The Myasishchev VM-T ''Atlant'' (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: ''Мясищев ВМ-Т «Атлант»'' (
"Atlas"), with the "VM-T" ("BM-T") standing for
Vladimir MyasishchevTransport) was a variant of
Myasishchev
V. M. Myasishchev Experimental Design Bureau (Экспериментальный Машиностроительный Завод им. В. М. Мясищева) or OKB-23, founded in 1951 by MGB UdSSR Vladimir Myasishchev, was ...
's
M-4 ''Molot'' bomber (the "3M"), re-purposed as a
strategic-airlift airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spe ...
. The VM-T was modified to carry
rocket boosters and the
Soviet
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 national ...
space shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
s of the
''Buran'' program. It is also known as the 3M-T.
Design and development
The design was conceived in 1978 when Myasishchev was asked to solve the problem of transporting rockets and other large space vehicles to the
Baikonur Cosmodrome
''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur''
, image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg
, caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's " Gagarin's Start" Soyu ...
. Engineers used an old 3M (a modified M-4 bomber) and replaced the
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 ...
with
dihedralled horizontal stabilizer
A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...
s with large, rectangular end-plate
tailfins
The tailfin era of automobile styling encompassed the 1950s and 1960s, peaking between 1955 and 1961. It was a style that spread worldwide, as car designers picked up styling trends from the US automobile industry, where it was regarded as the ...
to accommodate payloads measuring as large as twice the diameter of the aircraft's
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
. A large, aerodynamically optimized cargo container, placed on top of the aircraft, would contain the freight. In addition, a new control system was added to the plane to compensate for the added weight.
The ''Atlant'' first flew in 1981 and made its first flight with cargo in January 1982.
[History and details about the VM-T Atlant]
/ref> Its main task was to ferry Energia
Energia or Energiya may refer to:
* Energia (corporation), or S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, a Russian design bureau and manufacturer
** Energia (rocket), a Soviet rocket designed by the company
*Energia (company), a company th ...
rocket boosters from their development plant to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On several occasions, the then-incomplete Soviet space shuttle '' Buran'' was piggybacked to the Cosmodrome as well.[
Two ''Atlant''s were built. They were replaced in 1989 by ]Antonov
Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни� ...
's An-225 ''Mriya''. One ''Atlant'' (RF-01502) is kept at the Zhukovsky International Airport
Zhukovsky , formerly (and still occasionally) known as Ramenskoye (russian: link=no, аэропорт Жуковский, аэродром Раменское) is an international airport, located in Moscow Oblast, Russia, southeast of central Mo ...
in Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
owned by TsAGI
The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...
and Gromov Flight Research Institute
The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short (russian: link=no, Лётно-исследовательский институт имени М. М. Громова, russian: link=no, ЛИИ) is an important Russian State Researc ...
, the other one (RA-01402) at Dyagilevo (air base) in Ryazan
Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...
.
0GT was the Buran spaceplane without tailplane and equipment, 1GT was the hydrogen tank of the Energia rocket, 2GT was the engine frame and front aerodynamic cover of Energia and 3GT was yhe oxygen tank of Energia. All configurations were equipped with aerodynamic cover to decrease the drag.
Specifications (VM-T)
See also
References
External links
History and details about the VM-T Atlant
Aviation.ru
VM-T stored at Dyagilevo AFB (google maps)
VM-T stored at Zhukovsky International Airport (google maps)
Specifications
{{Outsized cargo aircraft
Myasishchev aircraft
1980s Soviet cargo aircraft
Quadjets
Aircraft first flown in 1981
Aircraft related to spaceflight