BI-1 (Bereznyak-Isayev 1)
The Soviet Union’s first high-speed rocket plane. Developed during World War II, it used a liquid-fueled engine built by Isayev with a thrust of 1.5 tons. Its maiden flight, following accidents in ground runs of the rocket engine, came on May 15, 1942, lasted three minutes, and reached a speed of 400 km/h. Problems with corrosion by the acid fuels slowed testing. On its seventh flight, in March 1943, the aircraft reached 800 km/h (unofficially breaking the world speed record) but then experienced a previously unencountered tendency to pitch down and crashed, killing the pilot. Plans to put the plane into production were abandoned, and rocket plane development in the Soviet Union only resumed with the testing of German designs after the war.
Related categories
• EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT
• MILITARY AIRCRAFT
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