Sikorsky Alexander Nevsky

Sikorsky Alexander Nevsky
Role bomber
Manufacturer Russo-Baltic Carriage Factory (RBVZ)
Designer Igor Sikorsky
Number built 1

The Sikorsky Alexander Nevsky (Russian: Александр Невский) was a Russian, four-engine bomber-biplane designed and built by Igor Sikorsky in late 1916. It was named after a Russian prince Alexander Nevsky.

Development and design

80% of the Alexander Nevsky’s fuselage was made of armored steel and duralumin. Its propellers had coarse pitch for high speed flight, which, according to calculations, would allow the airplane to reach the speed of 250 km/h. Due to this feature, Sikorsky designed the lower pair of wings at a 12% angle of attack in order to avoid the increase of a take-off run (see Propeller for details). The Alexander Nevsky had no corrugated surfaces and was equipped with machine guns, semi-automatic guns, recoilless guns, rockets and bombs.

The Alexander Nevsky’s fate was to take off only once for a test flight with a 1.5-ton load onboard. Sikorsky wanted to make sure its speed corresponded to his initial calculations. On January 4, 1917, Sikorsky presented the Alexander Nevsky’s design to Tsar Nicholas II, reportedly saying: "Your Highness, we’re going to win the war with this plane". The tsar approved the design.

However, the Alexander Nevsky bomber was never put in serial production due to the events preceding and following the October Revolution and Sikorsky’s emigration to the United States of America in 1919.

Specifications (Alexander Nevsky)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also