- Neman R-10
The R-10 (KhAI-5) was a Soviet reconnaissance and
light bomber aircraft, designed in the mid 1930s in theKharkov Aviation Institute (KhAI, HAI - in Russian: ХАИ), under the direction of Iosif G. Neman.Development
The first prototype of the plane, with a factory designation KhAI-5 (ХАИ-5), flew in June 1936. Despite a lower performance, the aircraft won a contest against another reconnaissance plane design, the Kotcherigin R-9, and was accepted for a production with the military designation R-10 ('R' meant a purpose - "razvyedchik" - reconnaissance). It was quite a modern design at that time. 493 R-10s had been manufactured in Kharkov and
Saratov aviation plants by early 1940. The first series showed some teething problems, and because of these I. Neman was arrested by theNKVD on December 11, 1938 under false accusation ofsabotage and espionage.In 1938, a variant KhAI-5bis was tested - fitted with an M-25E engine, it developed a speed of 425 km/h. In 1938 the KhAI-52 ground
attack aircraft , based on the R-10, was also developed . It was fitted with an M-63 900 hp (670 kW) engine and armed with 7machine gun s and 400-kg bombs. A production run of an experimental series of 10 aircraft was prepared, but it was canceled after I. Neman had been arrested.Some production R-10s were fitted with more powerful
Tumansky M-88 , Shvetsov M-62 and M-63 engines. Over 60 aircraft, withdrawn from the Air Force, were used from 1940 as mail carriers byAeroflot , under the designation PS-5 (Russian: ПС-5), with 3 passenger seats.Combat use
The aircraft entered service in the
Soviet Air Force in 1937, replacing somePolikarpov R-5 s. R-10s were first used in combat in the Soviet-JapaneseBattle of Halhin Gol in1939 . Then, they were used in the initial stage of theWorld War II , starting with use againstPoland in the Invasion of Poland (without combat encounters) and againstFinland in theWinter War (1939-1940). R-10s were next used in the first period of the German-Soviet war, following the German attack on June 22,1941 . By this time they were outdated and suffered heavy losses, as did the rest of the Soviet Air Force. Many planes were destroyed on airfields. They were used as close reconnaissance aircraft, and, in need also as light attack bombers. Later many were used as night bombers, to avoid losses in encounters with fighters. The remaining R-10s were withdrawn from combat service in1943 (two Finnish pilots claimed shooting R-10 in 1944).Description
The aircraft was conventional in layout, with low wings, of wooden construction, plywood covered. Fuselage of
semi-monocoque construction. Anundercarriage was retracted into the wings. The crew consisted of two: a pilot and an observer-rear gunner in separate cabs; the observer sat in a turret with one machine gun. In the observer cab's floor there was an AFA-13camera for reconnaissance duties. Between the crew cabs there were fuel tanks and a verticalbomb bay . The maximumbomb load was 300 kg (6 x 50 kg or 10 x 25 kg). The plane was powered initially by M-25A, later M-25Vradial engine power: 730 hp (540 kW). The two-blade propeller was made of metal.Operators
;Military Operators;USSR
*Soviet Air Force ;Civil Operators;USSR
*Aeroflot pecifications
aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref={name of first source}
crew= Two (pilot and observer)
capacity=
length main=9.40 m
length alt= 30 ft 10 in
span main= 12.20 m
span alt= 40 ft 0 in
height main= 3.80 m
height alt=12 ft 6 in
area main= 26.8 m²
area alt= 288.3 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 2,197 kg
empty weight alt= 4,833 lb
loaded weight main= 2,877 kg
loaded weight alt= 6,329 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=engine (prop)=
Shvetsov M-25
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=1
power main= 545 kW
power alt= 730 hp
power original=max speed main= 388 km/h
max speed alt= 210 knots, 240 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=1,300 km
range alt= 702 nm, 802 mi
ceiling main= 6,700 m
ceiling alt= 21,975 ft
climb rate main= 417 m/min
climb rate alt= 1,368 ft/min
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 2× fixed, forward-firing 7.62 mmShKAS machine guns in wings (450 rounds)
* 1× 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun in a rear turret (600 rounds)
* 300 kg (660 lb) bombload
avionics=ee also
aircontent
related=
*KhAI-1
* KhAI-6
* KhAI-52
similar aircraft=
*Heinkel He 70
*PZL.23 Karaś
*DAR-10
sequence=
R-1 -
R-5 -
R-6 -R-9 -R-10 -
R-12
lists=
*List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
see also=
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.