The Anatra DE was a three-engined prototype Russian medium bomber of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
The biplane bomber was designed to hold four people. It was planned to use three engines to reach its target, then return using only one engine, having been lightened after dropping its payload. There was a single 140 hp Salmson engine at the front of the fuselage, and an 80 hp Le Rhône engine on each wing, which turned propellers attached to the rear of the engine, behind the wing. These engines were placed in a
pusher configuration
In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...
, and each wing also had a gun turret one each engine nacelle. In total, the aircraft had three guns, and could carry 400 kg of bombs. The only prototype that was built, weighing 327 kg more than expected, first flew on June 23, 1916. During testing, however, the fuselage and rear propellers became damaged when a tail skid broke, and it became evident that the design needed to be changed; the project was then abandoned.
Specifications
Notes
References
*(In French) V.B. Shavrov, Histoire de la construction aéronautique en URSS.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anatra De
1910s Russian bomber aircraft
Three-engined push-pull aircraft
DE
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1916
Rotary-engined aircraft
Three-engined piston aircraft
Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear