On February 12, 1914, the first passenger plane Ilya Muromets set a world record for the maximum number of passengers on board.
Aircraft "Ilya Muromets"
16 people and an airfield dog named "Shkalik" were lifted into the air. A whole crowd gathered to watch an unusually large aircraft for that time. The designer of "Ilya Muromets" Sikorsky I.I. was confident in his plane, and flew over the city at a low altitude for that time - only 400 meters. At that time, pilots of single-engine aircraft avoided flying over cities, since in the event of an engine failure, an emergency landing in urban conditions could be fatal.
4 engines were installed on the Muromets, so Sikorsky was confident in the safety of the aircraft. Stopping two of the four motors does not necessarily have to cause the plane to descend. During the flight, people could walk on the wings of the aircraft, and this did not upset the balance of Ilya Muromets (Sikorsky I. I. himself did the wing during the flight to make sure that if necessary, the pilot would be able to repair the engine right in the air). At that time it was completely new and made a big impression.
Aircraft test
It was Ilya Muromets that became the first passenger aircraft. For the first time in the history of aviation, he had a cabin separate from the cockpit. The salon had bedrooms, heating, electric lighting and imagine even a bathroom and toilet.
Separate salon
Tsar Nicholas II appreciated the success of Sikorsky and his aircraft. The State Duma awarded the designer a huge cash prize in the amount of 75,000 royal rubles. In modern money, this equals $2,296.50 or £1,404.75.
2013 - 2019 Digest of events.
From 1913 to 1918 in Russia, the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works (Russobalt) produced several series of the Ilya Muromets (C-22) aircraft, which was used both for civilian and military purposes, and set a number of world records. About this aircraft and will be discussed in this article.
The famous aircraft was created by the aviation department of the Russo-Balt plant, under the leadership of a team headed by Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (in 1919 he emigrated to the United States and became famous for designing helicopters). Such designers as K. K. Ergant, M. F. Klimikseev, A. A. Serebrov, Prince A. S. Kudashev, G. P. Adler also participated in the creation of the aircraft.
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, born in 1914
The predecessor of "Ilya Muromets" was the aircraft "Russian Knight" - the world's first four-engine aircraft. It was also designed at Russbalt under the direction of Sikorsky. Its first flight took place in May 1913, and on September 11 of the same year, the only copy of the aircraft was badly damaged by an engine that fell off the Meller-II aircraft. They did not restore it. The Ilya Muromets became the direct successor of the Russian Knight, the first copy of which was built in October 1913.
"Russian Knight", 1913
"Ilya Muromets" with engines "Argus" in St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1914. In the cockpit - Captain G. G. Gorshkov
Unfortunately, at that time in Russian Empire there was no own production of aircraft engines, so the German engines Argus (Argus) with a capacity of 100 hp were supplied to the Ilya Muromets. each (later other types of motors were installed, including the Russian R-BV3 developed in 1915).
The wingspan of the Ilya Muromets was 32 m, and total area wings - 182 m 2. All the main parts of the aircraft were made of wood. The upper and lower wings are assembled from separate parts connected by connectors.
Already on December 12, 1913, the aircraft set a payload record - (the previous record on Sommer's aircraft was 653 kg).
And on February 12, 1914, 16 people and a dog were lifted into the air, with a total weight of 1290 kg. The plane was piloted by I. I. Sikorsky himself. For demonstration purposes, the aircraft made many flights over St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Entire crowds gathered to watch an unusually large aircraft for that time. Sikorsky was confident in his plane, and flew over the city at a low altitude for that time - only 400 meters. At that time, pilots of single-engine aircraft avoided flying over cities, because. in the event of an engine failure, a forced landing in urban conditions could be fatal. 4 engines were installed on the Muromets, so Sikorsky was confident in the safety of the aircraft.
Stopping two of the four motors does not necessarily have to cause the plane to descend. During the flight, people could walk on the wings of the aircraft, and this did not upset the balance of Ilya Muromets (Sikorsky himself did the wing during the flight to make sure that, if necessary, the pilot could repair the engine right in the air). At that time it was completely new and made a big impression.
