A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.
The PJSC Beriev Aircraft Company, formerly Beriev Design Bureau, is a Russian aircraft manufacturer, specializing in amphibious aircraft.
JATO is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term JATO is used interchangeably with the term RATO, for rocket-assisted take-off.
Sharashkas were secret research and development laboratories operating from 1930 to the 1950s within the Soviet Gulag labor camp system, as well as in other facilities under the supervision of the Soviet secret service. Formally various secret R&D facilities were called "special design bureau" Russian: особое конструкторское бюро, ОКБ and similar terms. Etymologically, the word sharashka derives from a Russian slang expression sharashkina kontora,, an ironic, derogatory term to denote a poorly-organized, impromptu, or bluffing organization, which in its turn comes from the criminal argot term sharaga (шарага) for a band of thieves, hoodlums, etc.)
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded in Dessau, Germany, in 1895 by Hugo Junkers, initially manufacturing boilers and radiators. During World War I and following the war, the company became famous for its pioneering all-metal aircraft. During World War II the company produced the German air force's planes, as well as piston and jet aircraft engines, albeit in the absence of its founder who had been removed by the Nazis in 1934.
A medium bomber is a military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carried about two tons of bombs, compared to light bombers that carried one ton, and heavies that carried four or more.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a WWII era long range, strategic heavy bomber that was produced in many experimental and production models.
The Tupolev TB-1 was a Soviet bomber aircraft, an angular monoplane that served as the backbone of the Soviet bomber force for many years, and was the first large all-metal aircraft built in the Soviet Union.
The Tupolev TB-3, OKB designation ANT-6, was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early years of World War II. It was one of the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, the TB-3 performed bomber and transport duties throughout much of World War II. The TB-3 also saw combat as a Zveno project fighter mothership and as a light tank transport.
The Yermolayev Yer-2 was a long-range Soviet medium bomber used during World War II. It was developed from the Bartini Stal-7 prototype airliner before the war. It was used to bomb Berlin from airbases in Estonia after Operation Barbarossa began in 1941. Production was terminated in August 1941 to allow the factory to concentrate on building higher-priority Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft, but was restarted at the end of 1943 with new, fuel-efficient, Charomskiy ACh-30B aircraft Diesel engines.
Robert Ludvigovich Bartini was a Hungarian-born Soviet aircraft designer and scientist, involved in the development of numerous successful and experimental aircraft projects. A pioneer of amphibious aircraft and ground-effect vehicles, Bartini was one of the most famous engineers in the Soviet Union, nicknamed Barone Rosso because of his noble descent.
The Beriev Be-12 Chayka is a Soviet turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft designed in the 1950s for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties.
The Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka was a Soviet attempt to allow a tank to glide onto a battlefield after being towed aloft by an airplane, to support airborne forces or partisans. A prototype was built and tested in 1942, but was found to be unworkable. This vehicle is sometimes called the A-40T or KT.
Winged tanks were the subject of several unsuccessful experiments in the 20th century. It was intended that these could be towed behind, or carried under, an airplane, to glide into a battlefield, in support of infantry forces.
The Bartini Beriev VVA-14Vertikaľno-Vzletayushchaya Amfibiya was a wing-in-ground-effect aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the early 1970s. Designed to be able to take off from the water and fly at high speed over long distances, it was to make true flights at high altitude, but also have the capability of flying efficiently just above the sea surface, using aerodynamic ground effect. The VVA-14 was designed by Hungarian-born designer Robert Bartini in answer to a perceived requirement to destroy United States Navy Polaris missile submarines. The final aircraft was retired in 1987.
The Beriev Be-1 was an experimental wing-in-ground-effect aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s.
The Bartini Stal-7 was a twin-engined transport aircraft designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1934.
The Tupolev '73',, was a Soviet trijet medium bomber of the late 1940s. It lost out to the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'.
The Bartini T-117, was a twin-engined cargo aircraft designed by Robert Ludvigovich Bartini in the USSR from 1944-1948.
