Yak-28 - Soviet multipurpose combat aircraft
The Yak-28 was made according to the aerodynamic design of a free-standing high-wing. The wing of the aircraft was swept. The aircraft was equipped with a "bicycle" type landing gear with 2 additional supports, which were located at the wingtips. The power plant of the machine consisted of two turbojet engines R-11-300 of various modifications, which were located in the nacelles under the wings. The fuel supply was located in six fuel tanks, 2 more outboard tanks could be installed under the wing. The Yak-28 could carry bombs of caliber from 100 to 1500 kg, which were fixed in the internal bomb bay. The defensive armament of the aircraft included a 23 mm aviation the NR-23 cannon (50 rounds of ammunition), in 1964 it was replaced by the new GSh-23Y double-barreled cannon.
In the 1960, the Yak-28P double supersonic interceptor was also created on the basis of the Yak-28, which was designed to counter air targets at medium and low altitudes in a large speed range at any time of day in all weather conditions. On this version of the aircraft, the K-8М-1 modified weapon system was installed, which consisted of the Р-2М-8 X-equipped missiles equipped with semi-active radar and thermal guidance heads, launchers and the Orel-D radar. The guns on this version of the aircraft were not set. In comparison with the Su-1 interceptor adopted in 1958 by aircraft, this system was more sophisticated and allowed launching missiles at a significantly greater distance from the target.
With the arrival of the first aircraft in the combat units, significant deviations of the operating parameters of the aircraft’s weapons systems from those declared by the manufacturer were identified. Another serious defect was the mass occurrence of cracks in the aircraft, including on the power elements of the Yak-28 design. And if it was possible to figure out the cracks quickly enough: a cycle of advanced life tests was carried out, and corresponding bulletins were prepared with recommendations for operation. That with bringing to the mind of the existing control system of weapons had to tinker and conduct special research. The accuracy of bombing when using supersonic speeds in combat units was so low that it was not even about hitting the target, but at least about hitting the landfill.
As a result, it turned out that the low accuracy of the bombing was associated not only with the characteristics of the equipment (including the delay of the electronic tracking device), but also with the flight conditions, as well as the aerodynamics of the bombs. Over time, the effectiveness of the bombing of the Yak-28 managed to pull up to the requirements of the Air Force, although the multi-purpose aircraft could not get rid of a number of restrictions that were associated with the use of weapons.
It is worth noting that various defects in the design of the aircraft made themselves felt during the entire period of its service, so the car was continuously refined. Thus, the freezing of the rotating antennas of the PKK was corrected by sealing up the vertical tail and hatches, and the asynchronous release of flaps was corrected by using a more powerful hydraulic drive. In order to reduce the length of run and run on the Yak-28, special powder starting accelerators were installed, and the rear landing gear was made “squatted”. At the same time, the front landing gear was equipped with brake wheels and a brake parachute release machine was inserted (the parachute worked at the moment when a special bar lowered from under the tail section of the Yak-28 touched the ground).
In addition, quite extensive studies of the spinning characteristics of the machine were carried out, although here the results were worse than planned. It was possible to establish that the Yak-28 may come out of a corkscrew with a delay in the 2-3 coil, and is also prone to changing the direction of rotation. At the same time, the loss of height, taking into account the subsequent dive, was 8 000 meters. Therefore, in the flight manual of the aircraft it was stated that when the aircraft did not leave the corkscrew to the height of 4 000 meters, the pilots needed to leave the aircraft. It was also considered inappropriate to perform on the Yak-28 a corkscrew for educational purposes.
At first, the Yak-28 caused some distrust among the pilots. Difficulties were caused by frequent engine failures and a stabilizer (there was always the danger of forgetting to rearrange it). At the same time, the problem of suction of foreign objects from the ground, which had appeared on the Yak-25, was not fully resolved and could present the most unpleasant surprises. To parry the Yak-28 reversal in case of engine failure, an instrument was installed on the plane — the AK-2А course automatic, which often provoked them instead of preventing catastrophes when giving out “false failures”, suddenly turning the rudder to the side.
In such a situation, it was very difficult to overpower the foot control, and in the event that a “false refusal” occurred on takeoff, there were too few chances for a successful resolution of the situation. In addition, in piloting a certain difficulty in mastering the landing of the aircraft on the rear support or on the 2 points was annoying, since the parking angle of the aircraft was quite large, as well as the severity of maintaining the glide path. When landing on the first pillar, the plane began to "goat".
