Brunolf Baade's red-starred Junkers
For those who were born and raised in the Soviet Union, for whom books and films about the Great Patriotic War became the most important source of knowledge in forming the foundations of patriotism and understanding the great feat of the Soviet people, awareness of the grandiose historical events related to World War II, there are words that evoke specific associations and are associated with certain events or objects.
"Red Star, PPSh, Katyusha, sorokopyatka, T-34, Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Ilyushin, Petlyakov" - you immediately want to say: "Ours"!
"Swastika, Schmeisser, Tiger, Panther, Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf, Neinkel, Junkers" - it's immediately clear: Germans, fascists.
So imagine my surprise when I recently came across an article in the German magazine Flug Revue (Aviation review) under the controversial title: "Junkers bomber under the red star"!
The article turned out to be so interesting that I simply dove head-over-heels into the “wilds of the Internet” to find as much information on this topic as possible.
I would be happy to share this information with you, dear friends.
The birth of an idea
It was the end of 1942, when the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union was ending, when German aviation still dominated the air, but the German command was probably already beginning to realize that a turning point was about to occur in the course of the fierce confrontation both on the ground and in the air.
And despite the Luftwaffe's still-advantageous position, the military leadership of the Third Reich demanded that the best minds of German industry create weapons, with the help of which it would be possible not only to maintain this superiority, but also to make a leap in speed, altitude and range that would be unattainable for the enemy.
It was at the end of 1942 that SS-Sturmbannführer Wernher von Braun carried out the first successful launches missiles V-1 and V-2.
At the same time, work began on a new high-speed bomber project at the Junkers design bureau in Dessau, headed by Brunolf Baade. The challenge the German engineers set out to solve was not only daring but also bordered on the fantastical: to create a machine capable of flying at speeds unattainable by aircraft of the time, while maintaining an altitude and range no worse than similar Luftwaffe bombers.
And this could only be achieved through, as they would say today, “innovations, breakthrough technologies and revolutionary solutions.”
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG received an official order to build an aircraft with the type designation Ju 287 in December 1943.
It would seem, why should Baade be the one to handle the task?
Brunolf Baade, a brief biographical note
Karl Wilhelm Brunolf Baade was born on March 15, 1904 in the Berlin suburb of Neukölln into the family of an ordinary engineer.
In 1922, he successfully graduated from the Kaiser-Friedrich-Realgymnasium (Kanzler-Friedrich-Realgymnasium). He then attended the Technical University of Berlin and, while studying, worked at Deutsche Werft, a company co-founded by the Blohm & Voss concern.
After graduating from university, Baade focused on the aviation field.
According to Articles 198-202 of the fifth paragraph of the Treaty of Versailles, the production of military aircraft and their components in Germany was prohibited at that time, and Baade worked on the creation of gliders, and worked, it must be said, very successfully.
At the end of 1927, Baade received his pilot's license, and in 1928 he defended his dissertation and received a degree in mechanics.
From 1929 to 1930, he worked on a number of successful aviation projects at BFW – Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (Bavarian Aircraft Works), which later merged with Messerschmitt AG.
Over the years, directly participating in the creation of such aircraft as the BFW M.18, BFW M.20 and BFW M.24, Brunolf Baade acquired enormous experience as an engineer, designer and organizer.
In October 1936, he was invited to work for the Junkers company, and in 1937, Baade became a member of the NSDAP - Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party), which was headed by a certain Adolf Hitler.
Here, as they say, all doors opened for the talented engineer. During his years at Junkers, he participated in projects to create and further modernize the Ju 88, Ju 188, Ju 288, and Ju 388 bombers.
Junkers Chief Designer Ernst Zindel (right) and Haupttypenleiter Brunolf Baade discuss the Ju 288 project. Photo taken on 14 June 1941.
The Ju 88 was produced serially from 1939 to 1945. It underwent more than 25 major modifications.
The Ju 288 first flew in 1941, but due to problems with the new Jumo 222 engines, production was limited to prototypes. The aircraft never entered production.
The Ju 188, a further development of the Ju 88 design as both a bomber and a night fighter, was produced from 1943 to 1945.
The Ju 388 was a specialized high-speed, high-altitude, and most advanced version of the Ju 88. In addition to its use as a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, it was used to counter Allied bombers. Innovations included engines adapted for high-altitude operation and a pressurized cabin. It was in serial production from 1944 to 1945.
As a result, it was the head of the Junkers design bureau, a member of the Nazi party, and a devoted Aryan, Brunolf Baade, who received the task of creating the next element of the “wonder weapon” – a high-speed bomber.
His excellent engineering training, practical experience, ability to adapt to changing political and economic conditions, outstanding design skills and ability to lead and inspire the team of specialists under his supervision were the real basis for the success of the project.
