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Berezniak-Isayev BI

1942 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

The story of Berezniak-Isayev BI

Rockets and jet fighters were not the only developments in Germany, Great Britain and the United States during World War II (1939-1945), as the Soviet Union also did such work before the war. The Berezniak-Isayev BI series of rocket-powered prototypes were the culmination of these early effortsthey were developed to meet the Soviet Air Force's needs for short-range rocket-powered defense fighters, which were developed because of The German invasion of the Soviet Union opened the "Eastern Front" in June 1941. The aircraft first flew on May 15, 1942, and was actively tested in nine complete examples in March 1945.

It was an integral part of the post-war future Soviet aircraft development process.

The name and designation of the aircraft comes from its engineer couple Alexander Yakovlevich Bereznyak/Berezniak (1912-1974) and Aleksei Mikhailovich Isayev/Isaev (1908-1971). In July 1940, a high-speed rocket or ramjet was ordered.

The propulsion system developed along a slow but steady trajectory until accelerated by the German invasion. The design team had only 35 days to develop a viable platform, work began in July 1941, and workers had to live in the development facility.

Engineers designed a streamlined aircraft shape with fairly compact proportions and a proposed 4 x 14.5mm heavy machine gun battery pack. Its fuselage will be streamlined and aerodynamically efficient across the board. The cockpit is installed in the forward part of the midship, and the nose section is covered with a prong assembly. The rocket propulsion system will be located at the rear of the fuselage, forcing the fuselage spine to rise.

Since the propulsion system uses liquid propellant, there is no need for an air intake to inhale the engine. The rudders extend above and below the rear fuselage, with the usual horizontal stabilizers mounted in the middle. The fin also features a set of smaller vertical planes at its outer end. The main aircraft is mounted under and aft of the cockpit as a straight monoplane.

The landing gear can be retracted from the "tail" device and under the aircraft.

Aircraft prototypes were born from the first BI-1 and BI-2 airframes. Construction includes fabric and plywood as well as metal, and the original armament of 4 x machine guns has now been replaced by 2 x 20mm ShVAK cannons for a more powerful offensive strike. The plane sat a crew member under a light-frame canopy.

When complete, the aircraft will have a barrel length of 21 feet and a wingspan of 21 feet 3 inches. Its height (at rest) is 6 feet 9 inches. Curb weight is 2,115 lbs and maximum takeoff weight is 3,710 lbs. The expected top speed of the Dushkin D-1A-1100 liquid-fueled rocket engine is 497 mph.

Range is limited to 15 minutes of powered flight.

Due to the slow progress of the Dushkin rocket engine, the BI-1 prototype entered controlled soaring tests to prove the airframe's sound and improve some of its inherent weaknesses. In October 1941, due to the German advance, the development facilities were cleared and work was transferred to the Urals. After some more controlled ground tests, the plane finally took off on May 15, 1942.

BI-2 then took over the program and found itself at the center of several successful flights. On March 21, 1943, the BI-3 prototype was destroyed during a low-altitude full-throttle flight, killing the pilot. The cause of the crash was classified as "transonic," which revealed the aerodynamic limitations of the airframe design and suggested it would soon prove to be a technical dead-end under the program. Prototypes BI-5, BI-6, BI-7, BI-8 and BI-9 were subsequently completed in 1944, in final form using Merkulov DM-4 ramjets, in which the fuselage was towed before takeoff. The focus then shifted to Isaev's RD-1 rocket engine, which made only two flights.

A total of 12 flights using the BI prototype were recorded.

At this point, BI has reached its technological zenith, and no one form of production has ever succeeded. The Soviet Air Force had little interest in high-speed fighter jets with a time window of only 15 minutes, when the war in Germany was going well.

Still, the BI series well influenced future Soviet rockets and jets. The BI program was then terminated.