A-1 (aka Antonov A-1) is a single-seat training glider produced in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s. The glider also produced in Turkey by THK and MKE, and in Finland by PIK and some other manufacturers.

Development

A-1 design derived from the Standard-2 (Стандарт-2), designed and flown by Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov in 1930,Sheremetev 1959, 20 which in turn was derived from the Standard-1.Krasil'shchikov 1991, 145 They were produced in large numbers, with around 5,400 built of the U-s3, U-s4 and P-s2 major versions alone.Central Museum of the Air Force The same design formed the basis for the Antonov A-2 and its related group of two-seat designs. Altogether, including the two-seaters, production exceeded 7,600 by 1937.Krasil'shchikov 1991, 143 While members of the family varied in detail, they shared the same basic design, and parts were interchangeable between them.Shushurin 1938, 13 The design featured a typical primary glider layout with a conventional

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

carried at the end of a long boom in place of a conventional

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

. The boom could be folded sideways for storage.Shushurin 1938, 16 The monoplane wing was carried high on a pylon above this "keel" and was further braced to it with two struts on either side.Sheremetev 1959, 21–22 The pilot sat in front of the wing, and was enclosed in a simple U-shaped wooden fairing that was removed by sliding it forward to allow him or her to enter and leave the aircraft.Sheremetev 1959, 40 The undercarriage consisted of a single skid underneath the "keel", but this could also be fitted with small wooden wheels.Sheremetev 1959, 42 While the original primary training versions (designated У, 'U') featured wings of constant chord, subsequent variants designed for soaring flight (designated П, 'P') had longer-span wings with tapering outer panels and a streamlined nose fairing.Krasil'shchikov 1991, 146 The ultimate development in the line were gliders intended for towed flight (designated Б, 'B), which shared the longer wings and streamlined fairing of the P-types, but added a canopy to enclose the cockpit. Unlicensed (Licensed, according to some other sources) copies of A-1 and A-2 were produced in Turkey following World War II by using reverse engineering of Ps-4: Kayseri Tayyare Fabrikasi produced at least 11 copies of Ps-4. THK and Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKE, MKEK) produced dozens of the THK-4 (A-1, U-s4), THK-7 (A-2, P-s2) and MKEK-6 (A-2, P-s2), which was used for Turkish military pilots training.Deniz 2004 During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, Finns captured few gliders and drawings of Ps-4 in Äänislinna, which then used by

Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho (PIK) is the student flying club of the Aalto University. As well as a flying club, it develops light aircraft and gliders, often on a small scale but sometimes its designs have been produced in quantity. Approximately ...

to produce its clones and modifications under the names of Harakka I and Harakka II (aka PIK-7, an improved variant of Harakka I) for Finnish pilots training and research purposes.

Variants

In each case, the "s" stands for ''serii'' (серии: 'series')

Prototypes

:Standard-1 (Стандарт-1) :Standard-2 (Стандарт-2)

Trainers

''Uchebnyi'' (Учебный, 'Trainer') :U-s1 (У-с1) :U-s2 (У-с2) (First version built in series) :U-s3 (У-с3) (1,600 built) :U-s4 (У-с4) (Redesignated A-1, major production version. 3000 built)

Sailplanes

''Paritel'' (Паритель, 'Sailplane'), also ''Upar'' (Упар, portmanteau of учебный паритель, ''uchebnyi paritel'', 'training sailplane') (800 built) :P-s1 (П-с1) :P-s2 (П-с2)

Towed

''Buksirovochnye'' (Буксировочные, 'Towed') (265 built by 1937) :B-s3 (Б-с3) :B-s4 (Б-с4) :B-s5 (Б-с5)

Specifications (A-1)

Notes

References

* * * * * {{MKEK aircraft 1930s Soviet sailplanes Glider aircraft A-01 Aircraft first flown in 1930 High-wing aircraft