It was Ilya Muromets that became the first passenger aircraft. For the first time in the history of aviation, he had a cabin separate from the cockpit, with sleeping quarters, heating, electric lighting, and even a bathroom with a toilet.
The world's first high-speed long-range flight of a heavy aircraft was made by Ilya Muromets on June 16-17, 1914 from St. Petersburg to Kyiv (flight range - more than 1200 km). In addition to Sikorsky, co-pilot Captain Christopher Prussis, navigator and pilot Lieutenant Georgy Lavrov and mechanic Vladimir Panasyuk participated in this flight.
There is almost a ton of fuel in the tanks, a quarter of a ton of oil. In case of elimination of breakdowns, there were ten pounds (160 kg) of spare parts on board.
During this flight, an emergency occurred. Shortly after the take-off was made after a planned landing in Orsha (a city in the Vitebsk region), a fuel supply hose was disconnected from the right engine, most likely due to strong chatter, as a result of which the flowing stream of gasoline ignited and a flame raged behind the engine. Panasyuk, who jumped onto the wing, almost died, trying to put out the flames - he himself was doused with gasoline and caught fire. He was saved by Lavrov, putting out a fire extinguisher, he also managed to shut off the fuel supply valve.
Sikorsky successfully made an emergency landing, and the plane was quickly, within an hour, repaired, but because dusk was approaching, it was decided to spend the night.
We reached Kyiv without further incident. The return flight did without major accidents, but Sikorsky had to go out on the wing to tighten the carburetor nuts of one of the engines that had become loose from shaking. The return flight Kyiv-Petersburg was completed in one day in 14 hours 38 minutes, which was a record for heavy aviation. In honor of this event, the series was named Kyiv.
In the spring of 1914, a modification of the Ilya Muromets was released in the form of a seaplane, and until 1917 it remained the largest seaplane in the world.
At the end of July, the War Department placed an order for 10 aircraft of this type. By the beginning of the First World War (August 1, 1914), 4 Ilya Muromets were built, and all of them were transferred to the army, to the imperial air force.
On October 2, 1914, a contract was signed for the construction of 32 Ilya Muromets aircraft at a cost of 150 thousand rubles. The total number of ordered cars was 42.
However, from the pilots who tested the aircraft in combat conditions, there were negative feedback. Staff Captain Rudnev reported that the Muromets was not climbing well, had low speed, and was not protected, and therefore Przemysl fortress could only be monitored at a great distance and at the highest possible height. No bombardments or flights behind enemy lines were reported.
The opinion about the aircraft was negative, as a result, a deposit of 3.6 million rubles was issued to the Russobalt plant. rub. for the construction of ordered aircraft was suspended.
The situation was saved by Mikhail Vladimirovich Shidlovsky, who headed the aviation department of Russo-Balt. He acknowledged that the aircraft had flaws, but pointed out that the crews were not sufficiently trained. He agreed to suspend the construction of 32 vehicles, but insisted on building the first ten so that they could be fully tested in combat conditions. They were asked to form "Ilya Muromets" into squadrons, following the example of the navy.
Nicholas II approved this idea, and on December 10, 1914, an order was issued according to which Russian aviation was divided into heavy, subordinate to the Headquarters Supreme High Command, and light, included in military units and subordinate to Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. This historic order laid the foundation for strategic aviation. By the same order, a squadron of ten combat and two training ships of the Ilya Muromets type was formed. Shidlovsky himself was appointed commander of the squadron, called to military service. He was awarded the rank of major general, and thus he became the first aviation general (unfortunately, in August 1918, M.V. Shidlovsky was shot by the Bolsheviks together with his son while trying to leave for Finland).
The created squadron was based near the town of Jablonna near Warsaw, 40 km away.
