Olkhovski VM 'Torpedo'

[VictorXL188]

Although his later Voisin based design was never completed, VL Olkhovski, who was Commanding Officer of the 5th Air Park at Bryansk, did manage to build a variation of a Morane Type L parasol. Olkhovski pioneered his own veneer technique on the construction of the fuselage, the first in Russia with this type of construction. He was to later to utilise this in a number of designs for Polikarpov. Due to the smooth nature of the fuselage the design was nicknamed the 'Torpedo'. Olkhovski himself carried out the test flights in the autumn of 1916, revealing it to have completely satisfactory flight characteristics. At this time the aircraft was envisaged as a reconnaissance aircraft and so had accommodation for a crew of two. Unfortunately the aircraft was involved in an accident which led to a rebuild which incorporated significant alterations of the entire structure. The first of these saw the aircraft become a single seat aircraft, with the possibility of use as a fighter. Also the wingspan was reduced and the vertical tail took on a different shape. Olkhovski took the opportunity to replace the 80 hp le Rhone rotary engine with a more powerful 110 hp unit. This new powerplant was now covered with an annular convex hood with a small cutout in the lower part. The propeller now featured a round bullet fairing. Due to a small increase in the diameter of the propeller, probably due to the increase in power, the landing gear was also reworked. The rebuilt version of the Torpedo carried out its first flights utilising a ski undercarriage at Bryansk, but later tests at Odessa saw the reversion to a wheeled undercarriage. Prior to official tests at Odessa, a single 7.7mm machine gun was fitted with synchronisation gear. Between March 6 until March 20, 1917, in Odessa, acceptance tests of the "Torpedo" were conducted. Allthough the aircraft was assessed quite positively, the type was not taken up for production and, the sole "Torpedo" was operated by the Gatchina aviation school in Odessa. Sources, M.Maslov - Russian Aircraft 1914 to 1917, V. Shavrov -The history of Aircraft structures in the USSR until 1938 and W Green/G Swanborough - The Complete Book of Fighters. Attached are pictures of both the two and single seat versions of the Torpedo, along with GA drawings of both variants. And by the way in the two seat picture, that is Olkhovski himself in the front cockpit.
Specifications -(this is for the later single-seat version)
Wingspan - 8.5 m
Length - 6.85 m
Wing area - 12.75 m2
Empty weight - 500 kg
All up weight - 1212 kg
Max Speed - 166 km/h
Time to 2000 m - 8.30 min
Max Ceiling - 4300 m