Bljaev OI-1 fighter

[maxmwill]

Here is an experimental fighter from the Soviet Union from the Great Patriotic War.

Found this in Wings Palette.

See if you can recognize which fighter it is derived from:

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/1870/1/0#1

[McGreig]

See if you can recognize which fighter it is derived from

Possibly this one :

[maxmwill]

Yes, that's the one.

Did you scratch build that?

Looks pretty good, although I'm tempted to try it in 1/48.

[McGreig]

Did you scratch build that?

Yes, it's made from two 1/72 Academy P-39s and a lot of plastic card. It's not obvious from the photos but it retains all four main undercarriage legs, like the Bf-109Z or the initial proposals for the Do-635. In contrast, Belyayev's project had only two main wheels, positioned under the outboard wing roots and retracting inwards across the fuselages into the inner wing.

The backstory for this build has been on the Forum before but, as that was in 2007, most members probably haven't read it so, for what it's worth, here it is again:

"Soviet designer Viktor Belyaev, who specialised in designs using twin fuselages and swept forward wings (see Gordon & Gunston's "Soviet X-Planes" for details of some of his designs, including the DB-LK twin fuselage medium bomber) designed the single seat, twin fuselage OI-2 fighter in 1941.

This was occasionally referred to as the "Twin Kobra" because of its strong resemblance to a twinned Bell P-39. However, although it used the P-39 concept of mid-fuselage engine location and car door type cockpit entry, it seems to have been an entirely original design (the Soviet Union didn't get its first P-39s until December 1941).

Unfortunately, although the OI-2 received the go-ahead in April 1941, the project was abandoned two months later when war broke out.

Belyaev's OKB was disbanded and Belyaev spent the War at Factories 166 and 288 as head of the strength calculations bureau of Myasischev's OKB.

However, it is known that he took the loss of his OKB and the destruction of his unusual designs very hard and it isn't a big What If to suppose that he persisted with the concepts while working for Myasischev or that, given the vast quantities of P-39s and P-63s available in the USSR at the time, he could have begged, borrowed or stolen two old Airacobras to convert into a proof-of-concept aircraft.

Which, of course, in the "What If" world, is exactly what he did. Unfortunately, by the time he got a prototype in the air the concept was thought to be obsolete and the sole example of this interesting aircraft eventually rotted away in a corner of Factory 288 as all energies were focussed on the development of jet aircraft - - - -

Unless, of course, anyone has any other ideas. Like, maybe, a jet version. Or a twin P-63. On floats. Or something - - -

The model itself was made from two Academy P-39s and a lot of plastic card and putty. The geometry is based on the proportions of the Me-109Z. Although Lend Lease aircraft were rarely repainted, it's finished in the Soviet late war greys on the assumption that such a major rebuild would have required a new coat of paint."

[maxmwill]

Ok.

I appreciate the background, because, I had thought that the name of the designer was Bljaev, not Belyayev, although that might've been a contraction of his name.

And, since you mentioned his DB-LK, with which I am familiar(yes, I have the Gunston book, and I consider it to be something of a wish book for future projects), what might have happened had it been accepted and put into production? As a bomber, I can see the direct potential, but as a very large heavy fighter, or something similar?

Maybe that could be the start of another thread.

[NARSES2]

Well the December Model Aircraft magazine has a very interesting article about Soviet WWII aerial radar and nightfighter development. So a nightfighter ?

[maxmwill]

Ok, the discussion could sway that way, or another thread could have that as a subject.

Could we stick with existing types at the time, or go in another direction?

Say, with the DBLK for an example?

I'm not sure, but I think that that monster might've been able to do the job, with not only the speed, but the carrying capacity of its sheer size, with that forward swept wing enabling it to do interesting things(mebbe replace the Shvestov radials with early Kuznetsov turboprop engines?), given engines of sufficient power.

Or, say KA Kalinin wasn't executed, but lived on to design something that would overshadow the effects of the K7.