Despite all this, the car was relatively uncomplicated in piloting, and as it was mastered in parts, the distrust of the aircraft disappeared. The geography of the use of the Yak-28 looks very impressive, on the map of the USSR it would be difficult to find a region where these planes were not operated. The bomber regiments that switched to the IL-28 continued to carry out their previous tasks on the Yak-28, including delivering to the tactical nuclear target weapons. The jammers were engaged in covering front-line aviation, and reconnaissance regiments were to act in the interests of the front commanders in the event of war. It was these parts that were supposed to work most intensively. Their tasks included the detection of anti-aircraft and ballistic missiles, command posts, operational reserves, communications centers and rear communications of a potential enemy. In peacetime, these aircraft were used for radio intelligence along the countries of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR.
For its time, the Yak-28 had a significant combat load, as well as good maneuverability at maximum speed and afterburner and good thrust-weight ratio. All these qualities made it possible to start working out group actions in the composition, up to and including the division, in any weather conditions and at any time of the day. The combat training of the pilots was carried out extremely intensively, and the crews of the Yak-28 managed to achieve sufficiently high results in precision bombing from a height of 12 000 meters, these heights remained the main method of combat use of these machines.
The disadvantage of the aircraft was considered only a short range when using supersonic. At the same time, reconnaissance aircraft demonstrated their superiority over the MiG-21Р in versatility, and even later Su-24MP, which had “raw” reconnaissance equipment complexes, surpassed in reliability. Even the transition to the actions of aviation, predominantly from low altitudes, did not lead to the loss of combat capability of the Yak-28. Crews of reconnaissance aircraft and bombers were able to work out appropriate methods, guided by which they quite confidently felt themselves flying on the ground and were able to cope with the tasks assigned.
Interesting Facts
1. Quite interesting is the fact that, despite the fairly large number of vehicles produced and operated in combat units, the aircraft was not officially accepted for service.
2. It was on the Yak-28 that Captain Boris Kapustin and Senior Lieutenant Yury Yanov made their feat. 6 of April 1966 of the year at the cost of their lives were able to divert the aircraft from the failed engines from the residential areas of Berlin. Posthumously, the heroes were awarded the Order of the Red Banner in the USSR, and the song “The Great Sky” was written about their feat by Robert Rozhdestvensky. The plane fell into the lake in the area of responsibility of the UK, the bodies of the pilots, along with the debris were raised by British military divers. In this case, the British were able to remove from the aircraft the radar "Orel-D", which subsequently underwent a comprehensive study.
3. The Yak-28 front bomber did not take part in any hostilities. During the entry of the Warsaw Pact into Czechoslovakia, it was used only as a demonstration of force argument. At the same time, these aircraft still had to use weapons. Bombers from the 668 BAP in Tukums were used to suppress the insurrection at BOD Watchdog, the uprising on which 8 of November 1975 of the year was raised by the political officer of the vessel Valery Sablin.
On the morning of November 9, the 10 Yak-28 set off from Tukums, having the order to destroy the rebellious ship at the exit of the Irben Strait. Due to adverse weather conditions in a given area, only one crew of Lieutenant Colonel Porotikov, who headed the group, could find the target. Bombs FAB-250, which fell in the stern "Watchdog", managed to deprive the ship speed. Another departing Yak-28 bombed the Soviet dry-cargo ship heading for Finland, luckily escaping the victims. The third Yak-28 went on the boat of the Commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, but the crew of the aircraft realized the mistake on time. It is not worth making ironies in this situation, since it is necessary to note the nervous situation at all levels of management, as well as the psychological complexity of the task set before the crews.
Performance characteristics of the Yak-28:
Dimensions: wingspan - 11,78 m., Length - 20,02 m., Height - 4,3 m.
Wing area - 35,25 square. m
Aircraft weight, kg
- normal takeoff - 16 160;
- Maximum take-off - 18 080;
Engine type - 2 TRD P-11АФ2-300, maximum thrust 2х6100 kgf.
Maximum speed - 1 850 km / h;
Practical range - 2 070 km.
Practical ceiling - 14 500 m.
Crew - 2 man.
Armament: Gun: 1 × 23 mm НР-23 (hereinafter 2 × 23 mm ГШ-23Я)
Bomb: normal bomb load - 1200 kg., Maximum - 3000 kg.
Information sources:
- http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bomber/yak28.html
- http://www.opoccuu.com/yak-28.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/
Aircraft Yak-28. Piloting Technique (1962)
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