| A-1 | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Role | Training glider |
| National origin | USSR |
| Designer | Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov |
| First flight | 1930 |
| Number built | ca. 5,700 |
The Antonov A-1 and related designs were a family of single-seat training gliders produced in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s. All were derived from the Standard-2 (Стандарт-2) (designed and flown by Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov in 1930[1]), which in turn was derived from the Standard-1.[2] They were produced in large numbers, with around 5,400 built of the U-s3, U-s4 and P-s2 major versions alone.[3] The same design formed the basis for the Antonov A-2 and its related group of two-seat designs. Altogether, including the two-seaters, production exceeded 7,600 by 1937.[4]
While members of the family varied in detail, they shared the same basic design, and parts were interchangeable between them.[1][5] The design featured a typical primary glider layout with a conventional empennage carried at the end of a long boom in place of a conventional fuselage. The boom could be folded sideways for storage.[6] The monoplane wing was carried high on a pylon above this "keel" and was further braced to it with two struts on either side.[7] The pilot sat in front of the wing, and was enclosed in a simple U-shaped wooden fairing that was removed by sliding it forward to allow him or her to enter and leave the aircraft.[8] The undercarriage consisted of a single skid underneath the "keel", but this could also be fitted with small wooden wheels.[9]
While the original primary training versions (designated У, 'U') featured wings of constant chord,[7] subsequent variants designed for soaring flight (designated П, 'P') had longer-span wings with tapering outer panels and a streamlined nose fairing.[10] The ultimate development in the line were gliders intended for towed flight (designated Б, 'B), which shared the longer wings and streamlined fairing of the P-types, but added a canopy to enclose the cockpit.[10]
Unlicensed copies were produced in Turkey following World War II by THK and Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK), as the THK-7 (P-s2) and THK-4 (U-s4).[11]
