I-180 (fighter): the history of the aircraft, the death of Valery Chkalov

The I-180 (fighter and bomber) was developed at Polikarpov Design Bureau. At that time it had excellent flight characteristics, could carry on board up to 200 kg of bombs and was equipped with four synchronously firing machine guns.

History of creation

The well-known Soviet designer Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov never stopped on his laurels. He was clearly aware that a powerful engine was needed to significantly improve the flight data. The fighter-monoplane I-16, developed by him in 1932 and consisting in the armament of the Soviet Air Force, after 5 years ceased to meet modern requirements.

Polikarpov already in 1936 began to think about making a serious modification of the I-16 with the basic engine M-62. But he did not manage to implement this idea, as soon Zaporozhye Plant No. 29 established the launch of new M-88 engines, which had power much closer to the required. Thus, there were projects I-164 and 165. At the same time, the screw plant was ordered to develop a variable-pitch screw. Despite this, the then head of the Air Force did not show the slightest interest in these aircraft. Therefore, there was a decision to design another fighter.

New aircraft

Design Bureau Polikarpova began to design. The new development received the designation I-180. The fighter was ready by February 1938. I must say that in general the I-180 design was very similar to the I-16, but it was somewhat larger in size. Initially, the aircraft planned to equip four synchronously firing machine guns, and a little later to replace them with large calibres or cannons.

After the transfer of Polikarpov Design Bureau to Plant No. 156, an unfavorable situation developed, which did not at all contribute to the qualitative and rapid production of the necessary parts. The matter is that earlier this enterprise was engaged basically in release of the big planes, and now it had to master urgently the technology of production of a lighter fighter.

First setbacks

The release of this machine was supervised by the head of the General Directorate Belyaykin. I must say that he constantly hurried people to complete the assembly as quickly as possible and there were moments when he even directly interfered in the production process. Such actions brought unnecessary nervousness to the activities of both the OKB and the plant as a whole. A significant contribution to the acceleration of work was made by the director of the enterprise, M. A. Usachev. Therefore, the plane was built in November 1938.

In the first days of December, the car was thoroughly inspected, after which it revealed as much as not a few, and as many as 190 defects (!), 40 of which were found in motorcycle equipment. That's with so many flaws and I-180 was released. The fighter was nevertheless taken to the airfield, having previously eliminated most of them from the shops.

I must say that the designers of combat aircraft are always very considerate and demanding of their projects, besides, they know more than anyone else about the price of technical mistakes. That is why Polikarpov could protest against haste as he prepared his offspring for the first trial, for which he was temporarily suspended from further work.

Fatal combination of circumstances

In the winter of 1938, Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was immediately recalled from leave. Reason: testing of the new I-180. The fighter planned to test December 15, but his first run was three days earlier. She identified a number of defects, among which was found and breakdown of the control thrust of the gas sector. Malfunction eliminated, and the date of the first flight remained unchanged. In the assignment given to Chkalov, it was ordered to fly over the aerodrome at an altitude of 600 m for 10-15 minutes and land without removing the chassis, which had also been law-enforced the day before.

I must say that before this fateful day in Moscow for several weeks there was non-flying weather. In the mornings a thick fog descended on the city, sometimes it was snowing. The air temperature ranged from 0 to -2 ° C. However, on the day of testing, the sky cleared up. The bright sun was shining, but the temperature dropped to -27 ⁰ C. This sharp drop was not expected, but the planned flight was not canceled.

On December 15, as usual during the first test of experienced aircraft, all sorties were discontinued, and no aerodrome work was carried out on that day. I-180 stood by the hangar. The last preparations of the airplane were made for the test flight: the control devices and the necessary units, including the blinds, were mounted. Approaching the workers, Chkalov asked how long it would take to install them. He was told that about 2-3 hours, and maybe more. Such an indefinite answer was not arranged by Valery Pavlovich, who realized that the flight on that day might not take place, as it was winter, and it was getting dark very early. He decided to fly without installing blinds, probably hoping for a favorable outcome of the tests.

