Bøger af Mikhail Maslov

In the century-long history of the conquest of the sky there have been a number of outstanding personalities. Among them is the name of designer Nikolay Polikarpov (1892-1944), which is inseparably associated with the best achievements of the Russian and Soviet aviation.

The material presented in this book describes the history of the development, testing and limited operations of early Soviet autogyros. As in the rest of the world, autogyros appeared in the Soviet Union in a period of full exploration of the skies by airplanes and after the first unsuccessful experiences with helicopters.

The book which is presented to the reader describes all Polikarpov's original projects, both those put into reality and unimplemented ones. It took the author many years to prepare for the creation of the book.

The I-15, I-16 and I-153 fighters were the world's first mass-produced fighters. Some 17,000 Polikarpovs had been manufactured by the time production ceased in 1941. They served with the Republicans in the Spain, the Chinese against Japan in 1937-38, and the Soviets against both Japan in the Nomonhan Incident and Finland during the Winter War.