I-5

The design and construction of the I-5 fighter under the original designation “Inner prison - 11” ( “VT-11” ) aircraft was carried out in the “Central Design Bureau - 39” in Moscow on the instructions of the leadership of the Air Force of the Red Army and under the control of the OGPU Board.

Full abbreviation of the organization: "TsKB-39 OGPU named after V. R. Menzhinsky."

TsKB-39 is a Moscow aviation design organization under the patronage of the OGPU Board, where design and pilot aircraft construction were carried out.

The main objectives of the creation of TsKB-39 were the concentration of engineering and technical personnel, the elimination of the small fragmentation of design work and, on its basis, the implementation of a wide program for the development and production of new aircraft in the USSR.

The idea of ​​creating TsKB-39 belonged to the head of the OGPU V. R. Menzhinsky . It was assumed that the construction of aircraft by imprisoned engineers would save the country significant financial resources.

Design work began in December 1929 within the walls of the Butyrka prison . Since January 1930, when the question arose of the need to create a prototype fighter, the entire team under the protection of the OGPU was stationed on the territory of the State Aviation Plant No. 39 named after Menzhinsky near the Central airfield , where a kind of "internal prison" was organized. Actually from this moment, the design bureau consisting of prisoners received the name “TsKB-39 OGPU im. Menzhinsky. ”

Engineers and designers were provided with meals (including white bread, sugar and butter), cigarettes, cigarettes and tobacco, clothes and shoes, bedding, sleeping and working rooms, and tools and accessories necessary for the design and engineering activities. Mandatory daily walks.

Leading aircraft designers D.P. Grigorovich and N.N. Polikarpov, who were arrested as "pests" on charges of wrecking under Article 58 of the RSFSR Criminal Code, headed the work on the fighter project.

TsKB collective - 20 prisoners; "Pests" and "enemies of the people" are aircraft designers and highly qualified engineers. Along with the imprisoned engineers, and most often in subordination, they employed a considerable number of civilian engineers (S. M. Dansker), technicians and workers.

The I-5 light and maneuverable fighter was designed in 1929-1930 under the joint leadership of Soviet aircraft designers Nikolai Nikolayevich Polikarpov and Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich at TsKB-39 OGPU named after V. R. Menzhinsky on instructions from the leadership of the Air Force of the Red Army and under the control of the OGPU Board .

V.L. Corvin-Kerber recalled: on November 30, 1929, all the imprisoned designers and engineers were assembled in the premises of the former Butyrka prison church.

Structurally, the aircraft repeated the scheme and dimensions of the Soviet I-6 fighter.

The prototype fifth fighter I-5 was released in three versions.

First prototype - Inner Prison 11 aircraft

In total, 13 variants of the fighter were designed, which differed from each other in details (various engines, weapons, the presence or absence of a fairing of the engine, etc.). The first prototype of the aircraft, known as “Internal Prison - 11” (VT-11), got its name by the number of the project variant, approved by the team of designers for the construction of the prototype. Almost simultaneously, according to other options, two more prototype aircraft were built.

The aircraft was equipped with an engine Bristol Jupiter VII (high-altitude).

The plane took off for the first time on April 29, 1930. The test flight was carried out by the pilot Benedict Bucholz .

Second Prototype - Klim Voroshilov Aircraft

On the second prototype - the Klim Voroshilov aircraft (built on the 13th version of the project, but for superstitious reasons did not receive the name VT-13) - the Jupiter VI engine (non-high-altitude) was installed.

Third prototype - Gift XVI Party Congress aircraft

On the third prototype - the aircraft “Gift to the XVI Party Congress” - a Soviet high-altitude engine “motor fifteen” M-15 (2-M15) designed by Soviet engineers A. A. Bessonov and N. P. Ostrovsky was installed. The aircraft engine was a deep modification of the American Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engine.

The third plane was different from the first two by the engine hood, which completely covered the engine cylinders. The first flight of the third prototype - the aircraft “Gift to the XVI Party Congress” took place on July 1, 1930.

The prototypes did not have wheel fairings, which were later equipped with serial cars.

In August-September 1930, an installation military series was released - 7 I-5 combat fighters.

Since the plant number 21 , where the serial production of the I-5 fighter was planned, was only under construction, mass production was only begun at the end of 1932.

A variant of the experimental aircraft with the M-15 engine did not find application.

Soviet-made aircraft engine M-22 with a capacity of 480 liters was installed on production vehicles. from.

The main series of fighters was armed with two synchronous Soviet-made machine guns “air machine gun” PV-1 with ammunition of 1,200 rounds.

