Tupolev ANT-25
| ANT-25 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| RD N025 in flight | |
| Role | Experimental long-range aircraft (bomber) |
| Manufacturer | Voronezh Aircraft Production Association |
| Designer | Pavel Sukhoi |
| First flight | 22 June 1933 |
| Primary user | Soviet Air Force |
| Number built | 1 (1933) + 1 (1934) + 1 (1989) |
| Variants | Tupolev DB-1 |
The Tupolev ANT-25 was a Soviet long-range experimental aircraft which was also tried as a bomber. First constructed in 1933, it was used by the Soviet Union for a number of record-breaking flights.
The ANT-25 was designed as the result of a recommendation by Kliment Voroshilov to the Revolutionary Military Council Revvoyensovyet on 7 December 1931, to build an aircraft for long-range flights.
The aircraft was designed by the brigade of the Experimental Aircraft Design Department of TsAGI led by Pavel Sukhoi under the overall supervision of Andrei Tupolev. The first prototype, designated Experimental airplane RD-1, (also designated TsAGI-25, ANT-25), RD standing for Rekord Dalnosty, i.e. "Range Record") made its maiden flight on 22 June 1933, piloted by Mikhail Gromov and used a direct-drive M-34 engine.
The first crew, Gromov, Filin and Spirin, began with a long-range test flight in September 1934 on the second prototype, the RD-2. The RD-2 used a geared M-34R engine, which substantially increased its range. They spent 75 hours in the air, covering 12,411 kilometres (7,712 mi) in a single trip, (Moscow–Ryazan–Tula–Dnepropetrovsk–Kharkov). The aircraft was unable to return to Moscow due to a fuel shortage. Gromov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. The flight was not recognised as a world record as it could not complete the circuit to Moscow, so could not claim the closed-circuit record, while the direct distance between Moscow and Kharkov was too short for the distance in a straight-line record.
Gromov and Yumashev decided to make their next long-range flight an attempt at the straight-line record. They wanted to fly the traditional long-range route via Africa and the Atlantic Ocean to South America. A crewman, Sigizmund Levanevsky, on studying some maps, suggested they fly in a completely different direction – to the north. Polar aviators were extremely popular at that time, his plan was considered plausible. The flight was cancelled in the spring of 1935 when he fell seriously ill.
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