The Sukhoi Su-12 (Aircraft RK) was a prototype
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
reconnaissance and artillery spotter aircraft developed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Development
In November 1943, the Sukhoi
OKB
OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...
designed an artillery spotter aircraft based on the German
Focke-Wulf Fw 189
The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 ''Uhu'' ("Eagle Owl") is a Nazi Germany, German twin-engine, twin-boom, three-seat tactical Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance and Liaison aircraft, army cooperation aircraft. It first flew in 1938 (Fw 189 V1), entered s ...
.
As designed, the aircraft had a crew of three and was powered by a pair of
Shvetsov M-62
The Shvetsov ASh-62 (Russian: АШ-62, designated M-62 before 1941) is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine produced in the Soviet Union. A version of this engine is produced in Poland as the ASz-62 and the People's Republic of Ch ...
engines. The aircraft was initially denied funding but was eventually approved thanks to an intervention by the Soviet Chief Marshal of Artillery
N.N. Voronov.
As a result of evolving specifications, the crew was increased to four and the engines were changed to more powerful
Shvetsov ASh-82
The Shvetsov ASh-82 (M-82) is a Soviet 14-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine developed from the Shvetsov M-62. The M-62 was the result of development of the M-25, which was a licensed version of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone.
Desi ...
M with 1,640 kW (2,200 hp).
The Su-12 prototype flew on 26 August 1947 with N.D. Fikson at the controls. The test flight program was completed by 30 October. Due to problems with the ASh-82M engines, the powerplant was changed to ASh-82FN making 1,380 kW (1,850 hp), but while reliable, the less-powerful engines caused the Su-12 to miss its top speed and service ceiling specifications.
The Su-12 successfully completed government testing in September 1949 and was recommended for production. Due to lack of production capacity in the USSR, in October 1949 it was proposed to build the airplane in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. However, the application for production was denied, citing failure to meet performance specifications.
Subsequent efforts by the Sukhoi Design Bureau to secure funding and continue work on the Su-12 were denied.
Operators
;
*
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
Specifications (Su-12)
See also
References
*Antonov,Vladimir & Gordon, Yefim & others. ''OKB Sukhoi”. Leicester. Midland. 1996.
External links
*
Notes
{{Sukhoi aircraft
Su-12
1940s Soviet military reconnaissance aircraft
Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union
Twin-boom aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1947
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft