Moscow Aviation Institute Sh-Tandem
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
|name=Sh-Tandem |image= |caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type |type=Attack aircraft |national origin= Soviet Union |manufacturer= Moscow Aviation Institute |designer=Peter Grushin |first flight= |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= |more users= |produced= |number built=3 |program cost= |unit cost= |developed from= |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Moscow Aviation Institute Sh-Tandem ({{langx|ru|Ш-Тандем}}, other designations include Sh-MAI and MAI-Tandem) was a Soviet experimental ground attack aircraft of the 1930s. Designed by Peter Grushin at the Moscow Aviation Institute (hence the MAI designation), the aeroplane featured an unusual tandem wing, with the tail planes as large as 45% of the wing area. Elevators served as ailerons at the same time. While similar in layout to contemporary Soviet fighters (notably the Polikarpov I-16), the design also included a rear gunner's turret in the tail.
Three prototypes were built and flight-tested by Petr Mikhailovich Stefanovskiy between late 1937 and 1939, but no serial production followed.
Design and development
In mid-1930s Soviet aviation circles were toying with the idea of a shturmovik – an attack aircraft capable both of strafing attacks, and limited fighter and bomber capabilities.Volkov (ed), p. 1 There were two simultaneous directions for the engineers. One was focused on what would eventually become Ilyushin Il-2 and Sukhoi Su-6 – basically a heavily armoured heavy fighter airframe fitted with guns and racks for bombs and rockets. Entirely different direction was a much lighter airframe, based on single-seat fighter planes, adapted for ground attack duties, of which none were eventually accepted.
One of the latter was Sh-Tandem designed by Pyotr Dmitrievich Grushin at the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). The design was a non-conventional tandem wing aeroplane. Even distribution of weight between front and rear sections allowed for more ordnance to be installed in the airframe, including a rear gunner's turret. Additionally, lack of a vertical stabiliser allowed for wider field of fire. At the same time the tandem wing configuration allowed for the wings to be constructed of wood rather than metal and – at least in theory – was to give the new construction unprecedented manoeuvrability. Internally the fuselage was conventional for its times: a wooden monocoque, covered in plywood with some areas covered in bakelite.
Both front and rear wings were to be equipped with ailerons and elevators. Instead of a single vertical stabiliser, there were two mounted under the rear wing. There were five planned variants for the actual mounting of the stabilisers, mounted either at both ends of the wing, mid-way, underneath it or extending both above and below. Eventually the variant with vertical stabilizers both below and above the rear wing was adopted as the most suitable.
The landing gear included two front wheels retractable into bays in the front wings, and a non-retractable tail wheel.
Serial production Sh-Tandems were to be powered by the new Tumansky M-88 air-cooled radial engine. However, as they were not yet available, the prototypes used the earlier Tumansky M-87A instead.
Specifications (Sh-Tandem)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=[http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/sh-tandem.html Alexandre Savine]
|prime units?=met
|genhide=
|crew=2
|capacity=
|length m=8.5
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=11
|span ft=
|span in=
|span note=
|upper span m=
|upper span ft=
|upper span in=
|upper span note=
|mid span m=
|mid span ft=
|mid span in=
|mid span note=
|lower span m=
|lower span ft=
|lower span in=
|lower span note=
|swept m=
|swept ft=
|swept in=
|swept note=
|dia m=
|dia ft=
|dia in=
|dia note=
|width m=
|width ft=
|width in=
|width note=
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=30.4
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=2560
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|lift kg=
|lift lb=
|lift note=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Tumansky M-87
|eng1 type=air-cooled radial engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=930
|eng1 note=
|power original=
|thrust original=
|prop blade number=3
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|rot number=
|rot dia m=
|rot dia ft=
|rot dia in=
|rot area sqm=
|rot area sqft=
|rot area note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|max speed mach=
|cruise speed kmh=488
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed mph=
|minimum control speed kts=
|minimum control speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range nmi=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|sink rate ms=
|sink rate ftmin=
|sink rate note=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=84
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading lb/sqft=
|disk loading note=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
|armament=
- 5 x ShKAS machine guns
- 200 kg bombs
|guns=
|bombs=
|rockets=
|missiles=
|hardpoints=
|hardpoint capacity=
|hardpoint rockets=
|hardpoint missiles=
|hardpoint bombs=
|hardpoint other=
|other armament=
|avionics=
}}
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.airwar.ru/enc/aww2/shtandem.html|script-title=ru:Ш-Тандем|editor=Dale Volkov|website=Ugolok neba|trans-title=Sh-Tandem|accessdate=September 30, 2017|language=ru|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808165045/http://www.airwar.ru/enc/aww2/shtandem.html|archivedate=August 8, 2013}}
- {{in lang|ru}} [http://ru-wunderluft.livejournal.com/128086.html?thread=1660246 wunderluft]
- [http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/sh-tandem.html Alexandre Savine]
{{refend}}