The Tupolev ANT-41 was a prototype Soviet twin-engined torpedo-bomber of the 1930s. A single prototype was built, which was destroyed in a crash. No production followed, with the
Ilyushin DB-3 serving as a torpedo bomber instead.
Design and development
In March 1934, the
Tupolev design bureau
Tupolev (russian: Ту́полев, ), officially Joint Stock Company Tupolev, is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow.
Tupolev is successor to the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau (OKB-156, design offi ...
(
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. ...
) began work on a multi-role aircraft for
Soviet Naval Aviation
Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, for ''Авиация военно-морского флота'' in Russian, or ''Aviatsiya voyenno-morskogo flota'', literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Na ...
, intended to serve as a high-speed, long-range torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and "cruiser" (i.e. long-range heavy fighter), and available in both landplane and
floatplane versions.
The task of designing the new aircraft, given the OKB designation ANT-41 and the Navy designation T-1 (''Torpedonosets'' – i.e. torpedo carrier) was assigned to the team led by
Vladimir Myasishchev.
[Gordon and Rigmant 2005, p. 74.][Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p. 84.]
The ANT-41 was of similar layout to the contemporary
SB bomber, which had been designed by another team (led by
Alexander Arkhangelsky) at the Tupolev OKB, but was larger and more powerful. Like the SB, it was a mid-winged
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
of all-metal
stressed skin
In mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a type of rigid construction, intermediate between monocoque and a rigid frame with a non-loaded covering. A stressed skin structure has its compression-taking elements localized and its tension-taking ...
construction. It was powered by two
Mikulin AM-34
The Mikulin AM-34 (M-34) was a Soviet mass-produced, liquid-cooled, aircraft engine of domestic design. Its initial development was troubled, but it eventually became one of the most successful Soviet aircraft engines of the 1930s. It was utilize ...
liquid-cooled
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The f ...
s in close-fitting
cowling
A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...
s driving 3-bladed propellers and cooled by radiators mounted inside the wings inboard of the engines, which were fed by narrow ducts on the leading edge of the wing.
[Gunston 1995, p. 407.][Gunston ''Tupolev Aircraft since 1922'' 1995, p. 97.] A long (6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)) weapons bay under the fuselage could hold two torpedoes, or a single torpedo or an equivalent weight in bombs. The undercarriage of the landplane version was a retractable
tailwheel undercarriage
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
, based on that of the SB but strengthened to deal with the ANT-41's greater weight.
History
The first prototype ANT-41, a landplane, made its maiden flight from
Khodynka Aerodrome
Khodynka (russian: links=no, Ходынский, ''Khodynskiy''), officially Frunze Central Aerodrome, often referred to as Tsentralny (), was an airport in Moscow, Russia, located northwest of the centre of the city.
History
The founding of the ...
,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
on 2 June 1936, with severe tail flutter encountered.
It was destroyed in a crash during the 14th test flight on 3 July 1936, with the test crew escaping by parachute. The accident was caused by flutter causing wing failure, which was traced to inadequate aileron design.
[Gunston ''Tupolev Aircraft since 1922'' 1995, p.98.] Later that year, the
Ilyushin DB-3 was chosen to meet Soviet Naval Aviation's requirements for a torpedo bomber, and the ANT-41 was cancelled, with the second prototype unbuilt.
Specifications
Notes
Citations
References
* Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kandalov. ''Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1996. .
* Gordon, Yefim and Vladimir Rigmant. ''OKB Tupolev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft''. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2005. .
*
Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995''. London: Osprey, 1995. .
* Gunston, Bill. ''Tupolev Aircraft since 1922''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995, .
*
External links
"Мясищев АНТ-41 (Т-1)" ''Уголок Неба''.(in Russian)
{{Soviet bomber-attack designations
1930s Soviet bomber aircraft
ANT-41
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1936
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft