Aleksandrov-Kalinin AK-1
The Alexandrov Kalinin AK -1 with the nickname Latvian Sagittarius (Russian Латышский стрелок ) was the first built and used in the Soviet Union airliner. However, there was only one copy.
History
The development of the AK -1 was carried out at the request of the Scientific Committee of the Air Force and the headquarters of the Air Force, which provided the financial means. It was hoped that by the types of evidence on the use of wings with thick profile in practice, and thus to obtain confirmation of previous calculation procedure. To set standards in the Soviet passenger aircraft for the future, the project work has been carefully carried out, the materials used have been subjected to extensive tests and analyzes the results. To this end, the building was also in TsAGI, the Scientific Experimental Center of Aviation, done.
The main reason for the construction drew Vladimir Alexandrov. The calculations led by Vladimir Kalinin together with Alexei Tscherjomuchin.
The construction phase lasted from April to November 1923 and was carried out in the factory GAS No. 5 " Samoljot " (airplane). The first flight took place in February 1924, the actual flight testing began on March 8 and was carried out by TsAGI test pilot A. I. Tomaschewski. After their successful completion in mid-June was the AK -1 approval for their aviation-specific tasks and opened in service of Dobrolet on 15 July 1924, the airline Moscow -Kazan. There she completed 23 flights and thereby lay back more than 11,000 kilometers.
To prominence came the guy when he overcame along with five other Soviet machine- a first flight from Moscow to Beijing over a distance of 7000 km. This Far Eastern flight took place from 10 June to 17 July 1925 and was completed in several intermediate stages. The AK -1 was awarded an additional 100 -liter fuel tank.
On August 16, 1925 roamed the AK -1 at the start of a tree and crashed.
Technical structure
The cell of the AK -1 consisted of a wooden frame with fabric covering, in the engine area of steel tubes with Sperrholzbeplankung.
The attached in high-wing design abgestrebte wing had a trapezoidal plan with Göttingen profile 436 at the beginning and 428 at the end and at the strut attachment points a thickness of twelve percent. Spars and ribs were made of wood with linen fabric. The braces were made Koltschug aluminum. The two fuel tanks were located above and behind the passenger cabin.
The chassis consisted of two connected by an axle main wheels with rubber suspension and a tail skid of wood, it was rigid and non- retractable. During the flight test, the wheels have been replaced by runners.
The passenger cabin was comfortable lined and even housed a plush sofa and curtains on the windows.