Aircraft "Ilya Muromets" were used as bombers. In addition to bombs, they were armed with a machine gun. The first sortie in the created squadron took place on February 21, 1915 by an aircraft under the command of Captain Gorshkov, but to no avail - the pilots got lost, and not finding a target (Pillenberg), returned back. The second flight took place the next day and was successful. A series of 5 bombs was dropped on the railway station. The bombs fell right in the middle of the rolling stock. The result of the bombing was photographed.
On March 18, photo reconnaissance was carried out along the route Jablonna - Willenberg - Neidenburg - Soldnu - Lautenburg - Strassburg - Tori - Plock - Mlawa - Jablonna, as a result of which it was found out that there was no concentration of enemy troops in this sector. For this flight, the crew was awarded, and Captain Gorshkov was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In the same March, M.V. Shidlovsky wrote a report on the capabilities of the aircraft based on the results of sorties:
1) Carrying capacity (payload) 85 pounds. During combat flights with a fuel reserve of 5 hours and when armed with 2 machine guns, a carbine, bombs, you can take up to 30 pounds with a permanent crew of 3 people. If instead of bombs we take gasoline and oil, then the duration of the flight can be increased to 9-10 hours.
2) The speed of lifting the ship at the specified load at 2500 meters is 45 minutes.
3) The flight speed of the ship is 100 - 110 kilometers per hour.
4) Ease of control (the crew is in a closed room, and the pilots can change each other).
5) good review and convenience of observation (binoculars, tubes).
6) Ease of taking pictures and throwing bombs.
7) At present, the squadron has three warships of the Ilya Muromets Kyiv type, but with engines high power, of which two can make combat flights, and one in the assembly. By the end of April, the squadron will have six combat-type ships, since the engines for the last four have already been received.
Chief of the aircraft squadron "Ilya Muromets" Major General Shidlovsky
Throughout the war, this squadron made 400 sorties, dropped 65 tons of bombs and destroyed 12 enemy fighters, while losing only one aircraft directly in battles with enemy fighters.
Thanks to the success of the squadron, in April 1915, the order for the construction of 32 aircraft was unfrozen. "Ilya Muromets" were to be built before May 1, 1916.
In 1915, the production of the G series with a crew of 7 people, G-1, began in 1916 - G-2 with a shooting cabin, G-3, in 1917 - G-4. In 1915-1916, three machines of the D series (DIM) were produced.
As mentioned above, in 1914 the Russian Empire did not produce its own aircraft engines, which was a serious threat in the First World War. In 1915, at the Russo-Balt Riga plant (the plant’s automotive production was located in Riga, and the aircraft production was in Petrograd. From July to September 1915, as the front approached Riga, the equipment of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works was evacuated to different cities of the empire Carriage production was transferred to Tver, automobile production - to Petrograd and partly to Moscow, to Fili) engineer Kireev designed the R-BVZ aircraft engine. It was a six-cylinder, two-stroke, water-cooled engine with car-type radiators on the sides. After installing these Russian engines on the IM-2, it turned out that these engines are better than Salmson and Sabim both in quality and in performance. In some respects, these Russian engines were superior to the German Argus, which were originally installed on this aircraft.
In the autumn of 1915, for the first time in the history of aviation, one of them lifted into the air and dropped a bomb of enormous weight for that time - 25 pounds (400 kg).
In total, about 80 Ilya Muromets aircraft were produced. Between October 30, 1914 and May 23, 1918, 26 aircraft of this type were lost and written off. Moreover, only 4 of them were shot down or received non-repairable damage as a result of battles, the rest died either due to technical malfunctions, piloting errors, or natural disasters such as storms and hurricanes.
You can see the full table of Ilya Muromets aircraft losses.
In 1918, not a single sortie of Muromtsev was made. During civil war the reds in August-September 1919 were able to use 2 aircraft in the Orel region. During the Soviet-Polish war of 1920, several sorties of this aircraft were made, and on November 21, 1920, the last sortie of the Ilya Muromets was made in the hostilities against Wrangel.
