The Sukhoi Su-5 or I-107 was a
Soviet mixed-power (propeller and
motorjet) prototype fighter aircraft built toward the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Development
The appearance of the German
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, ...
-powered
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Procellariidae, Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produc ...
near the end of World War II prompted the Soviet Union to develop faster fighter aircraft. Since the USSR lacked a production-ready turbojet engine, development efforts were directed toward mixed-power aircraft utilizing a conventional piston engine-driven propeller for the majority of propulsion with a small rocket or jet engine for bursts of speed.
The Su-5 (initially I-107) and the conceptually similar
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 were designed in 1944. The aircraft first flew on 6 April 1945 and underwent limited flight testing. It was subsequently fitted with a
laminar flow wing and attained 793 km/h (428 kn, 493 mph) at 4,350 m (14,270 ft) with the motorjet functioning.
On 15 June 1945, the
Klimov VK-107A piston engine was damaged beyond repair in flight. Following acquisition of another VK-107A, flight testing continued until 18 October when the engine reached the end of its service life. No further VK-107As could be procured and the project was canceled.
The Su-5 was a conventional
monoplane of all-metal construction. The VRDK (russian: Воздушно-Реактивный Двигатель Компрессорный) motorjet in the rear of the fuselage was powered by a driveshaft from the VK-107 piston engine and could provide an additional 100 km/h (54 kn, 62 mph) of speed for three minutes.
Specifications (Su-5)
See also
References
{{Sukhoi aircraft
Mixed-power aircraft
Motorjet-powered aircraft
1940s Soviet fighter aircraft
Su-05
Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union
Aircraft first flown in 1945