Aviation 2024, November

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 The plane was outdated before it dropped the first bombs from its compartments back in Spain, was sold for export quite normally, but the Luftwaffe “did not enter” for many reasons, which make no sense to disassemble. The fact is that the Ju-86Z (from Zivil - civilian ), 10-seater

A real "Viking", a controversial hulk, a jock on Teutonic steroids. Controversial, because it could well be called the largest aircraft - a flying boat, but bad luck, this title was retained in those years by Dornier-X. Although, in essence, a loser boat that flew less than

A world war is when almost the whole world is at war. In the First, it so happened that neighbors grabbed each other's throats with and without it. And in the Second World War, there was also a practice when states that pursued their goals entered the war, as happened with Romania. Now I will not judge

It was not in vain that I remembered about the literary hero. If you compare him with all the other characters of Mrs. Lindgren, then he clearly stands apart from everyone. Yes, there are all a bit rebellious like Pippi and Emil, or very refined ones like Kid or Kalle. But Carlson is a separate phenomenon. They say

A necessary foreword. We are talking about the 30s of the last century, when two ideologies collided in design bureaus around the world: a high-speed and a maneuverable fighter. It just didn't work out right then, and it turned out that I had to work in two directions

May 27, 1933 pilot K.A. Popov made the first flight on an I-14 (ANT-31) prototype fighter. The flight was successful and work on the aircraft continued. What is behind this information? Basically, nothing special. But for those who do not know what kind of car it is, now it will be very informative

Immediately: this is not a myth. This is the most that neither is the story into which the crews of Soviet bombers flew in their cars in the sky over the Berezina River at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. This is a legend. Probably, many of those who read remember this episode, which he described in his book (and then in

In the two previous articles, we talked about the number and quality of aircraft on 06/22/1941. In one of my articles, I promised to talk about the human factor. Let's start from the bottom, with pilot training. In our difficult time, people publish just a mountain of information on the topic of how bad everything was in the Red Army Air Force

I must say right away: do not judge by appearance! The plane is both wonderful and remarkable. And in some way - and unique. Not only is it a Japanese naval submarine aircraft, but it also has the honor of being the only aircraft to bomb U.S. territory during the Second

A necessary preface: Soon, with varying degrees of probability, the country will try to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We have a definite advantage in this regard, we are all gathering here virtually, and no one will be able to prevent us from doing it

The previous material caused the expected confusion. But conclusions at that level were, if not difficult, then clearly premature, although some commentators, as is customary in our country, made them easily and naturally. Although quite a lot still separates us from the true disclosure of the topic and acceptable conclusions

The history of aviation is a complex thing, and sometimes it is very difficult to clearly determine whether an airplane was good or bad. Or it even happened that a plane, which was clearly considered disgusting at first, showed itself in such a way that it left behind a good memory

"Flying Dragon" … Quite deservedly, this plane can be called one of the symbols of Japanese resistance to the American military machine that has gained momentum. In 1944, when American bombers regularly began to make visits to the skies over Japanese cities, it was on these aircraft that

Yes, speaking of Soviet, German, British, American and Japanese cars, sooner or later you want to roll out something like … Romanian, Italian or French. the already mentioned "Dewoatin" D.520) on three fronts at once

This aircraft is considered (deservedly) one of the most beautiful combat vehicles of the Second World War. But, besides beautiful forms, in many respects it turned out to be a very interesting car. Who fought, like many comrades-in-arms, from the beginning (almost) to the end of that war.In general, our hero is a deck

Yes, it turned out to be a kind of large-scale transition in a cycle from the European theater of operations to the Pacific Ocean. But what to do, in our history the war in the Pacific Ocean was not given due attention, and the cuttings both in the sea and in the air were terrible. Our today's participant was born just before the war, in 1939, when in the USA

Combat aircraft. Comparisons. Indeed, it is worth thinking about this question: why in different countries did they treat the creation of aircraft so differently? If we take Germany as an example for parsing the flight, then, indeed, there is a certain oddity in the fact that it is in service almost instantly

Continuing the theme of the planes that have done things during the Second World War, answering one of the questions, I want to say just a few words. Well, the Flying Fortresses are not interesting to me as objects of consideration. Well, what a merit: we gathered together in 500-1000 planes, took with them a couple of hundred

Why not admire? Yes, at one time the plane received from the pilots a not very flattering nickname "stringbag", that is, "string bag" if translated within the meaning. Younger generations may not know what it is, Google will help. In general, Suordfish is a remarkable and delightful machine in every way

All according to the laws of the genre. Or show business. If people start to forget about the star, it is necessary to make a scandal. Our hero is not a star at all, therefore scandals are not needed, but some media outlets, with a light filing of the same “Zvezda”, suddenly started talking. It would seem, who needs it?

