Tupolev I-4
Role Fighter
National origin Soviet Union
Manufacturer Tupolev
Designer Pavel Sukhoi
First flight 1927
Retired 1933
Primary user Soviet Air Force
Number built 369

The Tupolev I-4 was a Soviet sesquiplane single-seat fighter. It was conceived in 1927 by Pavel Sukhoi as his first aircraft design for the Tupolev design bureau, and was the first Soviet all-metal fighter.

Design and development

After the first prototype (under the development name Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev fighter 5 | ANT-5), the I-4 was redesigned with a new engine cowling to decrease drag, with added rocket launchers on the upper wing and a larger tailfin. The lower wing was predominantly an attachment for the wing struts; it was almost removed in the second series, the I-4Z (where the lower wings were greatly shortened), and totally removed from the I-4bis, thus transforming the aircraft from a sesquiplane into a parasol-wing monoplane.

Operational history

The I-4 was used as a parasite fighter in experiments with the Tupolev TB-1 bomber. The aircraft was in Soviet service from 1928–1933. A total of 369 were built.[1]

Variants

  • ANT-5 : Prototype.
  • I-4 : Single-seat fighter aircraft.
  • I-4Z : Single-seat fighter with span of lower wings greatly reduced.
  • I-4bis : Monoplane version (lower wings totally removed).
  • I-4P : Floatplane version.

Operators

 Soviet Union

Specifications (I-4)

Data from

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 7.27 m (23 ft 10 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.42 m (37 ft 6 in)
  • Height: 2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
  • Wing area: 23.8 m2 (256 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 978 kg (2,156 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,430 kg (3,153 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov M-22 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 343 kW (460 hp) (Bristol Jupiter)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 257 km/h (160 mph, 139 kn)
  • Range: 524 km (326 mi, 283 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 7,655 m (25,115 ft)
  • Wing loading: 60 kg/m2 (12 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.25 kW/kg (0.15 hp/lb)

Armament

See also

Related lists

References

  1. ↑ "AKL-201611 AviaKollektsia 11 2016: Tupolev I-4 Soviet Fighter of the 1920s". modelgrad.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.

Bibliography

  • Lesnitchenko, Vladimir (November–December 1999). "Combat Composites: Soviet Use of 'Mother-ships' to Carry Fighters, 1939–1941". Air Enthusiast (84): 4–21. ISSN 0143-5450.
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