This was exactly what the Third Reich's aviation industry demanded.
Ju 287 and its wing
Under wartime conditions, German engineers were forced to act quickly. Development of the new aircraft's aerodynamic design was entrusted to the Junkers aerodynamics department, led by Hans Wokke. Dozens of models with various configurations were tested in wind tunnels. The desire to achieve flight speeds of at least 800 km/h led the designers to use swept wings. Research was conducted with both forward-swept and forward-swept wings, abbreviated as KPS and KOS.
A drawback of the CPS was premature flow stall at its tips, leading to a loss of aileron effectiveness and a reduction in longitudinal stability. The KOS was free of such phenomena, but, as was later discovered, had other shortcomings.
Wocke subsequently opted for a forward-swept wing with a -23 degree sweep. This wing provided uniform flow and prevented wingtip stall, improving stability and control at low speeds. In theory, it was almost ideal.
But these advantages had to be paid for with high torsional loads, which the materials available at that time could not withstand without significantly increasing the weight of the structure.
Engines
Now it was necessary to achieve the desired speed, unattainable for the enemy.
Although the Germans had excellent piston aircraft engines in their arsenal, they were a thing of the past. Baade was looking to the future, creating the aircraft of tomorrow that would fly today. Moreover, the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor, which first took to the air on March 5, 1943, loomed large in his wake.
It is absolutely logical that the new bomber should have jet engines.
The task was simplified by the uniqueness of the company's structure. Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM), which united two powerful engineering centers under one roof: Junkers Flugzeugbau - design and production of aircraft; and Junkers Motorenbau (Jumo), where aircraft engines such as the piston Jumo 210, 211, 213, as well as the jet Jumo 004 and the never-completed Jumo 012 were created.
Quite naturally, colleagues in the industry presented the Jumo 004, which had been in serial production since 1943 and was called the Jumo 004B.
In total, by the end of the war, the Germans managed to assemble more than 8000 Jumo 004B units, and competitors from Bavaria also produced about 500 BMW 003 units.
In February 1944, Junkers received information that in addition to the two test models Ju 287V1 and Ju 287V2, priced at 3,3 million Reichsmarks, an order was expected for another 18 pre-production aircraft, priced at 20,5 million Reichsmarks.
However, in May 1944 the order was reduced to two prototypes and six pre-production aircraft.
It's worth noting that in 1944, the Germans' situation was completely different from what it had been a year earlier. The Red Army had reached the borders of the Third Reich, and the Allies had landed in Normandy.
But even before these historic events, Germany's military-industrial complex was operating at its limits. Brunolf Baade understood that for the sake of his ambitious project, not a single factory or production line would be diverted from its core production.
Ready product
So the Ju 287 had to be assembled from parts and components of existing aircraft:
- fuselage and cockpit – from Heinkel He 177 A-3,
- horizontal tail – from Ju 188 G-2,
- keel – from Ju 388,
- chassis – from a downed American B-24 Liberator.
Although the finished Ju 287 looked bulky and even clumsy, it was the real breakthrough that Baade had been seeking.
In the forward section of the fuselage, next to the cockpit and under the wings, were four Jumo 004 B jet engines, the same ones that their competitors “borrowed” from Junkers for the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter.
Each engine produced a thrust of about 8,8 kN (900 kgf).
At a meeting held in Obersalzburg in May 1944, Junkers' leading designer, Professor Hans Hertel (Dr.-Ing. Hans Hertel), reported to Goering that the aircraft's assembly was being completed and that the Ju 287V1 would be ready for test flights in the coming days.
The fully operational Ju 287V1 was transported to Leipzig-Brandis because the runways in Dessau were too short.
And so, on August 8, 1944, at the Brandis-Waldpolenz test airfield, the first test run and a short “hop” took place, that is, lifting off from the runway for a few seconds to check stability, brakes and jet thrust.
The Ju 287V1 underwent several similar tests—they were called Sprungversuche (jump tests)—and on August 16, 1944, test pilot Siegfried Holzbauer took this unusual aircraft into the air to an altitude of 600 meters. The second crew member was flight engineer Dr. Hans Wackenhut.
The flight was successful. Despite its prefabricated design, the fifteen-ton Ju 287V1 demonstrated excellent stability and predictable performance.
After landing, Holzbauer made a note in the test report:
The plane flies as if on rails.
Further flight tests, 17 of which were completed by September 1944, were successful and essentially confirmed the correctness of the forward-swept wing design.
Several tests were also carried out using HWK 109-501 boosters (a high-thrust modification of the Walter HWK Starthilfe family) with a power of about 1500 kgf.
