Engineer I.I. Sikorsky developed the Russian Knight aircraft, which became the first aircraft in the world to have several engines. It was created primarily for long-range reconnaissance.
The emergence of an idea
Russian Knight is an aircraft whose development began in September 1912 by designer Igor Sikorsky to participate in the competition.
At this time, a competition of domestic-made aircraft assembled by Russian designers was held in St. Petersburg. In the middle of September 1912 I.I. Sikorsky received an invitation to meet from M.V. Shidlovsky, who was the chairman of the Russian-Baltic Wagon Plant. Suggestions of this kind were made very rarely. This gave the designer a reason to think that this meeting will change his life. And so it happened. During the meeting, Sikorsky shared his plans for the construction of a multi-engine aircraft. Shidlovsky suggested starting work on the project.
Doubts of others
The idea of creating a multi-engine aircraft for many specialists of that time seemed only a dream. Most of them claimed that such a model would not fly. Everywhere, statements were heard that the project was doomed to failure. Despite this, Sikorsky continued his work. And already in May 1913, the Russian Knight appeared in the sky above the airfield. The plane, which was controlled by the engineer himself, flew several circles and landed smoothly.
Petersburg print media repeatedly described this fact. Despite this, experts from other countries refused to believe in the possibility of creating such a kind of aircraft. They preferred to consider this news as fiction of journalists.
First developments
The Russian Knight (whose photo is presented in the article) was a multi-racked bilan with four motors. It was developed during the years 1912-1913. Initially, it was called the Grand. In May 1913, the name was changed to "Big Russian-Baltic" from the name of the plant where it was developed. A month later, he received the name "Russian Knight".
The upper wing was made larger in comparison with the lower. They had the shape of a rectangle with a width of two and a half meters. Moreover, the distance between the wings was equal to the length of the wings themselves and was also 2.5 meters.
The box of wings had four racks. Each wing was strengthened by two spars. The latter was a box 9 cm high and 5 cm wide made of five-millimeter plywood. Shelves are made of pine up to two centimeters thick. Brass screws and wood glue were used as fasteners for the elements.
In order to improve stability and controllability, the length of the S-21 aircraft was increased to twenty meters. This made the car stable during the flight. Even when the passenger was moving in the cabin during the flight, stability did not deteriorate.
The fuselage was made in the form of a rectangle of wood, sheathed with sheets of plywood. It contained the following elements:
- two cabins for passengers;
- cabin for the captain;
- Compartment for tools and spare parts.
Russian Knight is the first aircraft to have a large enclosed cockpit for the team and a passenger compartment. In addition, there were side entrances through which during the flight it was possible to go down to the lower wings and get to the engines. They could be repaired even in the sky.
In the bow, immediately before the captain’s cabin, a platform was left in the form of a balcony for placing a machine gun and a searchlight. Immediately behind it was a glass-enclosed cabin with a length of 5.75 m and a height of 1.85 m. It housed two crew seats. This was followed by another glass partition separating the passenger area. It had wicker chairs and even a small table.
The device of the first model
“Russian Knight” - a plane with two Argus engines with a capacity of 100 horsepower, located on the lower wing. They were installed in pairs. The motors rotated four shafts with a diameter of 2.6 m. Two shafts were pushing, two pulling. The first tests showed that the power of two hundred horsepower is too small. It was only enough for a flight with a range of up to one hundred meters.
The complex chassis was four skis. Between them two trolleys were placed, to which eight wheels, in turn, were attached. The wheels connected to the carts due to steel springs, and between themselves - in pairs.
The steering wheel consisted of four surfaces that formed two pairs. Management was carried out by two steering wheels and pedals. The wiring was made of cable.
The weight of the aircraft without load was three and a half tons.
Aircraft improvements
Almost immediately after the first tests, Sikorsky decided to finalize a four-engine aircraft. The location and method of installing the engines has been changed. In the new version, they were placed in a row under the lower wing along the leading edge. Thus, the rear thrust engines became pulling.
Such changes improved the performance of the S-21 aircraft. This was evidenced by tests conducted at the Hull aerodrome.
The new model first took off on July 23, 1913. It was proved that even when two engines were turned off on one side, the plane was perfectly responsive to the steering.
Thanks to this, in August 1913 the aircraft spent 114 minutes in the air. It became a world record. At that time, he had seven passengers on board. It was at this time that the plane received the name "Russian Knight".
Specifications
The aircraft “Russian Knight” (whose photo is available in the article) had the following characteristics:
- The power unit of four Argus engines.
- The power of each engine is one hundred horsepower.
- The number of passengers is up to seven people. Of these, three people - the crew.
- Wingspan - 27 meters.
- The wing area is 120 m 2 .
- The maximum speed is ninety kilometers per hour.
- The maximum range of flights is 170 kilometers.
- The length of the aircraft is twenty meters.
- Height is four meters.
- Empty weight is 3.5 tons.
- Maximum take-off weight - 4, 2 tons.
- The mass of the full load is 700 kilograms.
Accident
Sikorsky's airplane pleased his designer very briefly. It was destroyed during an unusual accident. When the military aircraft competition took place, Meller No. 2 flew over the airfield. The Dwarf engine mounted on it came off and fell right on the Russian Knight. It happened on September 11, 1913.
Sikorsky decided not to rebuild the plane. At this time, he was already developing a new improved model. He worked on the Ilya Muromets series of aircraft that replenished the Imperial Air Force.
Russian designer I.I. Sikorsky managed to create an aircraft that was powered by four motors in a row. And this is the plane "Russian Knight", or, as it was also called, "Grand", which became the first of its kind in the whole world.