Tupolev ANT-23 (I-12)

1931

Back to the Virtual Aircraft Museum
  FIGHTERVirtual Aircraft Museum / USSR / Russia / Tupolev  

Tupolev ANT-23 (I-12)

Of unconventional design in employing a tandem fore-and-aft engine arrangement and twin tailbooms embodying recoilless gun tubes as integral, but non-load-carrying, structural components, the ANT-23 single-seat fighter was conceived at the AGOS TsAGI by Viktor N Chernyshov, one of Tupolev's brigade leaders. Of all-metal construction with smooth stressed skinning for the fuselage and wing - the latter and the tail surfaces being strengthened by externally-attached inverted "U" strips - and tail covering, the fighter was powered by two 525hp Gnome-Rhone 9AK nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines. Armament consisted of two 76mm Kurchevski APK-4 recoilless weapons which were embodied in the tailbooms, the gun gases being discharged from their tails. Known unofficially as the Baumanskii Komsomolyets - in memory of the pre-revolutionary Communist after whom the district in which the TsAGI was situated was named - and officially as the I-12, the ANT-23 was first flown in late December 1931. Flight testing continued through early 1932, but, on 19 May, the port gun exploded, the tail-boom collapsing on touchdown. The aircraft was overweight and suffered substantially higher drag than had been calculated. Chernyshov and his team were developing a means of jettisoning the aft propeller to afford safe escape for the pilot in an emergency, but, at the beginning of 1933, the ANT-23 was abandoned.

3-View 
Tupolev ANT-23 (I-12)A three-view drawing (1663 x 1095)

Specification 
 WEIGHTS
  Take-off weight2400 kg5291 lb
 DIMENSIONS
  Wingspan15.60 m51 ft 2 in
  Length9.50 m31 ft 2 in
  Wing area30.00 m2322.92 sq ft
 PERFORMANCE
  Max. speed300 km/h186 mph

Tupolev ANT-23 (I-12)

Comments
wanshan, 20.06.2011 13:47

afford safe escape for the pilot in an emergency, but, at the beginning of 1933, the ANT-23 was abandoned.

reply

Do you have any comments?

Name    E-mail


COMPANY
PROFILE


All the World's Rotorcraft


All rhe World's Rotorcraft AVIATION TOP 100 - www.avitop.com Avitop.com