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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The Rogoarski IK-3 was a 1930s
Yugoslav monoplane single-seat fighter, designed by Ljubomir Ilić, Kosta Sivčev
and Slobodan Zrnić as a successor to the Ikarus IK-2 fighter. Its armament
consisted of a hub-firing 20 mm (0.79 in) autocannon and two fuselage-mounted
synchronised machine guns. It was considered comparable to foreign aircraft
such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and came into service in 1940. The prototype
crashed during testing; twelve production aircraft had been delivered by July
1940.
Six IK-3s were serviceable when
the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941. All six were in service
with the 51st Independent Fighter Group at Zemun near Belgrade. Pilots flying
the IK-3 claimed 11 Axis aircraft had been shot down during the 11-day war.
According to one account, to prevent them from falling into German hands, the
surviving aircraft and incomplete airframes were destroyed by their crews and
factory staff. Another account suggests that one aircraft survived the invasion
and was later destroyed by sabotage. The IK-3 design was the basis for the
post-war Yugoslav-built Ikarus S-49 fighter.
In the late 1920s, the Royal
Yugoslav Air Force (Serbo-Croatian: Vazduhoplovstvo vojske Kraljevine
Jugoslavije, VVKJ) and the Royal Aero Club of Yugoslavia helped send aspiring
aeronautical engineers to France to gain knowledge. It was intended that after
this advanced training, they would return to Yugoslavia and be offered
specialist roles in the VVKJ or in the aeronautical industry. Ljubomir Ilić and
Kosta Sivčev went through this program but, when they returned to Yugoslavia,
both were employed in administrative work. Frustrated by this, they decided in
1931 to design a replacement for the Czechoslovakian-built Avia BH-33E biplane
fighter in service with the VVKJ. Working in a basement in Belgrade, and later
in Ilić's apartment in Novi Sad, they secretly devoted their spare time to work
on their design. They originally planned a low-wing monoplane with retractable
landing gear. Contemporary thinking within the VVKJ led them to evolve their
initial ideas into a strut-braced gull-wing monoplane armed with a hub-firing
autocannon and fuselage-mounted synchronised machine guns. The design concept
for what became the Ikarus IK-2 was submitted to the VVKJ on 22 September
1933.[1] With this work completed, Ilić and Sivčev had time to start
preliminary development of a new low-wing monoplane that could better meet and
defeat the high-performance bomber prototypes then in development by potential
adversaries.
Design and development
Ilić and Sivčev's new
streamlined low-wing monoplane design had a retractable undercarriage. Like the
IK-2 it was initially developed privately by the two men. A scale model was
tested in the Eiffel-built wind tunnel in Paris, but the pair soon realised
that they needed a third engineer to help evaluate the design and determine the
structural details. Slobodan Zrnić, the head of construction at the Yugoslav
State Aircraft Factory in Kraljevo, was recruited, as he had worked as a
specialist aircraft engineer in France. The project name for the IK-2 was
changed from IK, standing for (Ljubomir) Ilić and Kosta (Sivčev), to IKZ, to
include Zrnić. This name was changed, possibly due to the similarities between
the Cyrillic "З" (Z) and the Arabic numeral "3", and the
aircraft became known as the IK-3. The aircraft was to be powered by a
Hispano-Suiza 12Y29 engine, generating 980 hp (730 kW) at an altitude of 5,000
m (16,000 ft). The designers favoured manoeuvrability over speed, trying to
find a compromise between the German and British concepts of a modern monoplane
fighter. The design had a smaller wing area than the Hawker Hurricane and the
Supermarine Spitfire, to achieve a higher speed for the engine power. In
comparison to the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Yugoslav design had a shorter
fuselage and smaller turning radius. It differed from British and German design
concepts in that its proposed armament was concentrated in the fuselage.
The designs were delivered to
the VVKJ in time for approval by mid-1936, but a general reluctance to adopt
new concepts delayed the IK-3, and a contract for the production of the
prototype was not signed until March 1937. The company selected for
construction was Rogoarski A.D. in Belgrade. The first flight of the prototype
was carried out by the VVKJ Test Group towards the end of May 1938 and the
aircraft was then flown by a group of VVKJ officers who were to determine the
best employment for it within the VVKJ, along with tactics to be used in
Yugoslav conditions.[2] These pilots observed that the controls were highly
sensitive; the only real criticisms related to the visual distortion caused by
the curved panels of the canopy. Some pilots believed that the fuselage-mounted
armament should be supplemented by two wing-mounted machine guns. The test
pilots also had to compare the performance of the IK-3 with the Hawker Fury,
Heinkel He 112, Morane-Saulnier M.S. 405 and Hawker Hurricane. They concluded
that the IK-3 most closely matched the Morane-Saulnier; the Yugoslav aircraft
was 40 km/h (25 mph) faster. In November 1938, the VVKJ placed an order with
Rogoarski for 12 aircraft.