Parachutes were used to reduce the speed of the plane after landing.
In total, it was planned to create six pre-production prototypes of the Ju 287, from V1 to V6.
The Ju 287V2 prototype, equipped with six more powerful engines (Jumo 004C or HeS 011), was to become the basis for the creation of future production aircraft.
The Ju 287V3 was to be developed into a fully-fledged production bomber, capable of carrying 4 tons of bombs at a speed of up to 860 km/h, with an all-metal fuselage, a new wing (sweep angle reduced to 19°), retractable tricycle landing gear, a bomb bay, a tail machine gun mount consisting of two remotely controlled 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, etc.
In March 1945, Junkers received a request for serial production of 100 aircraft per month. These aircraft were to be manufactured by Allgemeine Transportanlagen GmbH in Leipzig, and were to be equipped with Jumo 012 engines.
But, as the saying goes, “it’s too late to drink Borjomi when your kidneys have failed”; two months later, Germany capitulated.
The Great Patriotic War ended victoriously, but a war of intelligence, minds, engineering solutions, and technology between the former allies began, and perhaps continued.
As we all know, it was the British and Americans on one side and the Soviet Union on the other.
A new era of aviation was beginning, the jet era.
The path to the Soviet Junkers
Of course, it was no secret to either Soviet aviation specialists or their allies that the Germans had made significant progress in the design, development, and practical application of jet aircraft technology by the mid-1940s.
And since there was simply no time to “reinvent the wheel,” and it would have been criminally stupid, both the Americans and ours tried to make maximum use of German potential.
In July 1945, the city of Dessau, along with the Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke manufacturing complex, came under the control of the Soviet Military Administration. Or rather, what remained of the city and the Junkers factory after the Allied air force's operations in March 1945.
Naturally, our people desperately needed technical documentation on Junkers's promising projects, but unfortunately, the Junkers company's archives had disappeared. It turned out they had been removed by the Americans before the city was handed over to what they claimed was the Soviets.
And here our guys got lucky: at the Junkers test airfield, under the rubble of the assembly shop, they discovered an unfinished aircraft, 80-85% ready.
It was a Ju 287V3.
It's unclear how the Allies overlooked it, but this particular aircraft was carefully dismantled and transported to a secure location in the Soviet occupation zone. There, German engineers, "motivated" to collaborate with their Soviet counterparts, underwent extensive work on it. The Ju 287V3 was then shipped to the Soviet Union.
The operation of transporting the unfinished aircraft itself was very important, but it literally disappeared into the vast overall volume of work being done at that time.
By government decision, 84 German aircraft factories, containing 66,409 pieces of equipment, were transferred to the Ministry of Aviation Industry for dismantling and shipment to the Soviet Union. By mid-1946, 123,000 machine tools and pieces of industrial equipment had been shipped to Soviet aircraft factories.
The hardware issue had been resolved to a certain extent. Now what was needed were people, specialists who knew how and what to do with this hardware—engineers whose experience and knowledge their Soviet colleagues needed. After the war, many German aviation specialists, including Brunolf Baade, found themselves, to put it mildly, in a difficult situation.
In the camps for German prisoners of war alone there were 114 doctors of technical sciences and over 1000 leading specialists in the production of aircraft and aircraft engines.
NSDAP member Brunolf Baade was also arrested, this time by the Americans, and spent several months in prison. He was an extraordinary man, and thanks to his personal charm and knowledge of English, Baade quickly established contacts with American officers.
From them, he learned about the American "Morgenthau Plan," which envisioned the complete deindustrialization of Germany. Apparently, Baade was a patriotic man in his own way, and something in his head short-circuited.
The details are unknown today, but after leaving prison and beginning to closely collaborate with Soviet specialists while still in the Soviet occupation zone, Baade was transported to the Soviet Union in 1946, where he headed OKB-1 in the village of Podberez'e (now Dubna).
In total, according to the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 7467ss of February 3, 1945, as part of Operation Osoaviakhim, in the autumn of 1946, about 1400 employees of the Junkers company arrived in the USSR along with their families.
Among the engineers, pilots and technicians who arrived was the design engineer of Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG, Ernst Heinrich Braun, who headed the aerodynamics department at OKB-1.
Herbert Hertel, a senior designer at Junkers Flugzeugbau Dessau and one of Professor Baade's closest collaborators, was appointed chief design engineer at OKB-1 in the Soviet Union. He oversaw the development of the layout and powertrain design and was responsible for balance and strength calculations.
In general, work on the creation of a Soviet jet bomber began to boil.
A group of German engineers led by Brunolf Baade, he is in the center
Pictured in August 1946 are Peter Bonin, Johannes Haseloff, Georg Backhaus, Erich Wolf, Hans Wocke and Hans Hoch.
