Pe-3

Aircraft VI-100 (high-altitude fighter) or simply “100” was created in TsKB-29 of the Special Technical Department of the NKVD (hence the name - STO). The SRT actually had three teams led by A.N. Tupolev , V.M. Myasishchev and V.M. Petlyakov , and many aviation experts arrested by the NKVD bodies from 39 to 41 years were serving their sentences there.

The VI-100 was designed by the team of V. M. Petlyakov as a high-altitude interceptor fighter and a long-range escort fighter . The development of individual components and systems of the aircraft involved about 50 designers. “Sotka” was designed as an all-metal twin-engine monoplane with two-keel plumage. For high-altitude flights, the M-105P engines were equipped with turbochargers, and the cockpit was pressurized and had a boost . Widely used on an airplane electric drive . The armament was designed in the front part - two ShKAS machine guns and two ShVAK guns, and a fixed defensive installation in the tail coke of the ShKAS machine gun. The K-76 anti-aircraft bomb cluster with 76-mm remote-controlled artillery shells or the K-100 cartridge with 96 AO-2.5 fragmentation bombs could be mounted on the external suspension.

In May 1939, a full-size mock-up was ready, and in November a prototype was built at Plant No. 156. The first flight was performed on December 22, 1939 by P. M. Stefanovsky . On April 11, 1940, state tests of the aircraft began. Pursued numerous defects and failures and the process went very hard.

By that time, a second experimental machine was built, the fate of which was very tragic. During the second take-off flight, a fire and heavy smoke occurred in the cockpit, the pilot Khripkov and the navigator Perevalov decided to emergency landing on the meadow right at the take-off course. By a terrible coincidence, small children from the kindergarten of the Chemical Plant walked in the meadow. The plane crashed precisely into the children and their eighteen-year-old teacher. The crew was arrested right in the hospital ward, but the investigation showed that the pilots were completely innocent. Two engineers and a mechanic were administratively punished - received by reprimand. The plane was not subject to recovery. ^[one]

Despite the strict nature of the machine - lack of longitudinal stability, high landing speed, a tendency to " scam " and the availability of development for "pilots above average qualifications", the Air Force Research Institute, in conclusion, recommended the creation of a dive bomber based on the "100" aircraft . So the VI-100 turned into the PB-100, and then into the Pe-2 .

With the outbreak of war, the need for twin-engine high-altitude fighters initially did not arise. However, from time to time there was a need for escort or fighter cover at a great distance from the airfield , and Pe-2 bombers were involved in these tasks. Already on August 2, 1941, Petlyakov was tasked with developing a fighter in a four-day period on the basis of the production Pe-2. And on August 7 the fighter flew.

Bomber holders were removed from the aircraft, and an additional fuel tank of 250 l was installed in the bomb bay (now bombs were hung only on the external suspension and in additional compartments of the landing gear gondolas). They removed the place of the shooter, sewn up the top hatch and installed two more tanks of 225 liters. The lower hatch of the shooter’s cabin was left, since the free space from the tanks could be used to transport aircraft equipment and ground technical personnel. The armament was strengthened by a second BK machine gun and a stationary ShKAS in tail coca (from VI-100). Dismantled the brake grilles, a dive machine, ESBR-6, RPK-2 radio pulley, camera , SPU-3. The radio station RSB-bis was changed to the fighter RSI-4.

The initiative number 22 plant built fighter Pe-2I. The crew was also reduced to a pilot and navigator, installing a 340-liter tank in the cockpit arrow. Two more 180 liter suspension tanks were hung on external locks. An assembly was mounted in the bomb bay, the wing-mounted rifle installations of the Il-2 airplane were taken as the basis of the design - two ShVAK guns were mounted below, and on top of the bomb bay there were cartridge boxes. As on the Pe-3, a dive machine, brake grids, an electric bomber spreader , a radio half-pass , the NKPB-4 night bomb sight were dismantled; the radio station was replaced by a low-power one. But after the completion of state tests, the Pe-2Is in the series decided not to build.

