Kondratyev Fighter

[McGreig]

This is the first of what should be two projects for this GB, the Kondratyev supersonic fighter project. This was a real, but never built and poorly documented, Soviet project from 1953.

The fuselage comes from an old 1/72 Airfix Lightning F3, which I've had for years and from which various parts are missing. The wings, canopy and undercarriage are from a Leoman Su-9, the fuselage of which went to make an (as yet unfinished) Antonov fighter project. One set of tailplanes, which will become the fins, is left over from the Su-17 used for the VG Prowler project and the other set is from an old Revell MiG-29UB where I cross-kitted the Revell fuselage to Hasegawa flying surfaces.

There will also be a reasonable amount of plastic card, not in the photo, to deal with the removal of the Lightning spine, belly tank and lower rear fuselage.

I'm not sure what the armament will be - at the moment I've put in the Alkalis from the Su-9, but this may change and I'll probably add external fuel tanks.

[Brian da Basher]

Looks like a very interesting project, McG! Glad to have you joining us!

Brian da Basher

[Ed S]

This should make an interesting model.  But I was wondering if it was twin engined with the engines staggered or if it was single engine with the exhaust under the fuselage or it the extened tail housed a rocket?

Ed

[The Rat]

Whoa! Now this could be fun!

But I was wondering if it was twin engined with the engines staggered ...

There were a number of early Russian jets that had that sort of configuration, so it's a logical way to go.

[McGreig]

But I was wondering if it was twin engined with the engines staggered ...

There were a number of early Russian jets that had that sort of configuration, so it's a logical way to go.

Yes, it's a twin, designed around two AM-11 engines (The AM-11 was developed into the R-11 which powered the MiG-21).

[ysi_maniac]

I can honestly predict that this is a serious candidate to win

[The Rat]

Here's a couple of early Russian jobs with the same engine arrangement, from The Observer's Soviet Aircraft Directory by William Green and Gordon Swanborough, 1975. Unfortunately the book got a wee bit mildewed in storage:

[McGreig]

I've managed to make a start on this. There is still some minor filling and sanding to do, but the fuselage is now more or less done and I've test fitted one wing.

In the sketch the wing seems a little larger and broader at the tip. However, Soviet design bureaux tended to work within a framework of aerodynamic data and shapes created and tested centrally by TsAGI and the wing geometry of the MiG-21, MiG Ye-150/152, Su-9/11/15 and La-250 is almost identical. So I'm going on the basis that, if the Kondratyev fighter had made it to the hardware stage, the wing would have been similar in size and shape to the Su-9. (And, of course, I don't want to have to do any more work than absolutely necessary - - -)

[ysi_maniac]

I can honestly predict that this is a serious candidate to win

I agree with myself

[McGreig]

The basic airframe is now done, and the photos show the canopy tacked in place just to give an impression of the completed build.
However, there is still a lot of filling and sanding still to be done and I'm not sure about the size of the fins, which seem a bit small but also seem, to me, to be consistent with the fins in the original sketch

[ysi_maniac]

Gorgeous! Tail is a masterpiece of whiffery

[Mossie]

It's coming along nicely!  I wouldn't worry about the size of the fins, many early jets had a smaller fin area to reduce drag.

[kitbasher]

Wow!  Real Dan Dare stuff yet utterly believable.  Can't wait to see this one finished. 

[Brian da Basher]

That's just killer McG! I love the sleek look which is slightly off-set by the twin rudders. Sweet!

Brian da Basher

[thedarkmaster]

really love this one, in fact i really love all aircraft which carry red stars.

but no it`s cool. what colour scheme are you going for ? natural metal or grey ? not sure what else maybe on offer for a service type ?