And what personally amazed me was that the Germans really, as they say, worked hard!
Entwicklungsflugzeug EF-131
The design of the aircraft, designated EF-131 by the German Entwicklungsflugzeug (experimental aircraft), began in late 1946. Under the direction of Brunolf Baade, the Ju 287V3 designs were reconstructed and used as a basis.
Peter Bonin was appointed as the lead manager for the transformation of Junkers projects into the “Soviet Junkers”.
The ideologist of the layout and aerodynamic design, as in the Ju 287 project, remained Hans Wocke.
Engineers from the design department, Wilhelm Könemann and Kurt Grünberg, were responsible for the structural strength and calculation of the wing's load-bearing elements.
Georg Backhaus was responsible for the aerodynamics of the future aircraft, while Johannes Haseloff led the implementation of the design documentation into production and was responsible for the airframe design during the assembly phase, which was completed in early 1947.
The start of the EF-131 bomber's flights was delayed due to the fact that insufficient fuselage strength was revealed during static tests at TsAGI.
The test report stated:
The fuselage has withstood 52% of the strength standards and is only durable when the flight speed is limited to 600 km/h.
Work to strengthen the EF-131, delivered to the Flight Research Institute (LII) in the fall of 1946, took approximately two months. By the end of the year, assembly of the second flying EF-131 was completed.
Testing of the first jet bomber in the USSR began on May 23, 1947, in Ramenskoye, with a German crew piloting the aircraft.
A description of the first flight has been preserved:
The aircraft's takeoff run, 15-minute flight, and landing were all performed well. The aircraft was piloted by German pilot Paul Julge, now a pilot at Experimental Plant No. 1. According to the pilot's conclusions and ground observations, the aircraft possessed good performance within the limits of its maiden flight assignment. The aircraft took off at a speed of 250 km/h with a takeoff weight of 17 tons. The maximum speed stipulated for the maiden flight was 350 km/h, and the landing speed was 220 km/h. The level flight was conducted at an altitude of 1400 meters.
After landing, during the plane's takeoff run, a minor accident occurred: a bolt on the left landing gear crossmember broke, the plane tilted to its left side, and touched the ground with one engine (out of a group of 3 engines).
…One engine on the plane will be replaced, minor defects caused by the landing gear folding will be corrected, and flights will resume in 3-4 days.
After landing, during the plane's takeoff run, a minor accident occurred: a bolt on the left landing gear crossmember broke, the plane tilted to its left side, and touched the ground with one engine (out of a group of 3 engines).
…One engine on the plane will be replaced, minor defects caused by the landing gear folding will be corrected, and flights will resume in 3-4 days.
EF-131, only two or three prototypes were built
It's hard to believe today, but they write that the EF 131V1, during one of its flights in 1947, reached a maximum speed of 962 km/h and an altitude of 13,4 km, and this is confirmed by both Soviet and German sources!
A total of 15 flights took place, and the machine spent a total of 11 hours in the air.
Main technical characteristics of EF-131:
Length 18,3 m
Wingspan 20,6 m
Height 4,3 m
The empty weight of the aircraft is 17,000 kg.
Maximum takeoff weight 22,000 kg
Engines 6 × Jumo 004B-2 (8,8 kN ≈ 900 kgf each), total thrust 5400 kgf
Estimated top speed is 865 km/h
The ceiling is 11,000 meters.
1000 range km
Bomb load 4000 kg
Crew 3 rights
The tests took place from 1947 to 1948.
Unfortunately, the German Jumo 004 engines proved not only underpowered for this aircraft but also simply unreliable. Furthermore, the aircraft's aerodynamics also suffered from problems, resulting in high wing vibration and poor roll stability. Furthermore, at high speeds, the wingtips flexed vertically.
During taxiing and especially during takeoff, high-frequency vibrations of the nose wheel, known as "shimmy"—an uncontrolled longitudinal oscillation that caused the rudder to wobble and strong vibrations throughout the airframe and tail—were observed. At times, the amplitude of the vibrations reached such a level that the pilots aborted the takeoff roll to avoid damaging the landing gear.
It took a long time to fix the problems that arose, and it was not possible to complete the bomber's flight tests by the scheduled deadline.
By October 1947, seven flights had been carried out, with a total duration of 4,5 hours.
German pilots Paul Jülge and Hans Schreider from OKB-1 took part in the tests.
Due to protracted testing and modifications, the "Soviet Junkers" were unable to take part in the air parade on August 18, 1947.
