“The first time ever I saw a jet, I shot it down.” - Chuck YeagerNationality: Soviet Union (Russia)
Year of Production: 1944 (concept), 1945 (produced)
Number built: 1
Weight (empty): 2.95 tons
Wingspan: 10.5 metres
Length: 8.5 metres
Height: 3.5 metres
Speed: 810 kph (including boost of 90-110 kph)
Engine: VK-107A petrol engine, developing 1650 hp. VRDK motorjet as 3-10 minute boost.
Armament: 1x 23 mm cannon, 2x 12.7 mm machine guns
Background: Alright, I'll admit that I forgot about VE Day, but I'll try to make up for it with this stubby little beauty. Anyway, moving on from myself being an idiot.
Near the end of World War 2 in Europe, strange new aircraft had begun to appear in the skies. Instead of using propellers, they had flame coming out the engines, and flew vastly faster then normal aircraft.
Yes, German technology had advanced far enough, from the V1 Buzz Bomb, from the V2 rockets, to the jet-engined aircraft, like the Messerschmitt Me 262 to be used on the front line. Clearly, this had to be stopped, and new aircraft built that could speed up, and catch these new planes, and shoot them down, lest they have unforeseen consequences on the war's progression.
Now, the nations of the world had their own types of rockets, from the Russian Katyusha, to the tank-busting English Typhoon, when equipped with rockets. But, surely, no propeller aircraft could be produced in time to even think of matching the speed of a jet that goes at 900 kph?
Not even by the Russians, that were marching towards their foe's lands, as part of the Great Patriotic War (The Russian term for World War 2)?
Why should I be afraid of it? And what was it for?
“Up there the world is divided into bastards and suckers. Make your choice.” - Derek Robinson, author of Piece of Cake.
It was designed to take on enemy jet fighters as a short term solution. That, by itself, is impressive.
This aircraft was conceived by a Russian company, O.P Sukhoi, as a single seat fighter, with a propeller as the main power source, and a jet engine to act as a booster, like when you press the inevitable button in a game to get a short term boost of speed.
One assumes that the document hit every single branch of the ugly tree on the way to Moscow, but that's alright. It probably isn't as ugly from the cockpit.
Anyway, the document was approved by the PCAI, which I have no idea what it stands for, probably something in Russian, and incorporated in the 1944 prototype development plan, where it got approved in May 1944.
By then, the aircraft was called the I-107, but was subsequently renamed to Su-5.
After some minor problems getting the bits delivered, the flights began in April 1945, and continued until the middle of June, where a minor problem, that being the engine breaking up, occurred while it was being flown. During the wait for a new engine, the aircraft was fitted with a new wing.
The engine arrived at the beginning of July, and as testing went on, the aircraft reached a speed of 793 kph at 4350 metres, 25 kph faster then estimated.
Testing continuing until mid-October, where the engine reached the end of it's service life, and no further engines incoming, with the ones being produced diverted to aircraft that were being produced.
In 1946, work was terminated on aircraft that had lost the edge, with the Su-5 being named one of them. By then, Russia was working on turbojets.
Unfortunately, even though it would have been interesting to see in action, especially with it's booster, the aircraft never got a chance to fire a shot in anger, nor to take on what it had been planned for, the early jet fighters.
Sources used:
Sukhoi Company – Airplanes – Museum – Su-5
Aviastar – Su-5 experimental interceptor
Sukhoi Su-5 – Wikipedia
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