but it is fair to say that they were acts of intimidation, nothing more.

The aerial disgrace (from the point of view of the British) continued until August 1942, when a hastily modified 6-series Spitfire, lightened as much as possible, with an enlarged wing and a pressurized cabin, allegedly shot down a Ju.86P-2 at an altitude of 12,800 meters.

Understanding perfectly well what this hastily molded interceptor was, I express my disbelief of this information.

I must say that the pressurized cabin of the "six", or "type 350", caused a lot of criticism. If in fact, then it did not give a big advantage to the pilot at all, maintaining the pressure in the cockpit by only 0.15 atmospheres higher than overboard.

There were complaints about the compressor, which drove oil vapors into the cabin. The rubber seals, through which the cables passed, made the aircraft very difficult to fly. The lantern could not be opened in flight, so leaving the plane in the event of an accident was another test for your nerves. But the most important thing is that the ceiling of the "six" did not exceed 12,000 m, and even then, under ideal conditions.

For the entire 1942 year, there was only one case when an interceptor was able to open fire on a Ju.86P located above it, but at the same time it lost speed. Junkers calmly left Spitfire with a decline.

In 1942, the "six" was converted into a "seven", equipped with a liquid oxygen injection system into the engine. This raised the ceiling by about 600 m and the speed at an altitude of 65-80 km / h. But in "Junkers" they did not stand still, having adjusted the rework of the Ju.86P into the Ju.86R, which had higher characteristics.

In general, the British lost the war at super-altitude miserably. Especially when the Ju.86R appeared.

The Ju.86R was also produced in two versions, a reconnaissance aircraft and a bomber, but the reconnaissance aircraft took root more.

The aircraft had an even larger wing span (32 m), high-altitude engines Jumo 207В-3 with a capacity of 1000 hp, from which at an altitude of 12,000 meters there were "only" 750 hp. The engines were equipped with a GM-1 nitrous oxide injection system.

All this provided the ability to fly at altitudes up to 14,000 meters. The fuel supply (1935 liters) was enough for seven hours of flight at operating altitude. The British had nothing to oppose, and Ju.86 flew fearlessly over British territory.

But why pity the British if it was even easier to fly over the territory of the USSR? That, in fact, the Germans did. With anti-aircraft artillery and radars, we had everything much more sad than that of the British, about high-altitude interceptors it is simply worth keeping silent.

Yes, our intelligence was still able to overcome all the barriers of German secrecy and get information about the Ju.86P. All data were transferred to the Deputy People's Commissar for Experimental Aircraft Construction and in parallel to the designer A. S. Yakovlev.

That is, in 1941, in fact, a year after the start of the use of aircraft, we learned that the Germans still have a super-high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. But our industry could not provide real resistance.

But measures, albeit on paper, were taken by the government. CIAM and various aviation design bureaus, especially specializing in the creation of fighters, had to accelerate the installation of turbochargers, which increased the altitude of the engines, and in the shortest possible time to hand over the aircraft for testing.

But alas, we were unable to create normal turbochargers. The level of industrial development was not that at which it would be possible to create such a simple and at the same time complex device.

And our VNOS services had only to record numerous Ju.86P flights over our territory. Including over Moscow.

Today, there are many excellent German maps available on the Internet, which were taken with the Ju.86P cameras. What it cost us in that war is hard to say.

The picture is clearly drawn from a document dated 1943. On August 23, from the headquarters of the Western Front of the Air Defense, signed by the commander of the troops M. S.:

“On August 22, 1943, from 08:40 to 10:10, the enemy made reconnaissance of Moscow and the surrounding area with one high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the Yu-86R-1 type at an altitude of 12000-13000 m.

The enemy aircraft was detected at 07:42 in the Izdeshkovo area and, following the route Vyazma - Kubinka - Zvenigorod - Chkalovskaya - Moscow - Gzhatsk, left the VNOS system in the Izdeshkovo area (40 km west of Vyazma).

The enemy was in the zone of fire and in the area of Moscow for 1 hour 30 minutes (from 8:40 to 10:10) and passed over the city center three times.

To intercept the enemy, 15 fighters were lifted at different times from the Central airfield and the airfields of Kubinka, Lyubertsy, Inutino, Vnukovo, of which three Yak-9, two Spitfire, Airacobra and MiG-3, as well as six Yak-1.

Of all the fighters raised, only one - "Spitfire", piloted by senior lieutenant of the 16th IAP Semenov, climbed to 11,500 m and fired at the enemy from a pitching position, being 500 m below the enemy and 200 m behind. Pilot Semenov spent 30 rounds and 450 rounds of ammunition, after which the cannon and machine guns failed due to icing. The enemy returned fire from the starboard side and from below with tracer bullets.

In the Moscow area and on the way back to Mozhaisk, the enemy was pursued by pilots:

12th GIAP - junior lieutenant Nalivaiko (Yak-9), who gained only 11100 m;

562th IAP - Polkanov and Butslov (Yak-1), who gained 9500 m;

28th IAP - Abramov and Evdokimov ("Airacobra"), who gained 9000 m;

565th IAP - Krupenin and Klimov (MiG-3), who gained 10800 m.

All the pilots, due to the large difference in altitude, did not fight. Anti-aircraft artillery did not fire at the enemy, due to the inaccessibility of the height …

The fighters available in the Moscow Special Air Defense Army could not gain the altitude required for battle. The armament of the fighters turned out to be unprepared for firing at high altitudes at low temperatures.

It is not excluded that the enemy will drop small bombs in the future during such unpunished flights over Moscow.

Despite the fact that the enemy has been conducting unpunished reconnaissance of Moscow at high altitude for more than a year, the issue of high-altitude fighters for the air defense of the capital is still practically not resolved …"

Enough, isn't it?

Unpunished Ju-86R flights over the capital and other cities continued until June 1944. At the same time, the Soviet air defense did not manage to shoot down any of them.

On the Western Front, Ju-86Rs lost their invulnerability, which gave them an altitude advantage in mid-1943. On July 2, two Spitfires Mk. IX and several Spitfires Mk. VC at 13,400 m (credibly) intercepted and attacked a Ju-86R N.860292 "4U + IK".

The plane received a series of hits and, having caught fire, sharply went down, and then at an altitude of 9400 m fell apart. Both members of his crew were killed.

In fact, after 1944, the Ju-86R was no longer used due to the appearance of real interceptors from the British and the termination of the production program for these aircraft. That is, the available aircraft had already exhausted their resource, and instead of the new ones, the German industry was rapidly producing fighters.

However, we can say that the Ju-86P and R fulfilled their task, filming a huge number of square kilometers of theaters of war, a huge number of maps were made on the basis of the images and, in general, reconnaissance is reconnaissance.

Until 1943, when real interceptors appeared, the Ju-86p and R were unique machines that did their job with impunity. Decent plane, which turned out to be very difficult to find control.