After 1918, "Ilya Muromets" was no longer produced, but the aircraft remaining after the First World War and the Civil War were still used. The first Soviet regular postal passenger airline Moscow - Orel - Kharkov was opened on May 1, 1921, and for 43 flights made from May 1 to October 10, 1921, 60 passengers and more than two tons of cargo. Due to the severe deterioration of the aircraft, the route was eliminated.
One of the mail planes was handed over to the School of Aerial Shooting and Bombing (Serpukhov), where about 80 training flights were made on it during 1922-1923. After that, the Muromets did not rise into the air.
10. Russian-Baltic Carriage Works
11. Finne K.N. Russian air heroes
The Air Force Museum exhibits a model of "Ilya Muromets", equipped with Czech-made engines. It was made in life size commissioned by the film studio "Mosfilm" for the filming of the film "The Poem of the Wings". The layout is able to steer and jog around the airfield. It entered the Air Force Museum in 1979 and has been exhibited since 1985 after a refurbishment.
As always, I use information from sites
http://www.airwar.ru
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki
and other sources found by me in the internet and literature.
Ilya Muromets (S-22 "Ilya Muromets") - the common name for several series of four-engine all-wood biplanes produced in Russia at the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works during 1913-1918. The aircraft set a number of records for carrying capacity, number of passengers, time and maximum flight altitude.
The aircraft was developed by the aviation department of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works in St. Petersburg under the leadership of I. I. Sikorsky. The technical staff of the department consisted of such designers as K. K. Ergant, M. F. Klimikseev, A. A. Serebrov, Prince A. S. Kudashev, G. P. Adler and others. “Ilya Muromets” appeared as a result of further development of the design "Russian Knight", during which it turned out to be almost completely redesigned, only general scheme aircraft and its box of wings with four engines installed in a row on the lower wing, the fuselage was fundamentally new. As a result, with the same four 100 hp Argus engines. the new aircraft had twice the mass of the load and maximum height flight.
"Ilya Muromets" became the world's first passenger aircraft. For the first time in the history of aviation, it was equipped with a comfortable cabin separate from the cockpit, sleeping rooms and even a bathroom with a toilet. The "Muromets" had heating (exhaust gases from engines) and electric lighting. On the sides there were exits to the wings. The beginning of the First World War and the Civil War in Russia prevented the further development of domestic civil aviation.
The construction of the first machine was completed in October 1913. After testing, demonstration flights were made on it and several records were set, in particular, a payload record: December 12, 1913 1100 kg (the previous record on Sommer's plane was 653 kg), February 12, 1914 16 people were lifted into the air and a dog, with a total weight of 1290 kg. The plane was piloted by I. I. Sikorsky himself.
In the spring of 1914, the first Ilya Muromets was converted into a seaplane with more powerful engines. In this modification, it was accepted by the maritime department and remained the largest hydroplane until 1917.
The second aircraft (IM-B Kyiv), smaller in size and with more powerful engines, on June 4 lifted 10 passengers to a record height of 2000 meters, on June 5 set a flight duration record (6 hours 33 minutes 10 seconds), June 16-17 made a flight Petersburg-Kyiv with one landing. In honor of this event, the series was named Kyiv. In 1915-1917, 3 more aircraft were produced with the name "Kyiv" (one of the G-1 series, the other G-2, see below).
Aircraft such as the first and Kyiv were called series B. In total, 7 copies were produced.
By the beginning of the war (August 1, 1914), 4 Ilya Muromets had already been built. By September 1914 they were transferred to the Imperial Air Force.
During the war, the production of aircraft of the B series, the most massive (30 units were produced), began. They differed from the B series in their smaller size and greater speed. The crew consisted of 4 people, some modifications had two motors. Bombs weighing about 80 kg were used, less often up to 240 kg. In the autumn of 1915, an experiment was made in bombing a 410-kilogram bomb.
