Grigorovich M-23bis

Grigorovich M-23bis
General information
Type	Biplane flying boat
National origin	USSR
Manufacturer	Grigorovich Design Bureau
Designer	Dmitri Grigorovich
Primary user	Soviet Naval Aviation
Number built	1
History
First flight	Failed to fly
Developed from	Grigorovich M-9

The Grigorovich M-23bis was a Soviet biplane flying boat built during the 1920s.

Design

Dmitri Grigorovich developed the M-23 as a derivative of the Grigorovich M-9 with a more powerful engine. The first M-23 design was abandoned after the Russian Revolution and was transformed into an improved design, the M-23bis, in 1922. The aircraft was completed at GAZ-3 "Krasnyj Letchik" (The Red Pilot) in mid-Summer 1923, but the unsuccessful hull shape meant that it failed to take off. The M-23bis was sent back for modifications, but in late 1923, was destroyed by a flood at the Krestovsky Island hangar. ^[1]

Specifications (M-23bis)

Data from Aircraft of the Soviet Union : the encyclopaedia of Soviet aircraft since 1917, ^[2] Russian Aviation Museum : M-23 ^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 45.8 m² (493 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,165 kg (2,568 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,615 kg (3,560 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Fiat A.12 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 210 kW (280 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch pusher propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 165 km/h (103 mph, 89 kn) estimated
• Wing loading: 35 kg/m² (7.2 lb/sq ft)

References

1. Shavrov, V.B. (1994). Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR, 1938–1950 (in Russian) (gg. (3 izd.) ed.). Moscow: Mashinostroenie. p. 350. ISBN   978-5-217-00477-5.
2. Gunston, Bill (1983). Aircraft of the Soviet Union : the encyclopaedia of Soviet aircraft since 1917. Osprey. p. 91. ISBN   085045445X.
3. "M-23, D.P.Grigorovich". ram-home.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.

Bibliography

• Kulikov, Victor (December 1996). "Le fascinante histoire des hydravions de Dimitry Grigorovitch" [The Fascinating History of the Seaplanes of Dimitry Grigorovitch]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (45): 20–33. ISSN   1243-8650.