Postavin's delta wing aircraft project

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In the book « Экспериментальные самолеты России 1912-1941 » (Experimental aircraft of Russia 1912-1941) by D. A. Sobolev (ISBN 978-5-900078-80-9 © Russian Aviation Society LLC, 2015), in the chapter on Alexander Sergieyevich Moskalyev’s works, the following is mentioned :

Но в начале июня 1936 г. Комитет Обороны СССР получил донесение от Наркома внутренних дел Г.Г. Ягоды:
«Нами было установлено, что некий авиаинженер Поставин, якобы бежав-ший в 1933 году из СССР в Маньчжурию, изобрёл самолёт новой конструк-ции (треугольная конфигурация). В Шанхае Поставин вступил в переговоры о продаже своего изобретения. Японцы изобретение купили и приступили к опытам. Экспериментальная модель делалась в Дайрене, и там же проводи-лись давшие положительные результаты испытания в присутствии специали-стов: генерала Судзуки, подполковника Косумото и лейтенанта Немото. После испытания модели Поставин уехал в Японию в г. Симоносеки, где на секрет-ной авиабазе руководил постройкой самолётов, которых в настоящее время якобы построено 400 штук.
В 1935 году Поставин умер на одном из японских курортов при весьма зага-дочных обстоятельствах, причём высказывалось мнение, что он был отравлен.
Нам удалось агентурным путём добыть некоторые чертежи и описания самолёта конструкции Поставина. Материалы были представлены для кон-сультации Главному инженеру ВВС РККА т. Конорт[у], который дал положи-тельное заключение о возможности постройки самолёта такого типа.
По заключению т. Конорт[а], идея постройки такого самолёта представля-ет большой интерес, т. к. он должен дать большую скорость на большой высо-те. Устойчивость сомнений не вызывает. Есть предпосылки к использованию самолёта такого типа с катапультой или станком (наклонным стартовым сто-лом. — Д.С.), т. е. возможность полётов без людей и в определенном направ-лении.
Для быстрой реализации т. Конорт считает необходимым организовать секретную группу при Военной Воздушной академии или при ЦАГИ с зада-нием построить первый образец в 2–3 месячный срок»2.
Из прилагающихся материалов следовало, что самолёт Поставина пред-ставлял собой двухместный истребитель-бесхвостку с треугольным крылом очень большой стреловидности и расположенным под ним узким фюзеляжем. Два двигателя (200 и 400 л. с.) с нагнетателями приводили во вращение тяну-щий и два толкающих винта. Управление — с помощью руля направления и интерцепторов на крыле. Вооружение — стреляющая через вал переднего вин-та пушка и четыре пулемета. Кабины экипажа герметизированы для полёта на большой высоте.


« Google translation » is giving the following :

But at the beginning of June 1936, the USSR Defense Committee received a report from the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs G.G. Berries:
“We found that a certain aircraft engineer Postavin, who allegedly fled from the USSR to Manchuria in 1933, invented an aircraft of a new design (triangular configuration). In Shanghai, Postavin entered into negotiations to sell his invention. The Japanese bought the invention and began to experiment. An experimental model was made in Dairen, and tests were carried out there that gave positive results in the presence of specialists: General Suzuki, Lieutenant Colonel Kosumoto and Lieutenant Nemoto. After testing the model, Postavin left for Japan in the city of Shimonoseki, where he supervised the construction of aircraft at a secret air base, of which 400 are allegedly built at present.
In 1935, Postavin died in one of the Japanese resorts under very mysterious circumstances, and it was believed that he was poisoned.
We managed to get some drawings and descriptions of the aircraft designed by Postavin through agents. The materials were submitted for consultation to the Chief Engineer of the Red Army Air Force Comrade Konort [y], who gave a positive conclusion on the possibility of building an aircraft of this type.
According to Comrade Conorth[a], the idea of building such an aircraft is of great interest, since it should give greater speed at high altitude. The sustainability is beyond doubt. There are prerequisites for using an aircraft of this type with a catapult or a machine (an inclined launch table. - D.S.), i.e. the possibility of flying without people and in a certain direction.
For quick implementation, Comrade Conort considers it necessary to organize a secret group at the Military Air Academy or at TsAGI with the task of building the first sample within 2-3 months.
From the attached materials, it followed that Postavin's aircraft was a two-seat tailless fighter with a delta wing of very large sweep and a narrow fuselage located under it. Two engines (200 and 400 hp) with superchargers drove the pulling and two pushing propellers. Controls - using the rudder and spoilers on the wing. Armament - a cannon firing through the shaft of the front propeller and four machine guns. The cockpits are pressurized for high altitude flight.