In 1915, the production of the G series with a crew of 7 people, G-1, began in 1916 - G-2 with a shooting cabin, G-3, in 1917 - G-4. In 1915-1916, three machines of the D series (DIM) were produced. Aircraft production continued until 1918. G-2 aircraft, on one of which (the third in a row with the name "Kyiv") an altitude of 5200 m was reached, were used in the Civil War.
In 1918, not a single sortie of Muromtsev was made. Only in August-September 1919 Soviet republic was able to use two cars in the Orel area. In 1920, several sorties were made during the Soviet-Polish war and military operations against Wrangel. On November 21, 1920, the last sortie of Ilya Muromets took place.
On May 1, 1921, the first postal passenger airline Moscow-Kharkov was opened in the RSFSR. The line was served by 6 "Muromtsev", heavily worn out and with exhausted engines, which is why it was liquidated on October 10, 1922. During this time, 60 passengers and about 2 tons of cargo were transported.
In 1922, Socrates Monastyrev flew from Moscow to Baku on the Ilya Muromets plane.
One of the mail planes was handed over to the School of Aerial Shooting and Bombing (Serpukhov), where about 80 training flights were made on it during 1922-1923. After that, the Muromets did not rise into the air.
Ilya Muromets IM-B IM-V IM-G-1 IM-D-1 IM-E-1 Aircraft type bomber Developer Aviation department of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works Who used the Air Fleet of the Russian Empire Production time 1913-1914. 1914-1915 1915-1917 1915-1917 since 1916 Length, m 19 17.5 17.1 15.5 18.2 Upper wing span, m 30.9 29.8 30.9 24.9 31.1 Lower wing span, m 21.0 Wing area , m² 150 125 148 132 200 Empty weight, kg 3100 3500 3800 3150 4800 Loaded weight, kg 4600 5000 5400 4400 7000 Flight duration, hour 5 4.5 4 4 4.4 Ceiling, m 3000 3500 3000 ? 2000 Climb 2000/30" 2000/20" 2000/18" × 2000/25" Maximum speed, km/h 105 120 135 120 130 Engines 4 pcs. (in-line) Argus Russobalt Sunbeam Sunbeam Renault" 140 hp 150 HP 160 HP 150 HP 220 HP How much is produced 7 30 ? 3? Crew, pers. 5 5-6 5-7 5-7 6-8 Armament 2 machine guns 4 machine guns 6 machine guns 4 machine guns 5-8 machine guns 350 kg of bombs 417 kg of bombs 500 kg of bombs 400 kg of bombs 300-500 kg Lewis and Madsen machine guns .
Judging by the exterior, we have a copy of type B.
(IM-V, lightweight combat, narrow-winged): an aircraft of somewhat reduced size and weight, better suited for combat use. Gas tanks moved to the roof of the fuselage. Increased cab glass area. Armament: 1-2 machine guns various types on pivot installations in the dorsal cutout of the upper wing between the gas tanks. Sometimes a light machine gun was taken on a flight to fire through the windows in the fuselage. Crew: 4 people. In 1914-1915, over 30 copies of the IM-V were built, most of which were equipped with four Sunbeam engines of 150 hp each. each. Other options are also known: 4 Argus 140 hp each, 4 RBVZ-6 150 hp each, 2 Salmson 200 hp each, 2 Sunbeam 225 hp each. The twin-engine "Muromets" were inferior in performance to the four-engine ones and were considered training. The bomb load of the IM-V reached 500 kg.
One ship was equated with a field detachment and attached to the headquarters of armies and fronts.