When installing underwing bomb racks, the I-5 fighter could carry up to 40 kg of aerial bombs.

On ten serial I-5 aircraft, 4 PV-1 machine guns with ammunition of 4,000 rounds were installed.

On August 1, 1933, the I-5 was the most expensive Soviet fighter and cost 56.4 thousand rubles, compared with 38.5 - I-4 and 50 - I-7 ^[1] .

• I-5 UTI-1 training - the cockpit is moved forward and a second seat with control for the understudy is installed behind it. It was converted from an ordinary production aircraft into a training double in 1934. In a series of 20 cars for educational needs.
• I-5 bis is an improved version of I-5. State tests did not pass, however, many of the improvements proposed in this modification were introduced on the serial I-5 without changing the name of the aircraft.

The light maneuverable fighter and a half-plane I-5 was in service with the USSR Air Force from 1932 to 1939 . Some I-5s were used in aviation clubs to train future pilots.

With the outbreak of World War II on the Soviet-German Eastern Front in 1941 in the combat units of the RKKF, there was an acute shortage of aircraft due to their high losses. As a result, several I-5 aircraft were used as a light attack aircraft and night bomber. Obsolete aircraft were also sent from flight schools to combat units to replenish the Red Army Air Force fleet.

The light maneuverable fighter I-5 took part in battles as part of units: in the 11th aviation regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, in the 2nd assault regiment of the Air Force 5 OA - in Crimea from October 1941 to January 1942; in 604 and 605 fighter regiments - was used for attack flights until January 1942. ^[2] . According to the memoirs of Air Marshal S. I. Rudenko, in 1941 the aircraft was used on the Soviet-German front as part of night bomber regiments ^[3] .

Single one and a half wing with lower wing shorter than upper.

It had a fixed gear in flight and a tail support - a C-shaped crutch.

The design of the airframe is mixed: the fuselage is trussed, welded from steel pipes as well as the engine frame. The shape of the airframe was created with an easy set of duralumin frames and stringers that support linen tight.

A frame with two wheels is attached to the bottom of the fuselage. Wheels of bicycle type with spokes or plates with a rubber rim.

The design of the landing gear and the tail crutch allow the aircraft to take off and land on hard ground. In winter, it is possible to replace the wheels with skis and take off and landing on a shallow snow cover.

Skis are wooden, compound glued, free rolling in the longitudinal plane, removable.

Wings - two-spar; rack box wings - dural drop-shaped pipes. Plumage - duralumin with linen tight.

Screw wooden pulling two-blade fixed fixed pitch.

Due to the use of combined lightweight materials, the weight of the structure was reduced, and the sheathing imparted good aerodynamic qualities to the airframe in flight.

Given the shortage of aluminum in the USSR, the design of the aircraft was simple and inexpensive to manufacture and repairable in the field. However, these same qualities worsened the survivability of the aircraft in battle and led to high losses of military vehicles in the air.

Specifications

• Crew : 1
• Length : 6.78 m
• Wing span : 10.24 m
• Height :
• Wing Area: 21.25 m²
• Curb weight: 934 kg
• Maximum take-off weight : 1355 kg
• Powerplant : 1 × PD M-22
• Engine power: 1 × 480 hp (1 × 358 kW)

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed: 278 km / h
• Practical range: 560 km
• Practical ceiling : 7500 m

Armament

• Shooting and cannon: 2/4 PV-1

• Hedgehog, Paul and Moeng, Sof Encyclopedia of Airplanes of the World ISBN 1-85605-705-4 ( Ede, Paul and Moeng, Soph - The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft )
• Stepphaser, Hans-Heiri Polikarpov fighters in action, part 1 ISBN 0-89747-343-4 . ( Stapfer, Hans-Heiri - Polikarpov Fighters in Action, Pt. 1 )

• Ivanov Vladimir. Serial modifications of the I-5 fighter (Russian) // Wings of the Motherland : magazine. - M. , 2003. - No. 10 . - S. 12-14 . - ISSN 0130-2701 .
• Kotelnikov Vladimir. "Old people" go into battle (Russian) // AviaMaster: magazine. - 2001. - No. 06 . - S. 27-37 .
• Maslov Michael. I-5 - combat biplane from the 1920s (Russian) // Wings: magazine. - 2011. - No. 2 (7) . - S. 28–47 .
• Maslov Michael. "Prison" fighter I-5 (Russian) // Aviation and Cosmonautics: journal. - 2013. - No. 10 . - S. 25-31 .

• I-5
• I-5 fighter (inaccessible link) (inaccessible link)
• USSR aircraft designation