Tupolev ANT-7

__NOTOC__Infobox Aircraft
name=R-6


caption=
type= Experimental aircraft
manufacturer= Tupolev
designer=TsAGI
first flight= 20 October 1923
introduced= 1930's
retired= 1941
status= Retired
primary user= Soviet Air Force
more users= Aeroflot
Avia Arktika
produced= 1931-1934
number built= 411
variants with their own articles=The Tupolev R-6 (Development name ANT-7) was a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft and escort fighter. It traces its roots back to early 1928 when the Soviet Air Force needed a mutli-role aircraft. The requirements were that it could be used for transporting materials over a long-range, defensive patrolling, reconnaissance (thus its military designation was R-6. R stood for Razdevchik, or Reconnaissance), light bombing and for torpedo attacks.

Development of the TB-1/ANT-4.Two 533 kW M-17F.More than 400 built starting in 1929.

Design and Development

Under Ivan Pogosski and guided by Tupolev, TsAGI designed the ANT-7 off the ANT-7, scaling it down by about one third and retaining the open cockpit. However, a "passenger limo" with a closed cockpit was built. It had a cabin that could seat seven and had glass windows , and also had a luggage compartment. However, a year later, it crashed due technician overlooking something. Power for the ANT-7 was to come from two 520-610hp Hispano Suiza engines or two 420hp Bristol Jupiter engines, but actually, the plane was powered by two 500-710hp BMW VI's.

The ANT-7's first flight was on September 11, 1929, piloted by Mikhail Gromov. Flight tests started in March 1930 after TsAGi decided to postpone them until after the winter. That summer, the NII-VVS conducted state tests, realizing that the tailplane was pounded. To make up for this, the elevators were enlarged. The next flight encountered the problems radiator damage and an engine failure. In spit of this, the tests continued on and the ANT-7 passed.

Operational History

The ANT-7 was designated the R-6 by the Soviet Air Force. The first production one was rolled off the N22 assembly line in November 1931. This was one year after production started. 410 other aircraft was made during the following three years: 385 at N22 in Moscow ( one of these was a "passenger limo"), 5 were made at N31 in Taganrog (the ones at N31 were floatplanes and designated KR-6P), and 20 more at N12 in Komsonolsk-na-Amure.

The standard aircraft was called the "R-6" and was a reconnaissance aircraft, which had a pilot, gunner, and observer. It was able to carrry 250 lb of bombs for up to 600 miles. Some were built with floats, too. The ones with floats were designated KR-6P, which was a patrol plane, or the MR-2P, which was a torpedo carrier. Another variant was the KR-6 (the K standed for "Kreiser", meaning "Cruiser"), which had two PV-2 machine guns and the second crew member was a gunner. Later on, these planes would become trainers.

By 1935, the R-6 was becoming outdated, so the Soviet Air Force started to pull them out of service. Yet several were handed to Aeroflot and Avia Arktika, who used them to carry passengers and cargo. Aeroflot used it much in Siberia before the Great Patriotic War. The aircraft were designated the PS-7-2M17 (the "2M17" showed that the aircraft were powered by two Mikulin M-17's), or as MP-6-2M17 if floats were attached.

Variants

* R-6 - reconnaissance/escort fighter version, first flight 1929, trials 1930
* KR-6 - escort fighter version 1934
* MP-6 - civil floatplane version
* MR-6 - "Morskoj"(maritime) R-6, torpedo bomber version, 1932
* PS-7 - civil transport version PS-7 2M-17, cargo and passenger transport, first versions open cockpit, one version enclosed
* P-6 - civil cargo and passenger transport version
* R-6L - nine passenger civil transport version

Operators

;Military Operators;USSR
*Soviet Air Force

;Civil Operators;USSR
*Aeroflot
*Avia Arktika

pecifications (R-6)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=4
length main=15.06 m
length alt=49 ft 5 in
span main=23.20 m
span alt=76 ft 1 in
height main= m
height alt= ft in
area main=80.0 m²
area alt=861 ft²
empty weight main=3,856 kg
empty weight alt=8,501 lb
loaded weight main=6,472 kg
loaded weight alt=14,270 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= kg
max takeoff weight alt= lb
engine (prop)=M-17F
type of prop=V12 engines
number of props=2
power main=540 kW
power alt=720 hp
max speed main=230 km/h
max speed alt=120 knots, 140 mph
cruise speed main= km/h
cruise speed alt= kt, mph
range main=800 km
range alt=430 nm, 500 mi
ceiling main=5,620 m
ceiling alt=18,400 ft
climb rate main=2.7 m/s
climb rate alt=541 ft/min
loading main=81 kg/m²
loading alt=16 lb/ft²
power/mass main=170 W/kg
power/mass alt=0.10 hp/lb
armament=* Guns: 5 or 6× 7.62 mm PV-1 machine guns
* Bombs: up to 500 kg (1,100 lb)

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Tupolev TB-1
* Tupolev ANT-8
* Tupolev ANT-9
* Tupolev ANT-17
* Tupolev ANT-18
* Tupolev ANT-19
similar aircraft=
lists=
* List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
* List of military reconnaissance aircraft

References

* Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kankdalov. (1996) "Tupolev The Man and His aircraft". Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers.
*