Tag Archives: Tumansky R-15B-300

11 September 1962

Pyotr Maksimovic Ostapenko (Encyclopedia of Safety)
Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko (Encyclopedia of Safety)

11 September 1962: Flying the E-152\1, a record-setting prototype Mikoyan Gurevich interceptor, test pilot Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude in Horizontal Flight of 22,670 meters (74,377 feet).¹

Profile of Mikoyan-Gurevich E-166
Profile of Mikoyan-Gurevich E-152\1 (testpilot.ru)

In documents submitted to FAI, the E-152\1 was identified as E-166. Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov made the first flight of the E-152\1 on 21 April 1961. The aircraft displayed at The Central Museum of the Air Forces at Monino, Russia as E-166 is actually the E-152\2, sister ship of the record-setting prototype.

This individual airplane set two other FAI world records. Test Pilot Alexander Vasilievich Fedotov flew it to 2,401 kilometers per hour (1,492 miles per hour) over a 100 kilometer course, 10 October 1961,² and on 7 July 1962, Colonel Mosolov set a world record for speed over a straight 15/25 kilometer course of 2,681 kilometers per hour (1,666 miles per hour).³

The Mikoyan-Gurevich E-152\1 shown with air-to-air missiles and a centerline fuel tank.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich E-152\1 shown with air-to-air missiles and a centerline fuel tank.

The Mikoyan Gurevich E-152\1 is a single-place, single-engine delta-winged prototype all-weather interceptor. It is 19.656 meters (64 feet, 5.4 inches) long  with a wingspan of 8.793 meters (28 feet, 10.2 inches). The leading edge of the wings are swept back to 53° 47′. The E-152\1 had an empty weight of 10,900 kilograms (24,030 pounds) and gross weight of 14,350 kilograms (31,636 pounds).

The prototype was powered by a Tumansky R-15B-300 axial-flow turbojet engine with a five-stage compressor and single-stage turbine. It produced 22,500 pounds of thrust (100.1 kN) with afterburner. This was the first Soviet jet engine to use electronic engine control.

The E-152\1 had a maximum speed Mach 2.82 (2,995 kilometers per hour, 1,861 miles per hour) at 15,400 meters (50,525 feet).

The interceptor prototype had an internal fuel capacity of 4,960 liters (1,310 gallons), and the E-152\1 could carry a 1,500 liter (396 gallon) external fuel tank, giving a maximum range of 1,470 kilometers (913 miles). The service ceiling was 22,680 meters (74,409 feet).

After a two-year test program, E-152\1 and its sistership, E-152\2 were converted to E-152M\1 and E-152M\2.

Mikoyan Gurevich E-152\1
Mikoyan Gurevich E-152\1
Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko
Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko

Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko was born at Cool (or Cold), Kabardino-Balkaria, U.S.S.R, 17 September 1928. His interest in aviation began when, at age 14, he watched an aerial battle between Soviet and German fighters. Ostapenko attended the Armavir Military Aviation School of Pilots at Amravir, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, from 1948 to 1951, and then became an instructor. In 1958 he attended the Ministry of Indutrial Aviation Test Pilot School at Zhukovsky. He was a test pilot for the Mikoyan Design Bureau from 1958 to 1983.

On 26 April 1971, Ostapenko was named Hero of the Soviet Union for his heroism in testing new aviation technology. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin and the FAI’s Henry De La Vaulx Medal.

Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko flew more than 5,000 hours as a test pilot in more than 60 aircraft types. He held seven FAI speed, altitude and time to altitude world records. He died 8 April 2012 at the age of 83 years.

¹ FAI Record File Number 8652

² FAI Record File Number 8511

³ FAI Record File Number 8514

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

7 July 1962

Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov
Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov

7 July 1962: Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, Hero of the Soviet Union, flew the Mikoyan-Gurevich E-152\1 to a two-way average speed of 2,681 kilometers per hour (1,666 miles per hour), setting a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a 15-to-25 Kilometer Straight Course.¹

The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152-1 shown with air-to-air missiles and a centerline fuel tank.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich E-152\1 shown with air-to-air missiles and a centerline fuel tank.

