Belyayev DB-LK
DB-LK | |
---|---|
Role | Bomber |
National origin | USSR |
Manufacturer | |
Designer | |
First flight | 1940 |
Number built | 1 |
The DB-LK (Dahl'niy Bombardirovshchik-LK – long-range bomber–flying wing) was a bomber aircraft designed and built in the USSR in 1939.
Development[]
Viktor Nikolayevich Belyayev had an illustrious early career with TsAGI, , Aeroflot, , , and the Tupolev OKB. He also designed and built several gliders from 1920, including flying wing designs, and in 1934 he designed a transport aircraft with twin tail-booms each accommodating ten passengers.
Belyaev developed the twin boom idea into the twin-fuselage DB-LK, which had two short fuselages either side of a very long chord wing centre section, with the outer wing sections swept forward 5 deg 42 min, tapering at 7:1 out to raked back tips. A large fin and rudder on a short central boom, carried a small tailplane with very large elevators.
The airframe was of light alloy stressed skin construction with five spar wings covered with sheet aluminium alloy. Each fuselage pod carried a single M-88 engine in a long chord cowling, driving a three-bladed propeller, as well as a pilot/navigator cockpit and radio operator/gunner station in each of the extensively glazed tail-cones. The outer wings had slats, ailerons and 45deg , the raked tips also had small ailerons. The retractable undercarriage consisted of single main legs in the fuselage pods aft of the engines and a tail-wheel in the base of the fin.
Before flight trials began, the test pilot, , carried out many fast taxis to assess the handling of the unconventional DB-LK, one of which ended in an undercarriage collapse. Flight trials eventually got under way early in 1940 revealing an excellent performance, but with a high sensitivity to centre of gravity changes. Production was not authorised.
Specifications (DB-LK)[]
Data from Gunston, Bill. "Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995". London:Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Length: 9.78 m (32 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 21.6 m (70 ft 10.5 in)
- Height: 3.65 m (11 ft 11.75 in)
- Wing area: 56.87 m2 (612 sq ft)
- Airfoil: max speed
- Empty weight: 6,004 kg (13,236 lb)
- Gross weight: 10,672 kg (23,528 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × M-88 , 708.41 or 745.70 kW (950 or 1,000 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 488 km/h (303 mph, 263 kn)
- Range: 2,900 km (1,800 mi, 1,600 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 8,500 m (27,890 ft)
- Rate of climb: 6.15 m/s (1,210 ft/min)
Armament
- 4 × 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns; one pair to each tailcone.
- 2 × 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns; fixed, forward firing, in the wing centre section leading edge.
See also[]
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References[]
Sources[]
- Gunston, Bill. The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995 London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belyaev DB-LK. |
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