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Alekseyev I-218
Role Attack
National origin USSR
Manufacturer Alekseyev
Designer Semyon Mikhailovich Alekseyev
Number built 1

The I-218 was an attack aircraft designed and built in the USSR from 1947.

Development[]

Alekseyev designed the I-218 as a heavily armed, and armoured, attack aircraft for use in close support and anti-tank missions. The twin boom aircraft had a central nacelle housing the pilot and gunners cockpits as well as the engine and forward firing armament. All armoured and highly stressed parts were manufactured from 30KhGSNA nickel-steel. Flight testing may have commenced in 1948, but there is no direct evidence of this. Shortly after completion Alekseyev's OKB was closed and Alekseyev was sent to TsAGI (Tsentrahl'nyy Aerodinamicheskiy i Ghidrodinamicheskiy Institoot- central aerodynamics and hydrodynamics institute) before being given the task of supervising Dr. Brunholf Baade and his German team at OKB-1. The designation I-218 is in doubt and the aircraft may have been called, simply 218.

Variants[]

  • I-219 - (a.k.a. I-218-Ib) Tailwheel undercarriage, revised crew compartment and swept fins.
  • I-221 - (a.k.a. I-218-II) Enlarged jet-powered aircraft with one Lyulka TR-3 turbojet
  • I-220 - (a.k.a. I-218-III) The I-218-III powered with the Dobrynin VD-4 without turbo-chargers, driving pusher contra-props at the rear of the fuselage.

Specifications (I-218)[]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 13.88 m (45 ft 6½ in)
  • Wingspan: 16.43 m (53 ft 10¾ in)
  • Wing area: 45 m2 (484.4 ft2)
  • Gross weight: 9,000 kg (19,840 lb)
  • Powerplant: × Dobrynin VD-251, 1,491 kW (2,000 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 530 km/h (329 mph)
  • Service ceiling: 6,600 m (21,650 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 16.66666 m/s (3,280 ft/min)

Armament

  • 2 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon, 1 each in remote-controlled barbettes fitted on the outside of each tail boom.
  • 4 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon fixed in the lower forward fuselage.
  • 1500 kg (3,307 lb) of bombs on under-fuselage pylons.
  • 16 rockets carried under the outer wings.
  • See also[]

    References[]

    • Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
    • Gordon, Yefim. & Gunston, Bill “SovietX-Planes”. Hinkley, Midland. 2000. ISBN 1-85780-099-0

    External links[]

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