Development and Design
The R-5 was developed by the design bureau led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov as a replacement for the R-1 which served as the standard reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft with the Soviet Air Force.
The prototype first flew in autumn 1928, powered by an imported German BMW VI V-12 engine. It was an unequal span single bay biplane of mainly wooden construction.
After extensive evaluation, the R-5 entered production in 1930, powered by Mikulin M-17s, a licence built copy of the BMW-VI, as a reconnaissance bomber. Further modified versions were produced to serve as floatplanes, ground attack aircraft and civil transports.
The R-5SSS, an improved reconnaissance bomber with improved streamlining, served as the basis for the Polikarpov R-Z, which succeeded the R-5 in production.
Read more about this topic: Polikarpov R-5
Famous quotes containing the words development and/or design:
“Every new development for the last three centuries has brought men closer to a state of affairs in which absolutely nothing would be recognized in the whole world as possessing a claim to obedience except the authority of the State. The majority of people in Europe obey nothing else.”
—Simone Weil (19091943)
“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”
—John Adams (17351826)