Kochyerigin DI-6

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The Kochyerigin DI-6 (developed as the TsKB-11) was a two-seat fighter biplane produced in the Soviet Union in the mid 1930s. It was a conventional design, its single-bay, staggered wings of unequal span braced by large I-struts, and the main units of the tail-skid undercarriage were retractable. The pilot and a tail gunner sat in tandem cockpits, the pilot's open, and the gunner's partially enclosed. To maximise the gunner's field of fire, the rear cockpit was set lower in the fuselage than the pilot's. The wing structure was wooden, covered in fabric, while the fuselage was built up from steel tube, skinned in metal at the front and fabric to the rear.

Development

The Di-6 was developed at TsKB as a fighter that would also be a useful ground-attack machine when fitted with different armament. Originally intended to use a liquid-cooled V-12 engine, problems with its development led to the choice of a radial engine instead, the Wright R-1820. The first flight took place on 30 September 1934, and testing began in earnest in early 1935, with State Acceptance Trials following between May and November. Despite a number of weaknesses discovered during testing, the type was ordered into production, and deliveries to the Air Force commenced in spring 1937.

Problems including excessive vibration, and a poor field of fire for the gunner, were never adequately resolved, and the various fixes implemented to cure these and other problems eventually added around 160 kg (350 lb) to the aircraft's weight. Production continued until 1939.

Operational history

Pre-Glastnost Western sources often reported these aircraft as having participated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol against Japan in 1939, and even in the Winter War against Finland, but more recent scholarship has failed to uncover any evidence that it was deployed in either case. [Mellinger]

A replica DI-6 is displayed in Victory Park, at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow.

pecifications (variant)

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?= met
crew=Two, pilot and tail gunner
capacity=
length m=6.87
length ft=22
length in=7
span m=9.94
span ft=32
span in=7
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=3.20
height ft=10
height in=6
wing area sqm=25.2
wing area sqft=271
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
wing profile=
empty weight kg=324
empty weight lb=713
gross weight kg=372
gross weight lb=818
lift kg=
lift lb=
eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Shvetsov M-25
eng1 kw= 520
eng1 hp= 700
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=
max speed kmh=313
max speed mph=196
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
stall speed kmh=
stall speed mph=
range km=550
range miles=340
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=7,700
ceiling ft=25,300
g limits=
roll rate=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=10.2
climb rate ftmin=2,000
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=
armament1=2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns under wings
armament2=1 × trainable, rearward-firing 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun in rear cockpit
armament3=50 kg (110 lb) bombs
armament4=
armament5=
armament6= aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
lists=

Notes

References

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* [http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/di-6.html Russian Aviation Museum]
* [http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/di6.html Уголок неба]
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