The Moskalyev SAM-13 (
Russian: ''Москалев САМ-13'') was a
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
twin-engined single-seat low-wing
fighter built in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in the 1930s.
Design and development
The design of the SAM-13 followed similar principles to that of the
Fokker D.XXIII
The Fokker D.XXIII was a Dutch single-seat fighter designed and built by Fokker. Only one aircraft was flown before the country was invaded by the Germans in May 1940.
Development
The Fokker D.XXIII was designed as a twin-engined single-seat ...
: to build a lightweight twin-engined fighter with benign single-engined flying characteristics. Moskalyev's design could well have been influenced directly by the D.XXIII, which had been exhibited at the 1938 Paris Salon, differing mainly in size.
The SAM-13 was built largely from wood, with steel fittings in high stress areas and welded steel-tube engine mounts. It was powered by two
Voronezh MV-6
The Renault 6P, also called the Renault Bengali, was a series of air-cooled 6-cylinder inverted in-line aero engines designed and built in France from the late 1920s, which produced from to .
Design and development
Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic ...
6-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted in-line engines mounted at the front and rear of the fuselage nacelle, driving 2-bladed, variable pitch propellers.
[
The sharply tapered wings supported tail-booms which in turn supported the tailplane, elevators, single centrally-mounted fin and rudder. The wings also housed the retractable main undercarriage units which retracted inwards. The nose undercarriage was attached to the front engine mounting and retracted rearwards.][
Armament of the SAM-13 was intended to be 4x ShKAS machine-guns: two in the fuselage top decking firing through the propeller disc, and one at each end of the wing centre-section.][
]
Operational history
First flown in 1940 by Nikolay D Fikson, the SAM-13 proved difficult to handle, requiring long runs to take off and land, with poor climb performance and low ceiling.[
After the first flight and subsequent tests, the poor flying qualities of the SAM-13 were being addressed when the Germans invaded during ]Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
. By Spring 1941 the SAM-13 was undergoing tests at LII LII may refer to:
* Year AD 52, in Roman numerals
* 52 (number) in Roman numerals
* Laser-induced incandescence, a method of measuring particle sizes in flames
* Legal Information Institute, a non-profit public service of Cornell Law School
* Log ...
, piloted by Mark L Gallai, even being entered for a summer air race. All flying ceased after the German invasion, which prompted destruction of the aircraft.[
]
Specifications (SAM-13)
References
Further reading
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External links
SAM-13
at Ctrl-c.liu.se
SAM-13
at Valka.cz (In English)
at Airwar.ru (In Russian)
{{Moskalyev aircraft
Moskalyev aircraft
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Low-wing aircraft
Twin-engined push-pull aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1940
Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union
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