On 19 January 1939, test pilot
Kapetan Milan Pokorni put the prototype into a steep dive. When he reached 400
m (1,300 ft), the windscreen detached from the aircraft; Pokorni pulled up hard
and the strain broke off half of the starboard wing. The aircraft crashed, and
Pokorni was killed.[3] An inquiry determined that modifications to the
windscreen had contributed to the accident. Engineers recalculated the stress
factors on the airframe and they were found to be safe, and the main factor had
been the pilot's handling of the highly sensitive controls.
The loss of the prototype and
some changes in the construction of the production model delayed the fulfilment
of the contract. Further tests were conducted on the wing and it was found to
withstand a g-force of 14. Modifications were made for the production model,
including the use of flat plexiglass panels in the windscreen and the canopy to
provide better visibility. The instrument layout was improved and the upper
rear fuselage behind the pilot's seat was re-shaped. The folding undercarriage
leg covers were replaced by single plates. The main changes were the
replacement of the engine with a modified version of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y
engine made under licence by the Czechoslovak company Avia and the replacement
of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon by a Swiss-made Oerlikon FF 20 mm cannon.[4]
The replacement engine was less powerful, generating 860 hp (640 kW) at 4,000 m
(13,000 ft).[5] German-made Telefunken radios were to be installed but delays meant
that only the first aircraft was delivered with a radio. The production
aircraft were numbered 213; the prototype was number 1. The aircraft were
built at the Rogoarski factory in Belgrade and assembled at the company hangar
at Zemun. The first six aircraft were delivered by late March 1940; delivery of
the rest of the order was delayed until July due to delays by foreign
suppliers. The first production aircraft was delivered to the VVKJ Test Group,
where it was confirmed that the production aircraft were free of the faults in
the prototype. The Test Group determined that the maximum speed, previously
estimated at 540 km/h (340 mph), was 527 km/h (327 mph),[3] at an altitude of
5,400 m (17,700 ft). By July 1940, a further series of 25 IK-3s had commenced
construction at the Rogoarski factory.
Planned developments
A shortage of engines was a
major obstacle to mass production and development of the IK-3, so tests were
conducted with more powerful engines, including the Daimler-Benz DB 601,
Rolls-Royce Merlin II and Hispano-Suiza 12Y51. The tests were incomplete at the
time of the Axis invasion, and the only prototype to be fitted with a
non-production engine was deliberately destroyed by factory personnel during
the invasion, along with the incomplete production aircraft.[6] Development of
a dual-control two-seat trainer variant of the IK-3 had commenced but pressure
on the design team had delayed the completion of the project when the invasion
intervened.
The development of the IK-3
encouraged the three designers to pursue the idea of a twin-engined fighter,
capable of long-range reconnaissance, photographic reconnaissance and operation
as a "destroyer" or heavy fighter similar to the Messerschmitt Bf
110. The concept included both one-seater and two-seater versions. Development
of this new aircraft, designated IK-5, was commenced on the back of the success
of the IK-3. The VVKJ ordered a one-seater prototype in early July 1939, with
its first flight scheduled for late 1941. At the time of the invasion, the
production of the IK-5 prototype was well advanced, but it was not pursued
either during or after the war.[8] The advanced Yugoslav Ikarus S-49 fighter,
produced after World War II, was based on the IK-3.
Operational history
When they entered service, the
IK-3 suffered from minor equipment and instrument faults, largely caused by
deficiencies in the Yugoslav aeronautical industry which had resulted in a
mixture of foreign and Yugoslav-made instruments being fitted to the aircraft.
The Yugoslav Minister of War approved the acquisition of a further 48 IK-3s to
be delivered in 19411942.[3] The operational aircraft were allocated to the
51st Independent Fighter Group at Zemun, six each to the 161st Fighter Squadron
(Kapetan Savo Poljanec) and the 162nd Fighter Squadron (Kapetan Todor
Gogić).[10] The IK-3 was then tested against Yugoslav Messerschmitt Bf 109Es in
mock dogfights. The evaluation concluded that the IK-3 had several advantages
over the Bf 109E; in particular, the Yugoslav aircraft was more manoeuvrable in
level flight, enabling it to quickly get behind a pursuing Bf 109E by making
tight horizontal turns.
