SimplePlanes | Alekseyev I-217 (Design No.2)

Alekseyev I-217 (Design No.2)

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Fighter Experimental Soviet Union Decade-1940s

The first ever aircraft with a forward-swept wing on this account

Features:

Two 57mm N-57L cannons low in the fuselage (red tracers)
Two 37mm N-37 cannons above the 57mm’s (yellow tracers)
Forward swept wing (duh)
Flaps (These unusually don't aid the slightest in decreasing turning time, and thus, are used best when performing takeoffs and landings)

History:

The last fighter proposals from the Alekseyev OKB, before the Bureau was closed in August 1948 and Alekseyev moved on to the Baade OKB, also featured swept wings (I-211S and I-217). In fact there were two versions of the experimental I-217, the second very advanced in that it had its wings swept forward, a feature rarely used throughout any period of aviation history. This last pair of projects, which are believed to have got going during 1947, were again essentially swept- wing developments of the earlier I-211/I-215 series, I-217 meaning ‘I-21 Version 7’. The swept-back variant was an attractive aircraft that had a span of 12.25m (40ft 2in) and length 11.59m (30ft 14in) - no other data is available but it did retain the 'straight' tail and fin. The first I-217 (rearward sweep) had three cannons in the lower nose, while the second I-217 (forward sweep) could carry up to five cannons. The forward-sweep version was a bit bigger than the standard-swept version, and this fascinating aircraft was to be powered by two Lyul'ka TR-2 engines. It was estimated that the time required to reach 5,000m (16,404ft) would be 1.5 minutes, and to 10,000m (32,808ft) 4.0 minutes, and that the estimated range was 1,900km (1,181 miles). During an interview made during the early 1990s Semyon Alekseyev declared that his Design Bureau never had any interest in building this forward-swept-wing fighter project. Essentially it was just an experimental study.