The missed deadlines provoked a harsh response from management—V. I. Abramov, the director of Plant No. 1, where aircraft were being assembled based on OKB-1 designs, was dismissed. However, progress on the EF-131 project was not expedited. In October 1947, foreign specialists were banned from the facilities where work on secret projects was underway, and as a result, EF-131 testing was halted, and the aircraft and specialists returned to the plant.
The EF-131 aircraft sat at the factory airfield for several months, covered in snow. As a result, inspection revealed that many rubber parts, seals, and wiring components had deteriorated and required replacement. The overhaul and repairs took several months.
All prototypes were sent to the factory for repairs and modifications for the next test cycle, scheduled for the summer of 1948.
In June, preparations for further testing of the EF-131 bomber, which was scheduled to take place at the Tyoply Stan airfield, were completed. However, by a decree of the Ministry of Aviation Industry on August 23, 1948, all work on the EF-131 was suspended.
The Germans continued their work.
Handsome EF-140
Work on the next project, designated EF-140, began in 1947.
The chief designer of the bomber and the initiator of the project was Brunolf Baade.
Mechanical engineer Karl-Helmut Freitag was a leading expert on aircraft control mechanics.
As in previous projects, Hans Wokke calculated the aerodynamics of the wing and tail unit.
Hans Hoch was responsible for the overall coordination of the development work and the implementation of subsequent modifications.
On behalf of the group of Soviet engineers, P.N. Obrubov, a Soviet design engineer who led the design group that interacted with the German team, was appointed to develop the project as Baade's deputy and work coordinator.
G. N. Nazarov was appointed lead engineer for construction and flight testing.
In 1948, the work was approved by the government, and assembly of the aircraft was completed in 1949.
EF-140 performance characteristics:
Wingspan, m: 19,40
Length, m: 19,70
Height, m: 5,70
Wing area, m2: 58,40
Weight, kg
- empty aircraft: 12 500
- normal takeoff: 24 500
- maximum take-off: 27 000
Engine type: 2 x TKRD A. A. Mikulina AMTKRD-01, thrust: 2 x 3500 kgf
Maximum speed km / h: 1230
Flight range, km: 3600
Practical ceiling, m: 12 500
Crew, prs: 4
Armament: 4 x 23 mm cannons
Bomb load: 4500 kg in the bomb bay in the central part of the fuselage
Testing of the aircraft took place from October 1949 to 1950 at the Flight Research Institute near Moscow at the Tyoply Stan airfield.
The aircraft's crew was housed in a single pressurized cabin. The cabin had ample glass and good forward and side visibility, with two mirrored periscopes mounted on top for monitoring the rear hemisphere.
The pilot and navigator-bombardier sat side by side. Behind the pilot, facing backwards, sat the top gunner. artillery Turrets. The second gunner/radio operator, behind the navigator, was responsible for the lower hemisphere turret. The twin 23-mm cannons in the fairings of the rotating turrets were electro-hydraulic remotely controlled.
In the event that the top gunner was killed or wounded, his turret could be switched to the lower turret's sight and control system.
Layout of the crew in the cockpit of the EF-140 bomber. 1 – pilot, 2 – navigator, 3 – upper gunner, 4 – lower gunner/radio operator.
The cabin had armor protection at the back and bottom.
EF-140 slim and lightweight fuselage layout drawing
The aircraft received a completely redesigned wing with a smaller forward sweep than the EF-131 and new mechanization, a different fuselage and empennage, improved control systems, AMTKRD-01 engines designed by A. A. Mikulin, and then RD-45 (VK-1) - Soviet copies of the British Nene, which were much more reliable than the Jumo 004.
In the initial version, the aircraft was equipped with Mikulin AMTKRD-01 turbojet engines with a thrust of 3300-3500 kgf.
To combat shimmying, the new nose landing gear, designed under the direction of Herbert Hertel, was shortened by 20 cm compared to the EF-131 and featured a hydraulic damper with a throttle to adjust the damping level. The castor angle (the wheel's yaw rate) was increased from 3° to 8°.
In essence, it was a real attempt to transition from the purely experimental EF-131 to a true jet bomber, which, with approximately the same size, weight and bomb load as its predecessor, could climb to 12,500 meters, fly at a speed of 900 km/h and achieve a range of up to 3000 km.
The EF-140 is often referred to in German literature as Schönheit, meaning "handsome."
The landing gear is tricycle with a retractable nose wheel. The ailerons are slotted, with aerodynamic compensation, with an area of 3,25 m2 each. Retractable flaps, with an area of 7,56 m2To reduce flow separation at high angles of attack, small slats were introduced into the fuselage at the leading edge of the wing.
