Lisunov Li-2 (Soviet C-47)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisunov_Li-2

The Lisunov Li-2, originally designated PS-84, was a license-built
Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in
Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. The project
was directed by aeronautical engineer Boris Pavlovich Lisunov.

The Soviet Union received its first DC-2 in 1935. Although a total of 18 DC-3s
had been ordered on 11 April 1936, the government of the USSR purchased 21 DC-3s
for operation by Aeroflot before World War II. A production license was awarded
to the government of the USSR on 15 July 1936. Lisunov spent two years at the
Douglas Aircraft Company, between November 1936 and April 1939 translating the
design. One of the engineers who accompanied him to Douglas was Vladimir
Mikhailovich Myasishchev. Design work and production were undertaken at State
Aviation Factory 84 in Khimki (now a suburb of Moscow). The Soviet version was
given the designation PS-84 – Passazhirskiy Samolyot 84, passenger airplane 84
(i.e. made in GAZ/State Plant No. 84).

Despite the original intention to incorporate as few changes as necessary to the
basic design, the GAZ-84 works had to make some 1,293 engineering change orders
to the original Douglas drawings, involving part design, dimensions, materials
and processes, most as a part of metrication of the design from U.S. customary
units to suit Soviet standards, no small task for Vladimir Myasishchev to
accomplish. The well-established Shvetsov OKB-19 design bureau, responsible for
the great bulk of the Soviets' air-cooled radial aviation powerplant designs of
the 1930-40s, used their Shvetsov ASh-62IR radial engines, a Soviet development
of the nine-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9, to power the PS-84. The same
Wright Aeronautical Cyclone 9 radial also powered the earliest Douglas DST
"Sleeper Transport" versions, and initial 21-passenger versions, of the original
American DC-3 airliner.

The Soviet standard design practice usually mandated fully shuttered engines in
order to cope with the extreme temperatures. A slightly shorter span was
incorporated, but many of the other alterations were less evident. The passenger
door was moved to the right side of the fuselage, with a top-opening cargo door
on the left side in place of the original passenger door. The structural
reinforcement included slightly heavier skins, because the metric skin gauges
were not exact duplicates of the American alloy sheet metal. Standard Soviet
metric hardware was different and the various steel substructures such as engine
mounts and landing gear, wheels, and tires were also quite different from the
original design. Later modifications allowed the provision of ski landing gear
in order to operate in remote and Arctic regions. The first PS-84s had begun to
emerge from the GAZ-84 production line by 1939.


Role
Cargo/passenger utility aircraft and light bomber

National origin
Soviet Union

Manufacturer
GAZ

Introduction
1939

Primary users
Soviet Air Force
Aeroflot

Produced
1939-1952

Number built
6,157 (per latest research 4,937)

Developed from
Douglas DC-3

The PS-84 had flown with Aeroflot primarily as a passenger transport before
World War II. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 many of the PS-84s
were taken into military use and redesignated the Lisunov Li-2 in 1942. The
military models were equipped with a 7.62 mm (.30 in) ShKAS machine gun, and
later with a 12.7 mm (.50 in) UBK heavy machine gun. The aircraft were used for
transport, partisan supply, bombing, and as ambulance aircraft. A version
designated Li-2VV (Vojenny Variant = military variant) had a redesigned nose for
extra defensive armament and could carry up to four 250 kg (551 lb) bombs under
the wings. Smaller bombs could be carried inside the fuselage and thrown out of
the freight hatch by the crew.

A total of 4,937 aircraft were produced of all Li-2 variants between 1940 and
1954 and it saw extensive use in Eastern Europe until the 1960s. The last
survivors in use were noted in China and Vietnam during the 1980s. There were
many versions, including airliner, cargo, military transport, reconnaissance,
aerial photography, parachute drop, bomber and high altitude variants. In Poland
they were fitted for cropdusting against forest pests. The Li-2 also saw
extensive service in the Chinese Air Force in the 1940s and 1950s.

Several airlines operated Lisunov Li-2s, among others Aeroflot, CAAK, CSA, LOT,
MALÉV, Polar Aviation, TABSO and Tarom.

Only one Li-2 restored to airworthy condition exists in Europe. The Hungarian
registered HA-LIX was built in 1949 in Airframe Factory Nr.84 (GAZ-84) of
Tashkent, as serial number 18433209 and still flies sightseeing tours and
regularly participates at air shows.

The North Korean Air Force is known to still use a number of Li-2s for
transport, although they may have been decommissioned despite their continued
presence on certain airbases.

Specifications (Li-2)

General characteristics
Crew: five-six
Capacity: 24 passengers
Length: 19.65 m (64 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 28.81 m (94 ft 6 in)
Height: 5.15 m (16 ft 11 in)
Empty weight: 7,750 kg (17,485 lb)
Loaded weight: 10,700 kg (23,589 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 11,280 kg (24,867 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Shvetsov ASh-62IR 4-bladed VISh-21, 746 kW (1,000 hp) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 300 km/h (186 mph)
Cruise speed: 245 km/h (152 mph)
Range: 1,100-2,500 km (685-1,550 mi)

Armament

3× 7.62 mm (.30 in) ShKAS machine guns
1× 12.7 mm (.50 in) UBK machine gun
1,000 kg bombs (normal load)
2,000 kg (4,409 lb) of bombs (short distances)




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