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Modelers Lounge => Time to relax => Topic started by: Jamo on August 05, 2013, 08:47:23 PM

Title: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Jamo on August 05, 2013, 08:47:23 PM

Couldn't resist sharing this one with you all. At first I thought it was a joke . . .

(http://tekstovi-pesama.com/g_img2/0/k/439499/k%25207-1.jpg)

(http://hushkit.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/kalinink-7monument2.jpg)

Designed by World War I aviator Konstantin Kalinin with a wingspan greater than the B-52 and a much greater wing area, the K-7 was one of the biggest aircraft built before the jet age. It was only one engine short of the B-52 as well, having the curious arrangement of six pulling on the wing leading edge and one pushing at the rear.

The K-7's very brief first flight showed up instability and serious vibration caused by the airframe resonating with the engine frequency. The solution to this 'flutter' was thought to be to shorten and strengthen the tail booms, little being known then about the natural frequencies of structures and their response to vibration. On the eleventh flight, during a speed test, the port tail boom vibrated, fractured, jammed the elevator and caused the giant aircraft to plunge to the ground, killing 15.
The K-7 was yet another example of the aviation policy dictated by the infant Soviet regime, which believed that the way to impress the rest of the world was to build aircraft bigger than anyone else's. On its first flight, on August 11, 1933, the pilots reported that they were generally content with the way the huge aircraft handled, except for the instability and vibration, which was found to be caused by the small-diameter propellers and ungeared engines. The aircraft test flights over Kharkov generated huge interest.

(http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/Kalinin-K7/IMAGES/Kalinin-K-7-Giant-Russian-Transport-SideView.jpg)

(http://texasbestgrok.mu.nu/images/Kalinin%20K-7.jpg)

(http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/Kalinin-K7/IMAGES/Kalinin-K-7-Pre-WWII-Giant-Communist-Flyer-Rendering.jpg)

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/aircraft/Kalinin-K7.html

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Des on August 06, 2013, 08:57:22 AM

5.4 foot wing span in 1:32 scale, this would certainly pose severe display area issues.

Des.

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Rob Hart on August 20, 2013, 01:02:37 PM

The 2nd photo is one of the most arresting aviation images I have seen. It looks like some kind of science fiction monster.

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Jamo on August 26, 2013, 06:48:58 PM

Here is another Russian beast of the air, the Aeroflot ANT-20 Maxim Gorky

(http://www.aviastar.org/pictures/russia/ant-20.jpg)

(http://flyghistoria.se/Images/1919-1938/ant20_tillverkning_pd.jpg)

(http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/uploads/1/Tupolov-ant-20-maxim-gorki-small.jpg)

(http://flyghistoria.se/Images/1919-1938/ant20_top_pd.jpg)

(http://rt.com/files/news/prime-time/plane-maxim-gorky-crashes/maxim-gorky-airplane.jpg)

And the bis version:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Aeroflot_ANT-20bis.jpg)

(http://api.ning.com/files/Zce5gBGPGJkfiTjh1OWYubo15CI0FxyQBIalWmtSrhEVd-rNogbfw75JBGXQ3IwjthAtueg5wwGpAJnxmi79pAEKrFba3SOo/ant2011.jpg)

Someone has even scratch built a model of one in 1/144 scale:

http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/publish/aviation/Scratchbuilt_1_144_Tupolev_ANT.php

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Nigel Jackson on August 26, 2013, 09:14:53 PM

What amazes me about the original photos - of the K-7 - is the thickness of the wings. These and much of the rest of the design seem to render the metaphor of an aircraft  cutting through the air ridiculous.

Best wishes
Nigel

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: kornbeef on August 26, 2013, 09:28:02 PM

It would look right at home on an *Indiana Jones* set.
When you look at it. It's hard to imagine it flying at all and some of the others resemble some *what if Kitbash group build*.

Fascinating though.


Keith

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: pepperman42 on August 27, 2013, 01:12:32 AM

The K-7 is just crazy but that ANT 20 is pretty cool all things considered - like a Stirling on HGH

Steve

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: LindsayT on August 27, 2013, 01:27:44 PM

Overheard at the design meeting...

"I dunno guys, I'm really not sure how well it'll fly. It looks like a pretty draggy airframe."

"What should we do?"

"Add wheel spats."

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: pepperman42 on August 27, 2013, 02:08:01 PM

Spats may be the sexiest thing you can put on an airplane!

Steve

Title: Re: Kalinin K-7 Russian Giant Transport/Bomber
Post by: Jamo on February 13, 2014, 07:14:24 PM

If you fell in love with this beast, it seems there is a model coming soon:

http://kampfgruppe144.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/1144-tupolev-ant-20bis-maxim-gorky.html

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JHUqhuXbxRY/Url6Eq_d-iI/AAAAAAAAJeg/L5FpzxeeNfI/s1600/1144+Tupolev+ANT-20+-+RusAIr+-+1.jpg)

Coming soon from RusAir