On September 10, 1948, pilot Paul Jülge began testing at the Tyoply Stan airfield and began making runs and approaches on the new bomber, and on September 30, the EF-140 with two AMTKRD-01 engines made its first flight, which lasted about 20 minutes.
The flight report stated:
Takeoff, climb, level flight and landing proceeded normally.
An EF 140 bomber at Tyoply Stan airfield. German test pilot Paul Jülge is in the pressurized cockpit. This photo was taken in September 1948.
By the spring of 1949, the Mikulin engines were replaced with two Nene (RD-45), and since the thrust of each turbojet engine was reduced from 3500 to 2270 kgf, this led to some changes in the dimensions of the aircraft and a certain deterioration in its future qualities.
Despite this, the government commission decided to continue the testing program.
The aircraft received the designation EF-140V1, and its flight took place on March 15, 1949, at the airfield in Podberez'e near Moscow.
During the test, a speed of 904 km/h and a range of 2000 km were achieved.
In essence, the experimental bomber EF 140 was the logical conclusion of a number of interesting developments by the Junkers company in Dessau.
Some Russian researchers write that the project's lead test pilot was Wolfgang Ziese, Hermann Goering's former chief pilot, but this is not true.
Wolfgang Ziese, an aerodynamic engineer and graduate of the Technical University of Dresden, was one of the key figures in the German group of engineers at OKB-1.
He was part of the so-called Flugmechanik-Gruppe (flight mechanics group), where he oversaw the aerodynamics of the wing and fuselage.
According to evidence, it was Ziese who played a key role in refining the wing profile and stabilizer of the next aircraft project, designated "150".
In the Air Force Research Institute reports, he appears as W. Ziese, an aerodynamic engineer at OKB-1 who participated in joint bench and flow tests at TsAGI.
Luftwaffe pilot Captain Wolfgang Ziese did serve in a unit that served the Third Reich's top brass, but his trail disappeared after the war. According to one theory, he was captured by the British and had no connection to the Soviet OKB-1 project.
The EF 140 showcases its elegant fuselage lines and forward-swept wings.
The OKB-1 team waited for the start of state tests, but instead received a directive to convert the EF 140 into a long-range reconnaissance aircraft.
A rare photo of the EF 140 R in its long-range all-weather reconnaissance configuration at Borki airfield in the Tver region.
Visually, the aircraft featured "elegant" and more fuel-efficient Klimov VK-1 engines and additional fuel tanks on the wingtips. The wingspan was increased by 2,5 meters, from 19,4 to 21,9 meters. Photographic equipment and other reconnaissance gear were housed in the forward cargo compartment and aft fuselage.
The EF 140 R was able to climb to an altitude of 14,100 meters and achieve a range of 3600 km. Unfortunately, the aircraft continued to experience issues with wing flutter and stability, especially at high speeds.
Due to technical risks and a lack of confidence in operational safety, the EF 140 and 140 R projects were not accepted into service and remained experimental.
Moreover, during these same years in the USSR, the Ilyushin and Tupolev design bureaus were already actively developing their own jet technology, and further work on the German EF-140 simply lost its meaning.
On July 18, 1950, by government decision, all work on the EF 140 R aircraft was stopped, and in 1951 the EF-140 project was finally closed.
The already completed projects of the EF-132 strategic bomber with a takeoff weight of 65 tons and an 18-ton bomb load and the RB-2 frontline bomber were not realized in metal.
Frontline bomber "150"
The pinnacle of the joint work of Soviet and German engineers was the experimental bomber "150" with a conventionally swept wing, which made its first flight in 1952, but was never put into production.
The fundamental difference between this aircraft and the machines described above was that it was not a development of German aircraft from the Second World War, but was a completely new design, developed using the achievements of aviation science and technology of the second half of the 1940s.
In addition to German specialists from OKB-1, leading scientists from TsAGI, such as A. I. Makarevsky, V. N. Belyaev, G. P. Svishchev, S. A. Khristianovich, A. K. Martynov, and employees of VIAM (All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Materials) and other organizations, participated in its creation. The head and chief designer of OKB-1 from 1948 to 1952 was S. M. Alekseev, who had previously worked at the Lavochkin Design Bureau.
Semyon Mikhailovich Alekseev (12/24/1909 – 02/04/1993)
The chief designer of the project was Brunolf Baade, with the direct participation of I. L. Makarov, who headed the Soviet part of the OKB-1 team.
The engineering team's leader, mechanical engineer Karl-Helmut Freitag, was responsible for the control systems, hydraulic drives, thrust reverser, and brake flaps. Working with Soviet engineers Bernikov and Zyuzin, he made a significant contribution to the refinement of the new aircraft's rudder and stabilizer drives.
