Sikorsky Ilya Mourometz (Series)

History of Sikorsky Ilya Muromets (series)

The Sikorsky Ilya Mourometz aircraft family was the world's first four-engine bomber in service. Igor Sikorsky, whose name is synonymous with the company's American helicopter line in the modern world, has made a name for himself in Russia as chief designer of the Russian-Baltic railway plant. There he developed the world's first four-engine aircraft, the Russky Vitaz (S-21) in 1913. This resulted in the basic design of the Type B Bolshoi Bal'tisky ("Great Baltic") aircraft, which flew for ten minutes on May 13, 1913 for a long flight.

Bolshoi Bal'tisky became the base of the larger Ilya Mourometz (S-22).

Designed as a four-engine luxury commercial passenger vehicle, the aircraft is equipped with revolutionary amenities such as cabin windows, onboard beds with toilets, a heated and illuminated cabin separate from the crew cockpit, and relatively comfortable passengers Seats can accommodate up to 16 people in rattan chairs. The cabin floor is also designed with glass, providing a unique passenger perspective for high-altitude flight.

Doors on the sides of the fuselage allow mechanics to service and repair the engine in flight.

The most common model in the IM series was the V (S-23), of which about 32-34 were produced from 1914 to 1916. The V-model was the first in the Mourometz series to be developed as a bomber from the very beginning (the previous product was a modification). They feature 4 Sunbeam Crusader V8 engines with 148 horsepower each. Introduced in 1915, the V-Type No.

151 had 4 Argus engines with 140 hp each. The V-Type No. 159 was a 1915 crew trainer with only 2 x 225hp Sunbeam engines - no doubt for the use of engines on fighter jets. Four 150 hp RBVZ-6 engines were added to the design of the V-Type No. 167 that also appeared in 1915.

Other faces in the IM series were produced in 1916, including the Type G-1 with 4 Sunbeam engines, each producing 160 hp. Likewise, the G-2 "Russobalt" uses 4 RBVZ-6 series engines of 150 hp each (RBVZ denotes its Russian-Baltic shipping plant origin) and was built in 30 production examples. The G-3 looks like it would be suitable to combine two 220-horsepower Renault engines with two 150-horsepower RBVZ-6 engines.

The final IM production model became the E-Type "Yeh-2" model with 4 x Renault 220hp engines and appeared in only 10 production examples. By 1918, only 13 IM aircraft were built, effectively marking the end of IM wartime production. About 80 Ilya Mourometz were eventually produced.

Having said that, an IM aircraft using water floats was produced, and while it allowed some successful water landings and takeoffs, it was found that this arrangement did not provide much military value. Other costly (human and financial) developments were also pursued, many ultimately abandoned.

Licensed production was taken over by Britain and France, and the concept of the Sikorsky four-engine bomber was replicated around the world during the war years and beyond. During World War I, the old Ilya Mourometz production line was replaced by a new Alexander Nevsky bomber designed by Sikorsky in 1916.

During the war, the Muromets Line made about 400 sorties in total against German and Latvian targets, most of them from Vinnitsa, Poland.

In a relatively short time on the front line, Ilya Mourometz has proven to be a capable mount. While the IM missed its chance to become the world's first four-engine multi-seat airliner, it created many "firsts" in military aviation.

The IM was the world's first purpose-built four-engine bomber with an internal bomb bay, bomb sights and excellent defensive armament. Special techniques were also developed for machine gun crews when engaging multiple enemy fighters at the same time.

As the war continued, the bombing effectiveness of the IM platform reached a near-perfect level.

IM enjoyed a brief post-war existence, with a few still in production. From May 1921 to October 1921, the Moscow-Kharkov line was finally able to use the aircraft as its originally intended passenger transport, until the aircraft were deemed too fragile for further use. Aging technology and construction are finally taking their toll on this beautiful machine. After 1921, when the last IMs flew in 1922, the IMs were nearly extinct.

Apart from the Russian Imperial Air Force and, soon after, the Soviet Air Force, Poland was the only other operator of the aircraft.

By the way, the name Ilya Mourometz is a hero of Russian mythology.

Specification

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Performance

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