soviet experimental aircraft

I was wondering where are all Soviet experimental aircraft???? In the late 1950s and early 1960s the U.S. were experimenting with a variety of aircraft. Just to name a few: X-15, XB-70, NASA lifting body concepts, X-18, ... There were really many of them.

But what were the Soviets doing at that time?? We know they had to be experimenting with helicopters (they must have been developing double rotor design), but nothing else is known.... Does ATS know any of Soviet X-planes of the time???

Sovietman, have a look for the two books illustrated below, thoroughly recommended.



and some of the planes you will see;











and of course many many more. Some are prototypes for fighters and bombers that went no further, some are experimental planes and some of the most fascinating of all are unbuilt projects, including a vectored thrust fighter that predates the Harrier by at least 15 years.

Here's one I know of:

Ye-152A, a two-engined interceptor version of the MiG-21. NATO name was Flipper.

Powered by two R-11F-300 engines each rated at 3900kg and 5740kg with afterburning, the Ye-152A was intended to carry the Uragan 5B radar accommodated in a large, fixed intake centrebody and a pair of MiG-developed K-9 (K-155) long-range beam-riding missiles. While the intake centrebody of the Ye-152A was non-translatable, the extreme forward fuselage with intake orifice was hydraulically movable, thus achieving the same effect as a fully-variable shock cone. The Ye-152A was overtaken by the R-15-powered Ye-152, and its flight test programme was terminated after 55 flights of which only two were made carrying K-9 AAMs.

Source

For a while the Ye152A was thought to be the MiG 23 (I have reference books that refer to it as such). In fact we thought that four different Russian planes were called MiG 23 in the 1960's, including this and the actual MiG 23 can you give the real names of the other two, anyone?

This prototype also bears close comparison with the original Chinese J-8, before the 1980's makeover resulted in the J-8-II.

Just in case anyone is wondering, the bottom picture in my post with the missiles is not the Ye 152A, similar though, isn't it?

[edit on 7-1-2009 by waynos]

didn't i hear in passing some where----a lot of the experimentalsw in all countrtiers were dismasntled and recycled,,,,the metal at least,,, to make new planes

it's a shame,, when i think about it,,,,,all that "history" gone

look how cherished prototypes are in the car industry

brings to mind the chrysler turbine cars----which are now highly sought after

many of them were chrushed as well,,, it made me cry,,,, there's a youtube clip as they load them into the smasher/chrusher

Very nice, thanks. I'll try to get those two books waynos and that source of Darkpr0 is useful as well. Does anybody have more online sources, because I really tried to find such sites on google, but couldn't.....

Links appreciated

Edit: waynos, can I really trust those two books? Because I want only sources I can trust. I was looking at Amazon.com and there are also American secret projects and British secret projects and they seem to be like AWST or someting like that.... That they just sold stories that are not true, but sound good.....

[edit on 7/1/2009 by sovietman]

Originally posted by waynos
In fact we thought that four different Russian planes were called MiG 23 in the 1960's, including this and the actual MiG 23 can you give the real names of the other two, anyone?

I believe that one of the two is the Ye-2A which was tentatively called MiG-23 for a few pre-production aircraft. It was a Swept-wing (instead of Delta-wing) competitor against the Ye-4 and Ye-5.


Image Source

I got nothing on number 2. Maybe later.

Just in case anyone is wondering, the bottom picture in my post with the missiles is not the Ye 152A, similar though, isn't it?

Only immediately visible difference is the cockpit. You've no idea how many of that picture I sifted through to find one of the dual-engined version .

Darkpr0, you are close enough with the Ye-2A, it was just the other way round, we thought the Ye-2A was the MiG 21 and the delta was the MiG 23, when in fact that was the MiG 21 all along. I even have a book that states the ' swept wing MiG 21 is in service with the Soviet air forces but the delta MiG 23 has not been put into production', oops!

The other one was the MiG 25, which we labelled MiG 23 in our complete ignorance of the VG fighter we now know so well.

Sovietman, I have all the 'Secret Projects' books (4 British, 3 German, 2 Soviet, 1 American and another on flying saucer projects, so far) and have found them to be excellent, in what way did you find the British and American volumes to be untrue?