The "One Hundred and Fiftieth" appeared as a kind of revenge, in a good sense, for the unapproved RB-2 bomber project and was developed on its basis.
Among themselves, the German-speaking employees of the design bureau called the future aircraft Riese, which means “Giant”.
At the beginning of the design process, the best available in 1949—Lyulka RD-3 engines with a thrust of approximately 2500 kgf—and an aircraft weight of 30 tons were assumed. In the final design, the maximum speed of the now 38-ton aircraft, powered by two advanced Arkhip Lyulka engines with a combined thrust of 10,000 kgf, was expected to reach 1000 km/h. However, these engines, designated AL-5, only appeared in 1950. For the first time in the USSR, they were mounted on pylons on the "150."
The bomber's bomb bay, located in the central part of the fuselage, was supposed to carry up to 6000 kg of bombs.
On-board armament consists of three twin gun mounts.
The crew, according to various sources, consisted of four or five people. The sealed, armored cockpit housed:
- navigator, in the nose of the plane,
- in the upper part, the first and second pilot, who was also the radar operator, and the gunner of the upper gun mount, using a rotating periscope sight for aiming.
In the tail section there was another pressurized cabin, in which the radio operator-gunner was located.
All crew positions, including the tail gunner's position, were equipped with ejection seats.
In 1949, a model of the aircraft was made and the production of working drawings began.
The wing had a sweep angle of 35°, and the fuel tanks were located in the center section.
The takeoff and landing high-lift devices consisted of two-section flaps. The ailerons and elevators were three-section designs, while the rudders were two-section. Automatic slats were installed along the entire length of the leading edge on both surfaces. These were deployed by the airflow upon reaching a certain angle of attack, requiring no pilot intervention. This high-lift device significantly improved low-speed performance, especially during takeoff and landing.
The materials of the reports from TsAGI and OKB-1 note that it was the automatic wing mechanization (slats + slotted flaps) that ensured a fairly soft tendency to stall and stability at high angles of attack.
The aircraft's control system itself was unique in the aircraft industry. It utilized an irreversible hydromechanical design. Movement of the control stick and pedals sent a pulse to the hydraulic system valves. This caused hydraulic fluid to flow to the hydraulic motors, alternating their direction of rotation. The hydraulic motors themselves deflected the aircraft's rudders and ailerons through gearboxes and a system of shafts and gears.
The bicycle-type landing gear was also new. It was Baade who came up with the original idea of designing the rear landing gear so that its height would decrease during takeoff, increasing the wing's angle of attack by 3° and thus shortening the takeoff run.
The end landing gear struts (dutiki) were retracted into the fairings, which were located at the end of the planes and simultaneously acted as anti-flutter weights.
Regarding the “150”, one could say that it was simply “stuffed” with new parts and components, previously unused in the history of Soviet and even world aviation.
The aircraft's technical innovations include a honeycomb fuel tank design, a T-shaped tail assembly, a new fire suppression system, and the extensive use of components made from the new V-95 duralumin alloy.
But all these innovations played a negative role in the process of building the aircraft.
While it was possible to use established and well-known manufacturing technologies, and sometimes even ready-made parts from their prototypes, when creating the EF-131 and EF-140, now almost everything had to be manufactured anew, involving more and more factories and enterprises in production.
As a result, the process of creating the car took a long time.
In 1949, production of the main airframe components—the fuselage, wing, and empennage—was completed. Jointing of the structures and bench testing of the hydraulic systems and landing gear began.
In November-December 1950, assembly was completed, and the aircraft was officially transferred to the Flight Research Institute for preparation for ground testing.
And from this moment on, various researchers into the history of the creation of this unusual machine began to cite contradictory dates, get confused in the names of airfields and settlements, name people who allegedly participated in the tests, and sometimes forget the actual participants in this process.
Having summarized a significant amount of information, I decided to present to the reader a kind of “logically generalized version,” simply so that it would be clear what kind of unthinkable work the “German-Soviet team” accomplished at that time.
Therefore, I ask particularly inquisitive experts on this topic not to judge me too harshly in the comments.
So, the year 1952 began, and the newly built "150" aircraft was at the OKB-1 Borki test airfield. Pavel Ivanovich Vernikov was appointed lead test pilot for the project, and N. A. (I. N.) Bernikov was appointed test flight engineer.
In the winter of 1952-1953, checks of systems, taxiing, and adjustments of engines and braking devices were carried out.
The first runs and jumps were performed then, in Borki.
But the airfield, with its 1200-meter runway, proved too small for full-scale testing. During one of the runs, the first incident occurred: the aircraft skidded off the runway and crashed into a young grove of trees. The left engine hit the tree and swallowed several branches. The air intake was crushed, and the engine failed.
