In the OKB, together with the M-81 and M-71, they proactively developed a completely new M-82 engine, the leading designer of which was I.P. Evich. This small-sized engine was a 14-cylinder double-row "star" with the same cylinder diameter as all previous engines, but with a piston stroke shortened to 155 mm. This made it possible to significantly reduce the overall diameter of the motor - to 1260 instead of 1375 mm for the previous motors. The elongated nose of the crankcase made it possible to ensure good engine hooding when it was installed on an aircraft and thus to reduce the aerodynamic drag of the propulsion system. The motor had rather tense specific parameters: its take-off liter capacity was 41.3 liters. s / l, and the average effective pressure at the same mode is 15.5 kgf / cm & # 178; that is, significantly more than that of the M-71 and M-81. Nevertheless, the motor, as they say, "turned out" and was quickly recognized, though not without difficulties.

On May 22, 1941, the engine, designated M-82, underwent repeated state tests and was put into mass production. However, since the noted decision to remove the M-82 included the decision not to develop an aircraft for this engine, at the beginning of the war it was installed only on the first series of Tu-2 and a small series of Su-2. Versions of the MiG-3, Yak-1 and LaGG-3 under the M-82 were urgently ordered, but only the LaGG-3 variant turned out to be successful, later called the La-5 - a fighter that earned the recognition of the pilots. The M-82 engine was installed, in addition to the LA-5, on Tu-2 bombers, which went into a large series, unfortunately, only in the second half of the war.

The motor turned out to be very good, quite reliable, easy to operate and very tenacious. There were many cases of aircraft arriving from a combat mission with bullet and fragmentation holes in the cylinders, and the engine remained operational for a period of time, which in most cases was quite enough for a safe exit from the battle and return to the airfield or to its territory. On airplanes with water-cooled engines, any hole, say, in the cylinder block, would result in almost immediate engine failure.

In December 1942, a modification was released under the brand name M-82F, which differed from the M-82, mainly in unlimited take-off time. There is no need to say how important this feature was for the combat operation of the fighter: up to an altitude of about 1500-1600 m, the engine had an additional 200-300 hp in battle conditions. from. power. To ensure this mode, a number of units were improved for the M-82F motor, mainly the transmission to the monitoring station and the oil system.

In terms of characteristics, the M-82 surpassed the best examples of foreign motors. The German engine BMW-801 for FW-190 fighters was put into production only in 1942, and had less power and more weight than the M-82. It should be noted that the BMW-801 also had an important advantage - a single control unit for operating modes. All control was reduced to one lever associated with a single control unit, which automatically set the optimal boost and revs. There were no such domestic systems at that time. The most common serial two-row "stars" of the allies (American Wrights and British Bristol "Hercules") did not have any noticeable advantages over the M-82, but they were all larger in size.

ASh-82FN

Table 1

In 1943, the M-82FN engine with a takeoff power of 1850 hp was put into production from - the first Soviet serial engine, which instead of a carburetor had a system of direct fuel injection into the cylinders. Its design was significantly revised and strengthened, in particular, the ribbing of the cylinder heads was increased (by 27%), exhaust valves with an increased diameter of the rods were supplied, the section of the suction pipes was increased, the pistons were reinforced, and the design of the drive to the monitoring station was improved.

Motors M-82, M-82F and M-82FN were produced in two versions each: with a gearbox with a gear ratio of 9:16 for bombers, attack aircraft and transport aircraft, and 11:16 for fighters.

Since April 1, 1944, the OKB motors have received the right to be designated by the initials of the chief designer - ASh.

During the war, the series production included the M-63 motors (until mid-1941), M-82, M-82F, ASh-82FN and ASh-62IR. They were installed on the following aircraft:

ASh-62IR - on PS-35 and Li-2, and after the war - on An-2;

ASh-82 and ASh-82F - on La-5, Su-2, Su-4, TB-7, Tu-2 (first series);

ASh-82FN - on La-5FN, La-7, Tu-2, and after the war on La-9, La-11.

At the end of the war, the ASh-83 engine with a take-off power of 1900 hp was created. and with a nominal value of 1500 hp, at an altitude of 5750 m.The increase in the power and altitude of the engine required a significant change in its design, in particular, the layout of the units on the toe of the crankcase was revised, the crankshaft was reinforced, the design of the monitoring station was changed, a modified direct injection system was installed, the oil system was improved . The motor was mass-produced.

• Aircraft construction in the USSR 1917-1945 / TsAGI /