Alekseyev I-218

Alekseyev I-218
Role	Attack
National origin	USSR
Manufacturer	Alekseyev
Designer	Semyon Mikhailovich Alekseyev
Number built	1

The I-218 was an attack aircraft designed and built in the USSR from 1947.

Development

Alekseyev designed the I-218 as a heavily armed, and armoured, attack aircraft for use in close support and anti-tank missions. The twin boom aircraft had a central nacelle housing the pilot and gunners cockpits as well as the engine and forward firing armament. All armoured and highly stressed parts were manufactured from 30KhGSNA nickel-steel. Flight testing may have commenced in 1948, but there is no direct evidence of this. Shortly after completion Alekseyev's OKB was closed and Alekseyev was sent to TsAGI (Tsentrahl'nyy Aerodinamicheskiy i Ghidrodinamicheskiy Institoot- central aerodynamics and hydrodynamics institute) before being given the task of supervising Dr. Brunholf Baade and his German team at OKB-1. The designation I-218 is in doubt and the aircraft may have been called, simply 218.

Variants

I-219 - (a.k.a. I-218-Ib) Tailwheel undercarriage, revised crew compartment and swept fins.
I-221 - (a.k.a. I-218-II) Enlarged jet-powered aircraft with one Lyulka TR-3 turbojet
I-220 - (a.k.a. I-218-III) The I-218-III powered with the Dobrynin VD-4 without turbo-chargers, driving pusher contra-props at the rear of the fuselage.

Specifications (I-218)

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 13.88 m (45 ft 6½ in)
Wingspan: 16.43 m (53 ft 10¾ in)
Wing area: 45 m² (484.4 ft²)
Gross weight: 9,000 kg (19,840 lb)
Powerplant: × Dobrynin VD-251, 1,491 kW (2,000 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 530 km/h (329 mph)
Service ceiling: 6,600 m (21,650 ft)
Rate of climb: 16.66666 m/s (3,280 ft/min)

Armament

2 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon, 1 each in remote-controlled barbettes fitted on the outside of each tail boom.
4 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon fixed in the lower forward fuselage.
1500 kg (3,307 lb) of bombs on under-fuselage pylons.
16 rockets carried under the outer wings.

References

Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
Gordon, Yefim. & Gunston, Bill “SovietX-Planes”. Hinkley, Midland. 2000. ISBN 1-85780-099-0

External links

http://issuu.com/jeanlulu/docs/-aviation--soviet-x-planes--yefim-gordon---bill-gu/39

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