In its first year of service, an
IK-3 was lost when one of the squadron commanders, Kapetan Anton Ercigoj, was
making a mock attack on a Potez 25 over the confluence of the Sava and Danube
rivers. After passing below the Potez, he went into a climb with the intention
of performing a loop. His rate of climb was too steep and the aircraft fell
into a spin at low altitude and hit the water.[12] Before the Axis invasion of
Yugoslavia in early April 1941, the 51st Fighter Group was placed under the 6th
Fighter Regiment, which was responsible for the defence of Belgrade. The 51st
Fighter Group was further reinforced the day before the invasion began, with
the 102nd Fighter Squadron equipped with Bf 109Es. When the invasion began on 6
April, the two IK-3 squadrons had only three serviceable aircraft each.
The invasion commenced with a
wave of 234 German dive bombers and medium bombers attacking Belgrade. Escorted
by 120 fighters, the bombers reached Belgrade at 07:00; they were met by the
51st Fighter Group, minus an IK-3 from the 161st Fighter Squadron that had
developed engine trouble after takeoff and was unable to engage.[12] The other
five IK-3s were the first to meet the initial bomber wave but they were almost
immediately attacked by Bf 109Es of Jagdgeschwader 77. The pilots of the IK-3s
claimed five German aircraft, and one aircraft from each Yugoslav squadron was
lost. Poljanec had claimed a twin-engined bomber and a Bf 109E; when he
returned to Zemun in his badly damaged aircraft, he was strafed by a
Messerschmitt 110, which further damaged his aircraft and wounded him.[13]
After this encounter, only three IK-3s were serviceable, including the one that
had developed engine difficulties prior to the first German wave.
A second wave of German aircraft
arrived over Belgrade at 10:00 and the remaining IK-3s were scrambled with the
rest of the 51st Fighter Group but the IK-3 pilots claimed no victories. A
joint claim was made during the third German attack at 14:00, a twin-engined
bomber by Gogić and another pilot from the 162nd Fighter Squadron.[15] The
following day, the IK-3 pilots made five or six sorties against German bomber formations
and their fighter escorts, and claimed three bombers between them. At 17:00,
Milislav Semiz attacked a tight formation of three bombers; his aircraft
received 56 hits from return fire, 20 of which were in the engine and
propeller, but he managed to land the aircraft. The return of another IK-3 from
the workshops meant that the number of serviceable IK-3s remained at three.
It became difficult to continue
activity from the 51st Fighter Group airfield at Zemun due to air attacks, so
on 8 April the remaining IK-3s and Bf 109Es flew to an auxiliary airfield at
Veliki Radinci, 50 km (31 mi) north-west of Belgrade, where the surviving
aircraft of the 6th Fighter Regiment were concentrated. Poor weather made
operations impossible until 11 April, when Semiz shot down a Bf 110 that had
strafed the airfield. Later that day, Gogić and another IK-3 pilot claimed one
Ju 87 each during a patrol. That night, German troops approached within 15 km
(9.3 mi) of the airfield at Veliki Radinci and the following day all remaining
aircraft of the 6th Fighter Regiment, including the remaining IK-3s, were
burned by their crews.[14] According to aviation writers Dragan Savić and Boris
Ciglić, one serviceable IK-3 was captured by the Germans in April 1941 and it
was joined by another by the end of June. Both aircraft were located at Zemun,
along with 23 other former VVKJ aircraft in working condition that were
destined for service with the air force of the Axis puppet state, the
Independent State of Croatia. The Germans had used a fence to separate the
serviceable aircraft from other aircraft that had been earmarked for scrapping.
In late June, while the German guards were distracted listening to news of the
invasion of the Soviet Union, local communists, including former VVKJ
mechanics, moved the fence. As a result, all the serviceable aircraft were
scrapped, including the two IK-3s.
"The IK-3s put up a valiant
resistance against the Luftwaffe," wrote William Green, "scoring a
number of 'kills' before they were finally destroyed in combat." Aviation
writers ime Otrić and Čedomir Janić credit the IK-3 pilots with 11 victories,
Semiz being the most successful, with four victories.