Russian Piston Aero Engines - Vladimir Kotelnikov - Crowood Aviation
Excellent book. Fascinating stuff for the engineering-minded reader - also useful for model makers with many rare photos of various aircraft, and of course engines. The subject matter is too great for a book of this size, but it’s a decent effort nonetheless.
272 page hardback book.
Here is the official product info:
The full story of Russian piston aero engines from their inception in 1910 through the First and Seccnd World Wars and their postwar survival.
In the Second World War Russia established an enviable reputation for the robustness and reliability of its tank and aircraft engines. This book helps explain why. Written by a professional aircraft engineer, It is a complete history of Russia's piston aero engines from their inception in 1910 through the First World War and the Bolshevik takeover to their hour of glory in World War II and their post-war record. It tells the story of the crude but reliable M-11 engine, first developed in the 1920s, which remained in service for 30 years; and of the Mikulin family of engines. In the early days, Russia was beholden to foreign manufactuers who made the engines under license while Soviet engineers struggled to catch up. It was only at the end of the Secpond World War as jet engines loomed that Russian engineers finally perfected the forced induction systems that had eluded them for so long. The arrival of the turbojet made piston engines redundant and by 1962 only one factory remained. Pistols languished until. they were revived in the 1980s due to the m ilitary;s demand for unmanned aircraft.
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