Aviation of World War II

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Shche-2

Light Transport Aircraft

Shcherbakov

Shche-2 (Light transport aircraft) - a high-wing tray with trapezoidal wing consoles, two 115 hp M-11D engines. with a spaced vertical tail, a large cargo compartment with a large door on the left side (1.43 × 1.64 m) of a well-streamlined fuselage. Chassis - fixed with fairings on wheels. The aircraft was designed to carry bulky cargo up to any engines, in-line and radial, weighing up to 1000 kg. This was necessary in war conditions for the maintenance of bases, when the requirements for the repair of combat aircraft were complicated by the constant movements of the repair bases during the offensive.

The structure is wooden with linen covering of the wing and tail, very light, for the sake of lightness in places and laborious. So, numerous stringers of a monocoque fuselage, pasted over with a canvas, were made in the form of miniature box-shaped spars with a section of 30×10 mm, with 1 mm walls and shelves-rails with an area of ​​4×8 mm, on glue and small nails. On the other hand, extraordinary lightness was achieved without sacrificing general and local strength. Destructive overload 5.85. Aerodynamic characteristic Aerodynamic characteristic Shche-2

Single-spar wing, 63.88 m ² area, landing gear struts - from La-5, wheels 600×180 and 300×125 mm, skis: 240×620 mm (1.42 m ²) and 800×380 mm (0, 24 m ²). Four gas tanks of 850 liters, welded from AMts. Motor mounts with rubber buffers.

The weight of an empty aircraft is 2210 kg, gasoline - 370 kg, oil - 40 kg, flight weight - 3400-3700 kg.

The history of the Shche-2 aircraft is as follows. At a small plant, aircraft were being repaired and a small series of containers under the wings of U-2 and R-5 aircraft were being built for the transport of small cargo. But it was necessary to transport fighter wings, whole engines, and there was an order for suspensions for air transportation of small anti-tank guns. The wings of fighters were transported under the wings of the R-5, but the aircraft could not carry the engines of the R-5. A. Ya. Shcherbakov - then the director and chief designer of the plant, and at the same time the head of the Main Directorate for the repair of aircraft of the NKAP was able to agree on the construction of a special cargo aircraft for the transport of bulky cargo, initially by order of naval aviation. In 1942, a project was presented and an aircraft was built under the TS-1 brand. In the summer of 1943, he successfully passed the tests, and in August it was decided to release a series under the Shche-2 brand. On October 3, 1943, production began at the Shcherbakov Design Bureau. The lead aircraft Shche-2 left in the summer of 1944.The series went on until the beginning of 1946.

The first released Shche-2 performed at least 20 flights on the Chkalov - Kuibyshev - Moscow route, showed a resource of up to 1000 hours. Shche-2 was widely used in units as transport (up to 16 people), cargo, ambulance (11 stretchers), landing (9 paratroopers), training for navigator training. There were five modifications of Shche-2: experimental (1942), serial cargo and ambulance (1944), navigational (1944), agricultural (1945) and even with OMS diesel engines taken from an American tank (1945 .). There was a lightweight version with a reduced wing (55 m ² instead of 64 m ² with the same tail area of ​​horizontal 10.14 m ² and vertical 5.48 m ²), with the same mass of 3400 kg, but without overload.

There was an unrealized project of a two-fuselage Shche-2 with three M-11Ds, nominated by Shcherbakov's deputy MV Lyapin.

Flight and operational tests of serial samples in the Air Force and Civil Air Fleet system have confirmed the good qualities of the aircraft. Only the agricultural option was not approved due to insufficient maneuverability on low level flight (85 s turn time) and low climb rate. In this version, the chassis was increased by 0.45 m and wheels 800X260 mm were taken.

The Shche-2 plane did not show all its capabilities. It was essentially a glider fly (motor glider) with a very high power load, reaching 16 kg /hp. Takeoff distance to climb 25 m - 980 m, landing - 560 m. He needed engines of 150-200 hp or MG-31 in 300 hp, provided for in the aircraft project, but terminated with the war. M-11D in 115 hp were definitely not enough for him, but there were no others for the series. And yet the Shche-2 plane was of great use, although the pilots did not really like it because of its low power.

However, flying with one engine running was possible near the ground with a mass of up to 3000 kg, that is, almost without a cargo. The aircraft was easy to operate, suitable and appropriate for local lines. It was also used after the war, being available to a pilot with below average qualifications.




Yak-6 Yak-6NNB Shche-2
Dimensions
Length, m 10.35 10.35 14.27
Wing span, m 14.0 14.0 20.48
Wing area, m² 29.6 29.6 20.48
Weight, kg:
Empty 1,368 1,433 2,270
Max takeoff weight 2,350 2,500 3,400/3,600
Powerplant
Engine 2 x M-11F 2 x M-11F 2 x M-11D
Power, hp 140 140 115
Performance
Max speed, km/h 230 180 160
Cruise speed, km/h 187 - 140
Time to 1,000 m, min 5.4 - 14
Service ceilling, m 3,380 3,380 2,400
Service range, km 900 580 2,160*

* - One way

Photo Description
Drawing Shche-2

Drawing Shche-2

The layout of the Shche-2 aircraft and dashboard

The layout of the Shche-2 aircraft and dashboard

The prototype of Shche-2 - TS-1 aircraft

The prototype of Shche-2 - TS-1 aircraft.

Bibliography

  • "The history of designs of planes in USSR 1938-1950" /Vadim Shavrov/
  • "Stories of the aircraft designer" /Alexander Yakovlev/
  • "The Soviet planes" /Alexander Yakovlev/

June 20, 2015

Looked at what is on the Internet on this aircraft. Most are simply copying an article by Vadim Borisovich Shavrov from the "History of Aircraft Designs in the USSR", without attribution, with some abbreviations and inaccuracies, but with a warning that copying site materials only if there is a link to the source. In the rest - the same article, retold "in their own words", sometimes with obvious errors, for example, with the statement that the M-11 is a diesel engine. And therefore, for the Internet, I propose another option - a classic article without cuts and abbreviations.

June 20, 2015

Somewhat surprised by the arrangement of instruments on the dashboard of the pilots. The commander and the co-pilot, instead of flight instruments on their instrument panels, are forced to observe the radio station tuning panels and other secondary instruments, and to pilot the aircraft, look at the middle instrument panel.

In general, such an arrangement is probably not from a good life, the plane was cheap and at low speeds forgave such "inconveniences"...

June 20, 2015

Here's what Mark Lazarevich Gallay says about this aircraft:

"We flew on a twin-engine transport Shche-2. It was a very good aircraft with a low wing load, very volatile, well controlled, stable, with a fairly roomy fuselage.

But he had one "but". The designer made the Shche-2 for the Argus engines of 240 hp, and only the M-11 with a rated power of 150 * hp was at his disposal. A machine that, roughly speaking, always flew as if with partial gas. Hence the long run-up and a small ceiling.

And then there is such "luck" that not far from Vyazma I have one engine falling apart in the air. It immediately dragged to the right, and the height was 50 meters. Of course, I kept Shche-2 from turning around, but it barely flew on two engines, and there was no question of flying on one. Fortunately, I saw some kind of clearing on the ground, quite energetically turned the plane around and flopped to the ground.

Having galloped over the bumps, the car stopped absolutely intact, confirming its reliability in such an extreme situation... "

* - in fact, for the then available M-11D, the take-off power did not exceed 125 hp.

June 28, 2015

Scheme of the Shche-2 twin-fuselage Scheme of the twin-fuselage three-engine Shche-2 according to the project Deputy Shcherbakov M.V. Lyapin. Thus, each pilot in his own cockpit will have his own set of flight and navigation instruments :-) The power of the power plant leaves much to be desired.

Here it is appropriate to recall the compound He-111Z. The problem of increasing the power of the power plant for the purpose of towing gliders was successfully solved by simply increasing the number of engines to five.

Jule 26, 2020

Lyapin's scheme from my site began to appear on the Internet. I would like to clarify a few things. Lyapin's plane did not exist and, accordingly, there could be no scheme. This scheme was compiled by me, as I represent it, this aircraft, on the basis of ready-made Shche-2 schemes. How much this scheme corresponds to the real one, one can only guess. Perhaps only there was a center section scheme ...
Why did such a "remake" appear on the historical site? I have extenuating circumstances. This "remake" appeared in the "Comments" section, and therefore has the right to be ...