The Tupolev I-14 (also designated ANT-31) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of the 1930s. It was a single-engined, single-seat

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 ...

with retractable undercarriage, designed to carry heavy armament, and as such was one of the most advanced fighters of its time. It was ordered into production, but this was cancelled after only a small number had been built, the competing

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ...

being preferred.

Development and design

In 1932, the Soviet Air Force developed a requirement for a high-speed

fighter to serve alongside agile but slower biplane fighters.Gunston 1995, p.301. In order to meet this requirement, the Tupolev design bureau assigned a team led by

Pavel Sukhoi Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi (russian: Па́вел О́сипович Сухо́й; be, Па́вел Во́сіпавіч Сухі́, ''Paviel Vosipavič Suchi''; 2 July 1895 – 15 September 1975) was a Soviet aerospace engineer and aircraft design ...

. Sukhoi's team produced the ANT-31, a low-wing monoplane with an unbraced

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 ...

wing, retractable undercarriage, an enclosed cockpit and heavy cannon armament. The aircraft had a metal

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

fuselage, while the wings were of corrugated metal construction. The mainwheels of the conventional landing gear retracted backwards into the wing, being operated by cables driven by a handwheel turned by the pilot. The first prototype was powered by an imported 433 kW (580 hp) Bristol Mercury

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

enclosed by an NACA cowling and driving a two-bladed wooden propeller. It was armed with a single

PV-1 machine gun PV-1 (''Pulemet Vozdushny'', airborne machine gun) is a Soviet air-cooled version of the Russian M1910 Maxim for mounting on aircraft. It was designed between 1926 and 1927. The first prototypes were produced and accepted into service in 1928.Ш� ...

, with provision for two Kurchevsky APK-37

recoilless A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

autocannon under the wing.Gunston 1995, pp. 401–402.Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p.75. The ANT-31, given the air force designation I-14 (''Istrebitel'' – fighter), made its maiden flight on 27 May 1933. It proved agile but difficult to handle, and with the supercharged Mercury was underpowered, particularly at low altitude. It was therefore decided to build a second prototype, the I-14bis (also known as the ANT-31bis and the I-142 with a more powerful (531 kW (712 kp)

Wright Cyclone Wright Cyclone was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. Background The Wright Aeronautical Corporation wa ...

engine, also imported, an uncorrugated wing and a new undercarriage. The I-14bis demonstrated excellent performance, although handling was still difficult, and an order was placed for production of 55 aircraft, to be powered by the

Shvetsov M-25 The Shvetsov M-25 was an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1930s and 1940s, a licensed production variant of the Wright R-1820-F3. Design and development The first M-25s were produced from kits imported from the ...

, a licensed version of the Cyclone, with an armament of two 45 mm (1.8 in) Kurchevsky APK-11 recoilless cannons and two ShKAS machine guns.

Operational history

Deliveries began from the GAZ-125 factory at Irkutsk,

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

Gunston 1995, p.XXXII. in November 1936. The aircraft's armament had changed to a single ShKAS machine gun and a 20 mm ShVAK cannon as Kurchevsky's recoilless guns had fallen out of favour (with Kurchevsky himself soon to be arrested).Gunston 1995, p.XIV. By this time, the rival

fighter was well established in production and service, and production of the I-14 was stopped after 18 had been built, the type soon being phased out of service.

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 (production I-14)

Notes

References