On August 29, 1941, tests of the first production Pe-3 began at the Central Airfield. Since the end of August, cars began to arrive at the rearmament of 95 BAP.

After the rearmament, the 95th BAP was renamed fighter and was included in the huge 6th Air Defense Corps, which covered Moscow. Pe-3s were used to patrol guarded objects. The 9th, 40th, 54th, 208th, 511th BAPs were also partially re-equipped. The first successful baptism of fire was received by the Pe-3 crews of the 95th regiment, accompanied by transport aircraft transporting the English delegation from Vologda to Moscow. It was possible to repel three attacks of enemy fighters. The first victory was won by the crew of Art. F-Fortova from the 95th IAP, having shot down the Junkers-88 bomber on October 3, 1941 (on November 5 this crew did not return from the combat mission).

As the Germans approached Moscow, the Pe-3 began to be used as fighter-bombers, for bombing assaults on advancing troops. Active exploitation revealed flaws in the aircraft, primarily weak weapons. In October-November 1941, the aircraft was urgently modified by the forces of the factory brigades, PARM and l / s regiments - in the bow mounted a fixed installation with a ShVAK gun, the second BC was moved to the starboard side, in place of ShKAS. For defense of the stern, the FT mounted pivot mount with the UBT machine gun was installed at the navigator. A DAG-10 grenade launcher with ten AG-2 grenades was installed in the rear of the fuselage. Missile weapons — rockets RS-82 (4-8 units) or RS-132 (4-6 units) were installed on some of the vehicles. An armored plate was installed in front of the pilot's seat, which shifted the alignment of the aircraft forward.

At plant No. 39, a Pe-3bis modification was developed with new offensive weapons from the ShVAK cannon and two UBTs and a defensive tower installation by a navigator with a UBT machine gun. Automatic slats and a “neutral gas” system were installed on the aircraft (the fuel tanks were filled with exhaust fumes from the engine manifolds as fuel was exhausted). Subsequently, the Pe-3bis received UBT machine guns under the center section , and only a gun was left in the nose. The navigator’s rifle mount was replaced with a new VUB-1 with a UBT machine gun . The crew’s armor protection was increased - the total weight of the armor plates reached 148 kg. We mounted an alcohol de-icing system of screws and glass for the lantern. On the landing gear struts lengthened, which shifted the wheels forward and made it easier to land (all the "pawns" tended to be bonded).

Pe-3 reconnaissance variant arrived in the 1st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th and 40th long-range reconnaissance aviation regiments (DRAP). The aircraft were equipped with AFA-1 or AFA-B cameras

After the battle near Moscow, the 40th and 511th regiments were rearmed with Pe-2 and A-20V. Also re-equipped the 208th and 54th BAP. Until the summer of 1942, the 95th IAP was involved in escorting transport vehicles with senior personnel, and then it was transferred to the Northern Fleet Air Force. In the north, the regiment continued to engage in bombing and assault on surface and coastal targets, escorted convoys and was used to search for submarines (to no avail), for which four PLAB-100 depth charges were suspended on fighters.

The escort of convoys was a task of national importance, and to protect the ships from enemy torpedo bombers in the north, a separate naval aviation group (OMAG) was created from three regiments - the 95th, 13th and 121st IAPs, all on Pe-3 and Pe- 3bis.

The 13th IAP was disbanded due to the non-combat loss of most of the vehicles. A large group of regiment planes fell into a snow charge and scattered. Some of the crews managed to parachute or sit on their belly and successfully reached their own, the rest simply died in the north. The absence of decent navigation equipment on the standard Pe-3 made it almost impossible to land at night or in conditions of poor visibility, and the loss of the aircraft was inevitable. After this tragedy, the regiment was aimed at reorganization and was re-formed as the 2nd aviation regiment of distillation of the air forces of the Navy , surpassing bombers or leading groups along the Alsib highway.

A separate squadron of Pe-2 and Pe-3 interceptors with Gneiss-2 radars operated near Stalingrad. The crews flew to intercept transport aircraft, supplying the surrounded army of Paulus.

In the Black Sea, a separate squadron operated at Pe-3. Aircraft were used to cover ships and escorts. The squadron by 1943 no longer had combat-ready vehicles and was disbanded.

In 1943, the 95th IAP Northern Fleet remained at the front with the last unit armed with the Pe-3. He was transferred to the operational subordination of the 5th mine torpedo air division (MTAP). Fighters accompanied the torpedo bombers and, in the absence of enemy aircraft, helped the torpedo bombers by suppressing anti-aircraft guns on ships with machine gun and cannon fire.

By the end of the summer of 1944, no more than 30 Pe-3 units of different variants fought, and not a single regiment was fully armed with them. Mostly aircraft were used for visual and photographic reconnaissance. As before, Pe-3s were used by the Air Forces of the SF (95th IAP, 28th ORAE). Several cars survived the war and were operated until 1946, and the last Pe-3 survived until the early 50s.

In technical terms, the operation of the Pe-3 did not differ much from the Pe-2.

Heroists of the Soviet Union who fought at Pe-3:

• Rogov, Alexey Georgievich - Hero of the Soviet Union (10/22/1941, posthumous), squadron commander of the 40th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 4th Bomber Aviation Division of the Western Front, captain. October 8, 1941 when approaching a railway bridge over the river. Ugru , near the city of Yukhnov , a plane piloted by the commander of the second squadron of the regiment, captain Rogov Alexei Georgievich, was hit by anti-aircraft artillery. The crew (navigator - senior lieutenant V.I. Fornosov) sent a burning plane to the bridge and rammed it. An airplane explosion (about three tons of fuel and one and a half tons of air bombs) destroyed the bridge ^[2] .
• Sugrin Valentin Vasilyevich - Hero of the Soviet Union, reconnaissance pilot, retired in 1976, colonel, died in Voronezh, one of the MIG-25 scouts was named after him.

The following characteristics correspond to the Pe-3 modification (in parentheses - Pe-3bis ):

Data source: Shavrov V.B. The history of aircraft designs in the USSR 1938-1950 ^[3]

Specifications

• Crew : 2 people
• Length : 12.6 m
• Wing span : 17.6 m
• Height : 3.93 m
• Wing area: 40.5 m²
• Empty weight: 5 730 (5815) kg
• Normal take-off weight: 7,880 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 2,200 l
• Maximum take-off weight : (7870) kg
• Powerplant : 2 × piston M-105R (VK-105PF2)
• Engine power: 2 × 1,100 hp (1210) h.p.
• Propeller : VISH-42

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed:
  • at altitude: 535 km / h at 5,000 m
  • by the ground: 444 km / h
• Practical range: 2,150 km
• Rate of climb : 9.3 m / s
• Climbing time: 5,000 m in 9 minutes
• Wing load: 195 kg / m²
• Thrust- weight ratio : 210 W / kg (3.5 kg / hp.)

Armament

• Shooting gun: 20 mm ShVAK (or two ShVAK)
  • 2 × 12.7 mm machine gun UB (three 12.7 mm machine gun Berezin UBK )
  • 3 × 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun
• Combat load: 400 kg or reloading - 700 kg.
• Unguided missiles : RS-82 or RS-132

grenade launcher DAG-10

• Kharuk A.I. Fighters of the Second World War. The most complete encyclopedia. - M .: Yauza, EKSMO, 2012 .-- 368 p. - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-58917-3 .
• "Aviation and astronautics." 5-6.98 g.

• Pe-3 in battles
• Pe-3 over the sea
• Shavrov V. B. The history of aircraft designs in the USSR 1938-1950.