A photo of a wind tunnel test model is also presented.

Is more information available on Postavin and his works on delta wings (in Soviet Union or Japan)?
 

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Very interesting. I didn't know the work of Postavin.

Maybe (a very little) more details here :

https://ruslet.webnode.cz/technika/ruska-technika/letecka-technika/moskalev-s-a/sam-9-strela/

Google trad :
(...)
At the beginning of June 1936, Soviet intelligence came out with the fact that the Japanese had a fast aircraft with a triangular ground plan. According to the intelligence, the mentioned machine was designed by an aeronautical engineer Postavin, who allegedly fled from the USSR to Manchuria in 1933. He was supposed to sell his invention to the Japanese in Shanghai. The prototype of the machine was to be built in Dalian. Here he was also to pass the tests. After that, Postavin was to go to Shimonoseki, where he was to oversee mass production at a secret military base. According to the intelligence, 400 should have already been built of these machines. Postavin was supposed to die in 1935 under very mysterious circumstances during a spa stay in Japan. At the same time, Soviet intelligence handed over a drawing and description of Postavin's triangular aircraft to the chief engineer of the VVS. In the mentioned materials it was stated that it is a tailless two-seat high-wing fighter with a triangular wing with a considerable arrow angle and a narrow fuselage. According to the materials supplied by the intelligence, the machine should have two engines, one with a power of 200 hp and one with a power of 400 hp. These engines were supposed to spin one towing and two pusher propellers. The crew of this machine was supposed to sit in a pressurized cabin. Its control was to be carried out with the help of rudder and spoilers. The armament of Postavin's triangular aircraft, according to Soviet intelligence materials, was to consist of one cannon, which was to shoot with a hollow shaft of the nose propeller, and four machine guns. Because the aircraft designed in this way should, in the opinion of the chief engineer of the VVS, be able to fly at a very high speed at a high altitude, on June 22, 1936, the CAGI Institute (Central Institute of Aero- and Hydrodynamics) was commissioned to measure its model in a wind tunnel. The institute received only 10 days for this task. At the same time, the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) was given the task of obtaining further information about Postavin's triangular aircraft in Japan. Subsequently, in the T-106 wind tunnel of the CAGI Institute, two models of a triangular airplane with a length of 1.2 m underwent tests. While one of them was made exactly according to the materials supplied by the intelligence, the other was equipped only with a nose towing propeller and standard control surfaces. However, the results of the above measurements showed that the aircraft conceived in this way has no advantages over the aircraft of the classic concept. For this reason, the construction of a similar aircraft of domestic design was found by some experts to be pointless. Nevertheless, the decision was made to build it after all. In this connection, the chief of Glavaviamo M.M. Kaganovich recalled the rejected project of the Moskalev type SAM-4. Therefore, on May 7, 1937, Moskalev, who in the meantime, in 1936, had become chief designer of the Voronezh OKB-31, was invited to Moscow. Here he was assigned to elaborate a project of a scale technological demonstrator of the SAM-4 "Sigma" aircraft.
(...)

Nevertheless, "400" built seems "amazing" (at least)...
 
Strange this Japanese army's interest for delta wing aircraft. First, this Postavin's mysterious project, then Mitsubishi' sudden contacts with young Roland Payen, leading to his Pa-400!
 

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