Darkpr0, you are close enough with the Ye-2A, it was just the other way round, we thought the Ye-2A was the MiG 21 and the delta was the MiG 23, when in fact that was the MiG 21 all along. I even have a book that states the ' swept wing MiG 21 is in service with the Soviet air forces but the delta MiG 23 has not been put into production', oops!

The other one was the MiG 25, which we labelled MiG 23 in our complete ignorance of the VG fighter we now know so well.

Sovietman, I have all the 'Secret Projects' books (4 British, 3 German, 2 Soviet, 1 American and another on flying saucer projects, so far) and have found them to be excellent, in what way did you find the British and American volumes to be untrue?

I didn't find them untrue yet, because I don't have them yet. I'm just asking, because the picture on the front side of british secret projects seems a bit untrue... I doubt England ever had such airplane... And There are only artist impressions on thr front sides, no real pics.... I just made such coclusion and please correct me if I'm wrong.

Heres one for you

Myasishchev M-50 bomber

and another link

Aerospace webs

Looks like something out a Thunderbirds film

Ah, I see.

Don't worry, they are all absolutely real, but they are secret projects which in many cases were never built, but that doesn't mean they were not serious programmes properly designed and researched and technically sound, these books include a mixture of prototypes, research aircraft and unbuilt designs to give an overall picture of the aerospace scene at the time, often showing the evolution of an aircraft, for example the cover of the British Jet Bombers volume shows the original Avro 698 from 1947, which evolved into the Vulcan, as if it had been built unchanged. By contrast the Jet Fighters volume cover shows the Fairey Delta III, a mach 2.5+ Interceptor evolved from the record breaking Delta II which was the first plane in the world to set a speed record over 1,000mph, but which was scrapped by the disastrous 1957 Defence White Paper (a story in itself!).

The 'Fighters and Bombers since 1935' volume shows the 1942 Vickers bomber that was equivalent to the B-36 and designed to be capable of bombing Japan, but which was not pursued because of the pressing need for existing types and the fact that America was building the B-36 anyway.

The Hypersonics volume shows shows a 1960's high speed research airframe intended as a launch platform for satellites. I'm not sure which one you saw, but they were real in as much as their parent company was developing them until stopped for whatever reason (generally cost!)

These books give a fascinating view of how aircraft we are familiar with evolved (for instance the design stages of the MiG 25 in the Soviet Jet Fighters volume) or of the directions that aircraft design might have gone, but didn't, or never really could have (an RAF mach 5 troop carrier that makes concorde look like the Mirage III for instance!)

If you want to to see the thought processes of the aircraft designers, Like how MiG seemingly produced endless variations between the MiG 19 and 21 before settling on the design we know, or see how the ambitions of the designers far outstripped the purse strings of the govt or company you will do no better than these books

Very interesting. Waynos I'll try to get those books then But as I was searching on those links you posted, I came to the (sad) conclusion, that Soviets were improving technologies and so on (which is important of course), but never came up with a radical new solution (like SR-71, which was decades ahead, XB-70, ...). I never wanted to say that soviets were behind americans in any field of engineering (some times they were, sometimes not), but it seems that in that particular period they really weren't so innovative... Or all those projects just weren't made public yet...?

Like I said, you need to see the books, I already mentioned a VTOL fighter from 1946-47, The top photo in my first post (apart from the covers) shows the Sukhoi Su-17, this was a supersonic fighter that was completed in 1949, several years ahead of the F-100 Super Sabre, only uncle Joe himself snatched that prize away from Russia following his major spat with P O Sukhoi before it could be flown.

there are several projects in there that will astonish you

i have a book i found thrown in the street. ill tell you when i get on the next time. anything soviet in it

A book thrown in the street??? Blasphemy!!

yea whoever threw it in really didnt give a damn about planes.im thinkin i lost it.

I just love the soviet aircraft engineering, the lines are so straight and so different to the US made fighters/bombers.

Originally posted by mazzroth
I just love the soviet aircraft engineering, the lines are so straight and so different to the US made fighters/bombers.

yeah, me to, but sadly so little is known, compared to the U.S. aircraft engineering. Especially about aircraft which never entered service...

there are hundreds. and a lot of migs that look like the fishbed