The death of the pilot number 1

The pilot made the first round as was prescribed: he flew into the air and flew over the aerodrome at an altitude of 500-600 m. Then he entered the second circle, but at an altitude of 2-2.5 thousand meters and at a great distance from the airfield . When he slowed down and began to decline, intending to land the plane, the engine stalled. The airfield was too far away, and below it were residential barracks and high antennas of the radio station.

As you know, the aircraft had chassis legranged, and when it began to fall, Chkalov realized that he could touch them with the roof of one of the barracks, where at that time, most likely, there were people. Another pilot could not even think about it, besides, the roof would probably have samortized the blow. However, Chkalov decided to turn aside, and the aircraft with an idle engine crashed into a high-voltage metal support.

A powerful blow threw Chkalov out of the cab with the steering wheel. Having fallen, the pilot hit his head hard. The injuries were incompatible with life, and two hours later he died in the Botkin Hospital. Chkalov's funeral was held in Moscow. The urn with his ashes is still in the Kremlin wall.

Causes of the disaster

The death of Valery Chkalov immediately generated a large number of rumors and legends. Despite the fact that there is an official conclusion made by a special commission to investigate this tragedy, there are other versions that boil down to one question: was this a fatal coincidence, or did the pilot become disincentive to someone and was simply killed?

Commissions working in 1938 and 1955, different conclusions were drawn, but in one they were in solidarity: the accident was due to the supercooling of the fighter engine, as well as errors in the gas control device. In addition, a second investigation revealed that many of the machine's nodes were experienced and had never been tested in the air. From this all the conclusion suggests that the Polikarpov I-180 aircraft was underdeveloped by the time of its first departure because of the excessive haste of the higher authorities controlling this process, which led to an irreparable tragedy.

Second plane crash

However, the history of the I-180 aircraft did not end there. The tests continued. By February 1939, the second experienced fighter was built. It practically did not differ from the previous one, except that the area and the range of its wings were slightly enlarged, and instead of the M-88 engine, the M-87A was considered to be more reliable.

The first flight on the modernized car took place on April 27 of the same year. It was piloted by pilot SP Suprun. This time everything went without any substantive comments. In view of this, the credibility of the Polikarpov aircraft has increased so much that the fighter even participated in the celebration of May 1 and flew over Red Square. However, at the beginning of September the I-180 crashed again, this time the test pilot Thomas Suzi was killed. When the plane began to enter into a tailspin, the pilot jumped out of the car, not having time to open the parachute.

Shortly after the tragedy, a specially created commission compiled an act in which the cause of the crash was the destruction of the ring oil cooler, since the entire cabin, as well as the face and overalls of the pilot, were spattered with oil.

Decommissioning

The following year another aircraft was built, but its tests ended quickly. In early July 1940, test pilot Proshakov made a mistake during the piloting and was forced to leave the ship with a parachute. The next commission this time did not find any defects, and the fault for the death of the car was entirely assigned to the pilot.

After this incident, another modification of the aircraft was built-the I-180-Etalon. He underwent a number of changes, including the replacement of the old M-87A engine with the new M-88A. Its estimated speed was to be 590 km / h, and when installing a more powerful engine, the M-89 would even reach 650 km / h altogether. But the story of the I-180 ended here, as in December of the same year an order was issued to stop the work on this aircraft. All the unfinished machines that were put into production earlier, went to scrap. By that time Soviet fighters of other types began to appear, which replaced the failed project.

New fighter

The next development of Polikarpov Design Bureau was the I-185. On the sum of all the characteristics, this fighter surpassed both Soviet and foreign piston machines of that time. Several aircraft with different engines were built. November 18, 1942 they went to the state tests, which conducted pilots P. M Stefanovsky. During the flights the aircraft showed excellent results and was recommended for launch in mass production.

April 5, 1943 during the tests, the engine stopped, resulting in the death of the pilot VA Stepanchonok. According to all data, this tragedy became fatal for the I-185 aircraft - it was never put into production, and instead of it, La-5FN was assembled at the plant. After that, the OKB developed another aircraft - I-188, but soon all works were stopped because of the death of the chief designer NN Polikarpov.