It became clear that the airfield needed to be changed.
The machine was repaired, then the 38-ton colossus was dismantled and, observing strict secrecy, transported by rail to the Flight Research Institute airfield in Ramenskoye.
The route Podberezye → Kimry → Dmitrov → Moscow → Ramenskoye was approximately 310-320 km.
It is unclear why the completed aircraft was not simply flown to a new test site.
Perhaps the runway in Borki was indeed too short, or perhaps because he hadn’t actually flown yet...
But one way or another, several more months were lost.
Further full-scale flight tests continued in Ramenskoye. According to some sources, Pavel Mikhailovich Kazmin, a highly experienced Flight Research Institute pilot, was appointed chief test pilot for the project; according to others, it was still P.I. Vernikov, which is more likely.
In April, during its 16th flight, another incident occurred: during landing, due to premature braking, the aircraft's wheels locked and skidded. The landing gear was repaired, the tires were replaced, and flights resumed.
But on May 9, during the 18th test flight, a more serious accident occurred.
The authors of the study of the history of the "150"-ki, D. A. Sobolev and D. I. Khazanov, write:
While approaching into the sun, Bernikov misjudged the trajectory and pulled back on the stick too early. The plane pitched up, lost speed, and fell onto the runway from a height of 5-10 meters. None of the crew were injured, but the accident resulted in a broken landing gear (with the rear landing gear penetrating the fuselage), damaged engines, and damaged the underside of the fuselage. Following the accident, Bernikov was demoted from first to second class.
Here again I came across an inaccuracy, or perhaps a simple typo.
It's most likely that the plane was piloted by P. I. Vernikov, not Bernikov. A pilot with that last name did not participate in the tests. Test flight engineer N. A. (I. N.) Bernikov could have been on board.
But the fact remains: during the final stage of its descent, the plane suddenly "dropped" and struck the runway. The landing gear failed to withstand the load, and the nose gear and part of the tail gear were deformed or fractured. The fuselage sustained significant damage: frame deformation, skin destruction, and damage to the engine mounts. Some structures, particularly the lower fuselage, were torn apart.
This was the end of the "150" aircraft project, although the completed flights demonstrated that the bomber generally met the technical requirements, and even exceeded some of them.
But the Ministry of Aviation Industry finally decided to stop further testing.
Although it was undoubtedly an advanced machine at the time of its development and the beginning of its construction, by 1953 the “150” aircraft no longer represented much interest.
On April 27, 1952, the prototype of the legendary Tu-16 made its maiden flight, and serial production of the Tupolev aircraft began in 1953 at three factories simultaneously.
The "150" bomber, bearing traces of its latest accident, was handed over to MAI as a training aid, and the design documentation was sent to the Beriev, Antonov, and Tupolev Design Bureau.
The innovations introduced on the "150" subsequently found their place in subsequent models of Soviet aviation technology.
Home to Germany
The overwhelming majority of the German "comrades," having worked for seven years in the USSR, returned to Germany in 1953, this time to the German Democratic Republic. There, the pilots and engineers continued to work under the leadership of their longtime boss and comrade, Professor Brunolf Baade, Doctor of Engineering, but this time for the benefit of their country.
Brunolf Baade with a scale model of the Baade 152. Photo taken in 1957.
As a result of this work, the first German jet passenger airliner, the Baade 152, was assembled at Flugzeugwerke Dresden, which was very, very similar to the “breakthrough” aircraft “150”.
On December 4, 1958, at 11:18 a.m., the Baade 152 prototype, registered DM-ZYA, made its maiden flight, lasting just over half an hour.
But that's another story ...
A necessary afterword from the editors
To comrade Renck's excellent presentation, I would like to add a few words about the causes and consequences that led to the fact that seven years of work by the German team produced practically no results.
The Germans did indeed create impressive and groundbreaking designs and aircraft, but a German designer, standing at the drawing board, had German design bureaus and factories behind him. And he knew what he was relying on.
The German engineer, placed in a "sharaga" environment and unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Soviet aircraft industry, allegedly made many "errors," such as the airframe strength during testing, but this was due less to the quality of the calculations than to the quality of the metal. And so on.
So an attempt was made to "translate" German engineering into Russian and Soviet terms, adding our own engineers to the Germans. This was an improvement, but the results were also unimpressive.
And then the need for the Germans disappeared altogether, because it became clear that domestic designers had made a truly masterful leap forward and, under Soviet conditions, were able to build Soviet aircraft that stunned the world. And, unlike the Germans, they're still building them to this day. This doesn't diminish the assistance we received from German engineers in the 40s and 50s; they truly were a great help. But our designers performed somewhat more effectively than the Germans. (R.S.)
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