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FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

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250 SMITHSONIAN ANNALS OF FLIGHT<br />

tl , i • / .'| .L--'"'A1S<br />

« I :: *<br />

reliability and safety of the power plant.<br />

The work on the rocket aircraft was carried on<br />

at the design office headed by V. F. Bolkhovitinov,<br />

where an experimental model of the BI-1 rocket<br />

fighter (Figure 4) was designed and manufactured.<br />

The fighter Was fitted with a powerful nitric acidkerosene<br />

engine with thrust of over 1000 kg.<br />

During the war, in 1942, the BI-1 fighter was<br />

flown by the pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi. 0<br />

Pilotless Winged Rockets<br />

The 06/1—the first winged rocket—was a smaller<br />

geometrical model of the RP-7 rocket aicraft. It was<br />

FICURE 2.—Layout of RP-218.<br />

4<br />

1t-<br />

fitted with an 09 oxygen engine having a maximum<br />

thrust of approximately 50 kg. The rocket weighed<br />

30 kg. Research on the 06/I-06/III was guided by<br />

Ye. S. Shchetinkov.<br />

The rocket takeoff was similar to that of an aircraft,<br />

i.e., it was performed from horizontal guide<br />

rails.<br />

The winged rocket was expected to climb along<br />

an inclined trajectory (at an angle of about 60° to<br />

FIGURE 3.—a, Layout and b, tail surfaces of RP-318; c, rocket<br />

engine for the 318; d, RP-318-1 in flight, 28 February 1940.

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