Tupolev ANT-3
The Soviet Tupolev R-3 (Russian Туполев Р -3) developed in the mid -1920s and was designed as sesquiplane. It was the first series-produced all-metal aircraft of Andrei Tupolev, the development team was still subordinate to that time the TsAGI. The factory designation was ANT- third
History
The first experiences with planes of metal had already collected his ANT -2, which was prepared in a mixed wood / aluminum construction Tupolev. To her he was based in the construction of the R- 3, the development contract was awarded in 1924. The first prototype was an American Liberty L -12 engine; their factory testing was performed by the test pilots W. N. Filippov in July / August 1925. The subsequent state testing was in the hands of M. M. Gromov and brought to light some shortcomings. Therefore, some minor changes have been made for the planned series production; The most obvious was the nunmehrige using K - place of the N- struts to connect the upper with the lower wings.
As of May 1926, the machine as an R- 3 (" Raswedtschik " = reconnaissance ) was placed in the air forces in two versions in service. From the first 30 pieces were produced and equipped with the M- 5 engine, a licensed version of the Liberty engine. The second was a much more powerful French Lorraine -Dietrich engine and the designation R- 3LD. Of this group 79 were built.
In addition to its original use as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft was the R-3 yet been tested as a ground attack aircraft with a 400 kg heavy armor as well as to their suitability for a dive bomber. The purpose carried out with their experiments were the first of their kind in the USSR. Another test machine was tested with a BMW -VI - drive, but could not prevail.
Overall, only about 110 aircraft were built, as the precarious engine situation in the Soviet Union (it was then dependent on foreign supplies since the own engines were not powerful enough ) batch production severely handicapped.
For propaganda reasons, some series units were equipped with the English Napier Lion engine in December 1925. With such as " Пролетарий " ( Proletari, German: "Workers " ) designated aircraft led Michael Gromov and his flight engineer J. Rodsewitsch from August 31 to September 2, 1926 a European flight with the stations Moscow - Kaliningrad -Berlin- Paris - Rome - Vienna -Warsaw - Moscow by. He oriented be guided solely by the compass and put back 7150 km with an average speed of 202.8 km / h in 34.15 hours.
Another long-distance flight was ( otwet Nash, German: " Our response " ) of the R -3 " Наш ответ " completed with M-5 - drive from August 20 to September 1, 1927. He led east from Moscow by the Soviet Union to Korea and Japan. The pilot Semyon A. Shestakov and his flight engineer Dima Fufajew laid back 22,000 km and there were a total of 153 hours in the air. The return flight was completed in ten days.
Technical Description
The R-3 was composed entirely of duralumin. Was in the front section of the fuselage is oval in cross -section and run back from rectangular. The two braced wings were clad with corrugated iron, composed of Duralrippen and had two main spars. The upper wing was attached to the hull. The tail unit was configured in normal construction and had a abgestrebtes tailplane. The axis of the rigid main landing gear was divided, at the rear there was a tail skid. In winter, the replacement of the wheels and the spur on skis was possible.