The MDR-3 (a.k.a.11) was a long-range flying boat designed and built in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

from 1931.

Development

In 1931, Chyetverikov was commissioned to design a new long-range flying boat for MA (''Morskaya Aviatsiya'' – naval aviation). Chyetverikov used few new parts, borrowing wings, tailplane and engine nacelles (mounted above the wing) from the

Grigorovich TB-5 The Grigorovich TB-5 (russian: Григорович ТБ-5) was an experimental heavy bomber designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Designed as a competitor for the Tupolev TB-3, the TB-5 was intended to be powered by two FED ...

and a scaled-up Grigorovich ROM-2 fuselage. The use of ready designed or built components led to quick construction of the prototype which was ready for flight tests in Dec 1931. These commenced in January 1932 after the aircraft was transported to

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. Despite fast construction and excellent structural qualities, results of the flight tests were disappointing. Takeoff time was 36 seconds, climb rate less than a metre per second and the ceiling was only 2,200m. As a result project was transferred to KOSOS (''Konstrooktorskiy Otdel Sektora Opytnovo Stroitel'stva'' – section of experimental aeroplane construction), as there was a lack of faith in Chyetverikov's abilities to rectify the poor performance. The MDR-3 became the basis of the ANT-27, MDR-4 and MTB-1.

Specifications (MDR-3)

References

* Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. * Taylor, Michael J.H. . “ Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. Studio Editions. London. 1989. {{Soviet scout designations 1930s Soviet patrol aircraft Flying boats MDR-3 High-wing aircraft Four-engined push-pull aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936 Twin-tail aircraft

Development

Specifications (MDR-3)

See also

References