ALEXEYEV I - 215

Description

The Alekseyev I-21 was a twin-engined, single-seat, jet fighter, designed and produced in the USSR from 1945 to 1948. After working as Lavochkin’s right hand man during World War II, Semyon Alekseyev was appointed as Chief Designer of OKB-21 at Gor’kiy. The Council of the People’s Commissars directed Alekseyev (among others) to develop jet fighters using more powerful engines than the captured German examples and their Soviet-built copies. The result of Alekseyev’s efforts was the I-21 (istrebitel, fighter), which was planned to be produced in several variants. Flight testing started in the Autumn of 1947, but only six test flights had been carried out before the I-211 struck a pothole on landing, which collapsed the undercarriage. Repairs were carried out and the opprtunity taken to replace the troublesome TR-1 engines with Rolls-Royce Derwent V engines. The result was the I-215 which had been in development before the first flight of the I-211. Other minor modifications were carried out, the most noticeable being the larger engine nacelles. Despite good results from flight testing the I-215 lost out in production orders to the newer generation of swept winged fighters. (Scale : 1/72e)