I would like to start with this: with a question. And the question is not simple, but golden. Why do we, speaking of airplanes, immediately draw in our heads the image of a fighter, and with it a fighter pilot? That is, when we talk about the Hero-pilot, who immediately appears? That's right, Pokryshkin or Kozhedub. Yes, that's right. But

Close your eyes for a minute and try to imagine … yourself. In a dream, in a fantasy novel, in an eerie fairy tale, you are a pilot. You go to your plane to take flight. With you, everything is more or less clear, but we are looking at the plane. Multiple Survival Engines? No. One. Yes

So, "Heinkel" No.111. Labels "blitzkrieg symbol" and "beauty and pride of the Luftwaffe" will not cling to, but the plane was very remarkable. At least only by the fact that he plowed the whole war, from the first to the last day, and this already says a lot. In fact, no. It happened, and it turned out very much

What can you say about the brainchild of "Junkers", more precisely, Heinrich Evers and Alfred Gassner? Only one thing: they did it. 15,000 aircraft produced. This is an admission that the car came out very, very good. It all started back in the now distant 1935, when the Luftwaffe thought about changing

Continuing the conversation about the planes that changed the war in the air and on the ground. In the first part we looked at the aircraft of the first half of the 20th century, now, of course, the turn for the second. In the second part we will consider (attention!) The aircraft that had a real impact on the conduct of hostilities

For a very long time, I confess, I was getting close to this plane. No wonder, very, very little has been written about the Pe-3. If there is a book about the Pe-2, at best the Pe-3 will be given a chapter. They say it was. If an article, a few sentences will be enough. But there are no books and more or less serious studies. True, there is a hint of a certain

In the comments to the article We Are The Mighty: 10 Fighters That Changed the War in the Air, one of the readers said that if we had a rating, it would be completely different. I completely agree, and since my colleague Ryabov showed just miracles of diplomacy, commenting on this

Weapons have always attracted attention and were not only a way to send a person to the next world, but also a source of pride. Speaking about the brainchild of Ernst Heinkel No.219, we can definitely say that Mr. Heinkel had something to be proud of. The plane turned out to be very successful, moreover, I consider it the best

Not so long ago we had an article about this aircraft, written by a battleship expert. Yes, of course, as an opinion, it has the right to life, although, of course, there were comparisons in it … Well, okay, this is the lyrics, let's talk about the plane, which we will consider full-face and in profile, and not through the chimney of the ship. Lightning. Highly

It is safe to say that China has also joined the fascinating process of measuring how fifth or not fifth generation modern aircraft are. Why this is necessary is understandable without equivocation. The steeper the plane (this applies not only to fighters), the easier and more profitable it can be

Probably on that day, August 17, 1943, the crews of British ships from the convoy from Gibraltar to Great Britain witnessed one of the strangest events of World War II

Well, the moment of understanding has come that one can compare in different ways. You can wholesale, as in OBM, you can differently. Yes, all these "AK versus M-16" are eternal, but still, some personalized comparisons make sense. Although in this case, I'm not even sure why I brought it to court

So, heavy monsters carrying tons of bombs over great distances. Yes, they are. Four-engine colossus, bristling with barrels, with large crews, armored and in general - the beauty and pride of any aviation. Not all countries have been able to create such an aviation. The French, for example. They had a very and

According to the materials of the "Expert" publication, Anatoly Serdyukov, head of the Rostec aviation cluster, has begun a total optimization of "excess production capacities" at the enterprises controlled by the holding. It is controversial, but not unreasonable, if you seriously look at it. On the one hand, like

Indeed, ANT-42, aka TB-7, aka Pe-8, the most powerful bomber of the Red Army Air Force, how was it in terms of comparison with analogues? And was it even possible to compare it? But in order to compare, you first need to really go through the history of the aircraft. History began around the mid-30s of the last

Who doesn't know this plane? A flying log with an attached lantern? Perfectly identifiable even by non-specialists F4U "Corsair" from the "Chance-Vout" company. The best (in the opinion of the Japanese) and almost the best (in the opinion of everyone else) carrier-based fighter of the Second World War. But start our conversation today

Continuing the theme of "night lights", after we walked through the technique of the Third Reich, we begin to look at everyone else. Before starting, however, it is worth saying a few words that I may have missed in the first part: The aircraft we are looking at are night fighters. Accordingly, it is necessary

The review will be quite challenging. It seems to me that night fighters were the strangest category of aircraft of that time. To begin with, during the entire war, one night fighter was purposefully created and produced in series. Purposefully - this means that it was created exactly as a night

What is happening today around the Russian transport aviation causes very ambiguous feelings. To put it mildly, sheer confusion, and in everything: forecasts, figures, statements, official reports. This causes at least concern, because if there is such a mess in their heads, then what

Having written an article about domestic piston aircraft engines at the beginning of the summer, I was somewhat surprised by the reaction of readers. To my deepest regret, a greater number of readers are more interested in assessing not the history of aircraft engines, but AvtoVAZ. Combat aircraft. About aircraft motors, their own and not so much. But those who