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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0282.PDF
FEBRUARY IOTH, 1944 A Russian Dive Bomber The Twin-engined PE~2 Does 335 m.p.h. at I6,000/t- : AlUelectric Operation of Auxiliary Services DOUBTLESS for reasons which seem good and suffi cient to themselves, our Russian Allies are in the habit of maintaining a discreet silence about their military equipment. Consequently it is a matter of con siderable difficulty to obtain authentic information concern ing Russian aircraft. Why this should be so is not easy to understand. The Germans must have captured a con siderable number sufficiently intact to give them all the facts and data which they require for a technical evaluation, and Lujtivaffe pilots know all about the qualities of Russian aircraft in action. Be that as it may, there is great interest among the English-speaking nations in Russia's contribution to air craft engineering. That contribution is probably a good deal greater than is generally realised, and although traces of American and British influence are to be found in some of the types, Russian designers are certainly very far from being "copyists." A case in point is the PE-2 dive bomber, the details of which have been made available by the publication of a detailed examination and analysis by the Swedish aircraft engineer Nils Hulten, in our Stockholm contemporary Flyg. The large drawing of the machine is by Herr S. Sason, while other sketches have been prepared by Flight's artists from diagrams which appeared in the article. The following notes are in part a translation of Herr Hul- ten's article, which is the joint copyright of our Swedish contem porary and of the Swiss Interavta. The Russian PE-2 is a twin- engined dive bomber, powered by two Russian vee-twelve liquid- cooled engines, type M-105 R, of 1,100 h.p. each. It is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal 1 RUSSIAN DIVE Two M-105 R t BOMBER PE-2 100 h.p. Engines J*- J MAIN DIMENSIONS AND DATA : Length o.a • Wing span ... ... • Wing area : Empty weight : Normal loaded weight • Max. loaded weight ; Wing loading (normal) : Wing loading (max.) : Fuel (95 octane) : Oil ... 12.66 m. (41ft. Oin.) : 17.16 m. (56ft. 3in.) 40.5 sq. m. (436 sq. ft.) \ 5,870 kg. (12,900 lb.) : 7,700 kg. (16,930 lb.) 8.520 kg. (18,730 lb.) • 39 lb./sq. ft. ; 43 lb./sq. ft. 1,500 1. (330 gals.) : 180 1. (40 gals.)' 1 I PERFORMANCE • Max. speed (at 10,400ft.) : Max. speed (at 6,000ft.) : Max. speed (at ground level) ; Cruising speed : Single-engined speed at 5,000ft. ... 540 km./h. (335 m.p.h.) : 506 km./h. (314 m.p.h.) 460 km./h. (286 m.p.h.) : 428 km./h. (266 m.p.h.) 280-300 km./h. (174-186 m.p.h.) • ! Climb to 3,000 m. (9,800ft.) in 3.5 mins. : Climb to 5,000 m. (10,400ft.) in 7 mins. • Single-engined climb to 3,300ft. in • Theoretical ceiling Practical ceiling ; Landing speed • Max. speed with dive-brakes on ... : Max. permissible speed : Diving angle • Height lost in pulling out of a dive • Duration : Range 7 mins. 10,000 m. (32,800ft.) • 9,000 m. (29,500ft.) : 140 km./h. (87 m.p.h.) 600 km./h. (372 m.p.h.) ; 720 km./h. (450 m.p.b.) : 50-70 deg. 600-900 m. (2,000-3,000ft.) • 2.5-3 hours : 1,000-1,500 km. (620-930 miles) : construction and carries a crew of three, pilot, wireless operator (who also acts as bomb-aimer), and rear gunnerj^ The general design is well shown in the illustrations. It is on orthodox lines, with clean aerodynamic forms and a twin-rudder tail. Periscopic Sight Armament and bomb load vary considerably according to the particular duties on which the machine is engaged. As shown in the drawing, the defensive armament com prises four 7.62 mm. machine guns, of which two are fixed and mounted in the nose, while the other two are in upper rear and lower rear positions. Two alterna tive armaments are available: two 7.62 mm. machine guns and two 12.7 mm cannon, or four 7.62 mm. and two 12.7 mm. guns. The last- mentioned arrangement includes two " blistei " guns aft of the wing. For the lower rear gun an in genious mounting has been devised. It is designed to be raised and; lowered, and in order to enable the gunner to aim the lowered gun use is made of a special 120 deg. peri scope. The arrangement is well D 2 The retractable tailwheel of the PE-2. The system ^s electro-hydraulic.
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