The Tumansky R-21 was a Soviet
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine of the 1960s. Used for development only, the project was canceled.
Design and development
The
Tumansky
Sergei Konstantinovich Tumansky (russian: Серге́й Константинович Туманский; – 9 September 1973) was a designer of Soviet aircraft engines and the chief designer in the Tumansky Design Bureau, OKB-300. He worked i ...
R-21 was developed at Tushino motor plant (part of OKB-300), headed by
Nikolai Georgievich Metskhvarishvili, as a twin-spool
axial-flow
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from othe ...
afterburning turbojet. It was based on the
Tumansky R-11
The Tumansky R-11 (initially AM-11) was a Soviet Cold War-era turbojet engine.
Design and development
The Tumansky R-11 was developed by A.A. Mikulin, Sergei Tumansky, and B.S. Stechkin as a twin-spool axial-flow high-altitude non-afterburni ...
with the goal of increasing thrust and airflow, using a new six-stage compressor with a larger diameter and different rotor blades than its predecessor as well as a new afterburner chamber and variable exhaust nozzle. The increased pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature required components to be fabricated from advanced alloys. Several contemporary Soviet aircraft were planned to use the R-21, including the
Sukhoi T-58,
Sukhoi T-6 and the
Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-8 was a supersonic jet fighter developed in the Soviet Union, intended to replace the MiG-21 (originally named ''MiG-23''). Only two prototypes were built in 1960-61. The original MiG-21's air intakes were moved under th ...
. On September 11, 1962 an R-21, fitted to a Ye-8, exploded in mid-air after compressor failure; test pilot
Georgy Mosolov survived the ejection at Mach 1.78, but he never fully recovered.
Interview with Georgy Mosolov in Air & Space magazine
/ref> Shortly afterward the Ye-8 program was cancelled along with R-21 development in favour of heavier fighter planes such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...
, which required more powerful engines.
Variants
* R-21F-300 – the only version built.
Specifications (R-21F-300)
See also
References
{{Tumansky aeroengines
Tumansky aircraft engines
1960s turbojet engines