They say that this layout could even take off from the ground flying up to a length of several tens of meters.
rear chassis
chassis
engine
Now let's get inside
steering wheel
ores
pedals
appliances
what is this?
thrust from ores
fuel system: since the tanks are above the roof, the fuel enters the engines by gravity
pressurized air?
general form
view from the cockpit towards the tail section
what's behind the door in the tail compartment
navigator's workplace
The bombs were placed both inside the aircraft (vertically along the sides) and on the external sling. By 1916, the bomb load of the aircraft had increased to 800 kg, and an electric drop was designed to drop the bombs. Also, the aircraft was equipped with defensive small arms: in various amounts and in different combinations machine guns Maxim, Lewis, Madsen, Colt, 12.7 mm, 15.3 mm, 25 mm, 37 mm and even 76.2 mm guns were installed on it, among them - experimental recoilless models of Leonid Kurchevsky .
bomb mount
bombsight
plus machine gun
Russia is famous for many inventions, however, one of the most outstanding was the world's first bomber. Its name was somewhat unusual, but at the same time intimidating. Still, because the airplane bore the name of a strong and mighty epic hero Ilya Muromets.
"Bogatyr" began its creation in August 1913, but already in December the very first prototype of this model was going to take off. The conditions were not the most favorable, because it was winter outside. But smart Russian designers found a way out of this situation, they simply put skis on Ilya. Thanks to this, having gone 283 meters of the runway, the bomber took off to a height of 1000 meters, also “carrying on its shoulders” a load weighing 1100 kg. However, it was thanks to this that he managed to break the record of another airplane, which carried a weight of only 653 kg.
In February 1914, the aircraft designer Sikorsky flew with 6 passengers, among whom was the favorite of the entire airfield - a dog named Shkalik. This time the weight of the cargo was 1190 kg. This flight was a real achievement, because in addition to the fact that there were relatively many passengers on board, Ilya Muromets flew over St. Petersburg, and after that, he flew over the suburbs and was not even afraid to descend to a fairly low altitude. All this is due to the fact that Sikorsky was confident that several engines could ensure the proper safety of the aircraft.
Airplane Ilya Muromets video
On August 1, 1914, 4 Muromets were built, and a month later they were delivered to the Imperial Air Force. It was then that this model began to be used as a bomber, because the rest of the aircraft were intended exclusively for reconnaissance. A month later, the EVK was created - the world's first formation of bombers. Since this kind of airplane had not been flown before, it was necessary to train students and conduct master classes for them. But the efforts were justified by their results, because during the entire war, 400 sorties were made on Muromets, 65 tons of bombs were dropped and 12 fighters were destroyed.
There were also several series of “heroes”, starting from A and ending with G. Each of them was more perfect than the previous one, however, despite this, after the war, Ilya Muromets bombers played the role of mail planes for several more years, and were soon completely removed from production.
Aircraft Ilya Muromets characteristics
However, we should still be proud of the fact that the world's first bomber was designed precisely in the USSR and showed not only excellent results, but during the war he helped defend our Motherland!
"Ilya Muromets" - a series of four-engine solid wood biplanes (1913-1918). The aircraft was developed by the aviation department of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works (RBVZ) in St. Petersburg. In total, about 80 cars were produced.
The young aircraft designer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (1889-1972) began to develop an experimental aircraft for strategic reconnaissance in the winter of 1912-1913, commissioned by the Ministry of War. Initially, Sikorsky's experimental machine was called the "Grand", in May 1913 it was renamed the "Big Russian-Baltic", and at the end of June - the "Russian Knight". The aircraft "Russian Knight" (C21) was the prototype of all subsequent heavy aircraft with engines mounted on the wing in a row. The plane went well. He made his first flight in May 1913, and on August 2 he set a world flight duration record - 1 hour 54 minutes. Its direct successor is the aircraft "Ilya Muromets" (C22), named after the epic Russian hero. On December 10, 1913, his first flight took place.
After successful testing of the first apparatus, the Main Military Technical Directorate of the Russian Empire signed a contract on May 12, 1914 with the RBVZ for the construction of 10 more airplanes of this type.
