Grigorovich I-Z
Fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s
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The Grigorovich I-Z was a fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Advances in aircraft survivability thanks to all-metal construction and self-sealing and inert gas-filled fuel tanks led to experimentation with large-caliber weapons to shoot them down. In Soviet Union, Leonid Kurchevsky developed a series of recoilless rifles in various calibers and in 1930 was decided to adapt the 76.2 mm (3 in) weapons for aircraft use.[1]
| I-Z | |
|---|---|
| |
| General information | |
| Type | Fighter |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Manufacturer | Grigorovich |
| Primary user | Soviet Air Force |
| Number built | 73 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1931 |
Design and development
The Grigorovich I-Z was a conventional strut-braced monoplane with fixed landing gear. A pair of Kurchevsky APK (APK - Aviatsionnaya Pushka Kurchevsky - aircraft cannon Kurchevsky) rifles were mounted under the wings outside the propeller arc and the rear fuselage and tail assembly were of reinforced metal construction to withstand the blast. A single small-caliber synchronized machine gun in the left fuselage was added to aid the pilot in aiming.[1]
The project began in 1930. Two prototypes were built, the first flying in mid-1931. The second strengthened I-Zbis flew at the beginning of the following year. These were followed by 21 examples fitted with the Shvetsov M-22 ordered as evaluation aircraft and 50 production machines.[2] By the time this last batch was being delivered, however, it was already apparent that the concept of a "single-shot" fighter was flawed and the I-Zs that had been built were relegated to various testing roles. One such role was as a parasite fighter in the Zveno project.
Operators
Specifications (I-Z)
Data from Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR do 1938 [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 7.65 m (25 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 19.5 m2 (210 sq ft)
- Airfoil: Göttingen 436[3]
- Empty weight: 1,180 kg (2,601 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,648 kg (3,633 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov M-22 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 358 kW (480 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 259 km/h (161 mph, 140 kn)
- Range: 600 km (370 mi, 320 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 7,000 m (23,000 ft)
- Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 14 minutes
- Wing loading: 85 kg/m2 (17 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.22 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)
- Horizontal turn time: 17 seconds
Armament
- Guns:
- 1×7.62 mm (0.3 in) PV-1 machine gun
- 2×76.2 mm (3 in) single-shot Kurchevsky APK recoilless rifles
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