AT normal conditions to take off "Ilya Muromets" required a distance of 400 steps - 283 m. air plane with 16 passengers on board. The weight of the lifted load on that day was already 1190 kg. By the spring of 1914, Sikorsky built a second copy of the aircraft. The aircraft was equipped with two internal engines"Argus" with a capacity of 140 liters. With. and two external, 125-strong. The total engine power of the second model reached 530 hp. With. Greater engine power meant greater payload, speed, and the ability to reach 2100 m. During the first test flight, this second Muromets carried 820 kg of fuel and 6 passengers. On June 16-17, 1914, a flight Petersburg - Kyiv was made with a landing in Orsha. In honor of this event, the aircraft included in the series was named "Ilya Muromets Kyiv".
The aircraft was a six-pillar biplane with large wingspan and elongation. The four internal racks were brought together in pairs, and engines were installed between their pairs, standing completely open, without fairings. All engines were accessed in flight, for which a plywood walkway with wire railings ran along the lower wing. This often saved the plane from a forced landing. On several aircraft, four engines were supplied in two tandems, and some training "Muromets" had only two engines. The design of the "Muromtsev" was also almost the same for all types and series. Different engines were installed on them: the domestic Russobalt (150 hp) and foreign Argus (140 hp), Sunbeam (160 hp) and the most powerful French Renault (220 hp). With).
The crew, depending on the modification and series of the aircraft, varied from 4 to 8 people. The number of machine guns installed and their systems were also different. By the beginning of World War I (August 1, 1914), four Ilya Muromets were built. By September 1914, they were transferred to the Imperial Air Force. By that time, all airplanes of the warring countries were intended only for reconnaissance, and therefore Ilya Muromets should be considered the world's first bomber aircraft.
On December 10, 1914, the emperor approved the decision of the Military Council on the creation of the Ilya Muromets bomber squadron (airship squadron, EVC), which became the world's first bomber formation. M. V. Shidlovsky was her boss. The management of the Ilya Muromets airship squadron was at the headquarters Supreme Commander. We had to start work almost from scratch - the only pilot capable of flying the Muromets was Igor Sikorsky himself, the rest were distrustful of the very idea of \u200b\u200bheavy aviation, they had to be persuaded and retrained, and the machines had to be armed and re-equipped for combat work. For the first time, the squadron aircraft flew on a combat mission on February 14, 1915.
On February 24 and 25, "Kyiv" took off from Jablonna to bombard Willenberg station, on which over 160 pounds of bombs were dropped. On June 14, 1915, "Kyiv Muromets" (Series B) made a successful raid on the Przhevorsk station, where it destroyed a train with ammunition (30,000 shells) with an accurate hit of a pound bomb.
The bomb sight on the planes was very accurate. Most often, bombs weighing up to 80 kg were used, less often - 240 kg. In the autumn of 1915, an experiment was made on bombing a 410-kilogram bomb. "Muromets" quite successfully made night flights.
During the war, in addition to series B, the production of series B aircraft was launched (30 units were produced). They differed from the B series in their smaller size and greater speed. The B series was followed by the G series: in 1915, the production of the G-1 with a crew of 7 people began, in 1916 - the G-2 with a shooting cabin and the G-3, and in 1917 - the G-4. In 1915-1916, three cars of the D series (DIM) were produced, and then the E-1. The production of these wonderful aircraft continued until 1918.
During the entire war, the troops received 60 vehicles. They made 400 sorties, dropped 65 tons of bombs on the enemy and destroyed 12 enemy fighters in battles.
Losses "Muromtsev" in the fighting were insignificant. On November 2, 1915, the plane of Captain Ozersky was shot down by fire from anti-aircraft batteries. On April 13, 1916, the plane of Lieutenant Konstenchik came under fire from anti-aircraft guns; "Muromets" managed to reach the airfield, but due to the damage received, it was not subject to restoration. In April 1916, seven German airplanes bombed the airfield in Segewold, as a result of which four Muromets were damaged. On September 12, 1916, during a raid on the headquarters of the 89th Army in the village of Antonov and the Boruny station, the aircraft of Lieutenant D. D. Maksheev was shot down in an air battle, but the Germans lost three aircraft. The most common cause of losses was the weather, technical problems and accidents. Because of this, about two dozen cars were lost.