The E-152\1 (also known as Ye-152-1) was a prototype interceptor, similar to the production MiG-21. In documents submitted to FAI, the E-152\1 was identified as E-166. Colonel Mosolov made the first flight of the E-152\1 on 21 April 1961. The aircraft displayed at The Central Museum of the Air Forces at Monino, Russia, as E-166 is actually the E-152\2, sister ship of Colonel Mosolov’s record-setting prototype.

This airplane set two other FAI world records. Test Pilot Alexander Vasilievich Fedotov flew it to 2,401 kilometers per hour (1,492 miles per hour) over a 100 kilometer course, 10 October 1961; ² and on 11 September 1962, Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko set a world record for altitude in horizontal flight of 22,670 meters (74,377 feet feet).³

The Mikoyan Gurevich E-152\1 is a single-place, single-engine delta-winged prototype all-weather interceptor. It is 19.656 meters (64.448 feet) long  with a wingspan of 8.793 meters (28.848 feet). The leading edge of the wings are swept back to 53° 47′. The empty weight is 10,900 kilograms (24,030 pounds) and takeoff weight is 14,350 kilograms (31,636 pounds).

It was powered by a Tumansky R-15B-300 turbojet engine producing 22,500 pounds of thrust (100.085 kilonewtons) with afterburner. This was the original engine for the MiG-25.

Maximum speed Mach 2.82 (3,030 kilometers per hour, 1,883 miles per hour) at 15,400 meters (50,525 feet). The service ceiling is 22,680 meters (74,405 feet). Internal fuel capacity is 4,960 liters (1,310 gallons), and the E-152\1 could carry a 1,500 liter (396 gallon) external fuel tank. Its range is 1,470 kilometers (913 miles).

After a two-year test program, E-152\1 and its sistership, E-152\2 were converted to E-152M\1 and E-152M\2.

Mikoyan Gurevich Ye-152-1
Mikoyan Gurevich E-152\1
Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, Hero of the Soviet Union

Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov was born 3 May 1926 at Ufa, Bashkortostan, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. He was educated at the Central Aviation Club, where he graduated in 1943, and then went to the Special Air Forces School. In 1945 he completed the Primary Pilot School and was assigned as an instructor at the Chuguev Military Aviation School at Kharkiv, Ukraine.

In 1953 Mosolov was sent to the Ministry of Industrial Aviation Test Pilot School at Ramenskoye Airport, southeast of Moscow, and 6 years later, to the Moscow Aviation Institute. He was a test pilot at the Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau from 1953 to 1959, when he became the chief test pilot.

Georgy Mosolov set six world speed and altitude records. He was named a Hero of the Soviet Union, 5 October 1960, and Honored Test Pilot of the Soviet Union, 20 September 1967. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale awarded him its Henry De La Vaulx Medal three times: 1960, 1961 and 1962. The medal is presented to the holder of a recognized absolute world aviation record, set the previous year.

On 11 September 1962, an experimental Mikoyan Ye-8 that Colonel Mosolov was flying suffered a catastrophic compressor failure at Mach 2.15. Engine fragments heavily damaged to prototype and it began to break apart. Severely injured, Mosolov ejected from the doomed airplane at Mach 1.78. He had suffered a severe head injury, two broken arms and a broken leg during the ejection and became entangled in the parachute’s shroud lines. His other leg was broken when he landed in a forest. The following day he suffered cardiac arrest. During a surgical procedure, he went in to cardiac arrest a second time.

Mosolov survived but his test flying career was over. His recovery took more than a year, and though he was able to fly again, he could not resume his duties as a test pilot.

Georgy Mosolov served as an international representative for Aeroflot until 1992. He was also a department head at the Higher Komsomol School (Moscow University for the Humanities).

Mosolov was Chairman of the USSR Hockey Federation from 1969 to 1973. He was an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

Colonel Georgy Konstantinovich Mosolov, Soviet Air Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, died 17 March 2018, at Moscow, Russia, at the age of 91 years. He was buried at the Vagankovsoye cemetery in Moscow.

¹ FAI Record File Number 8514

² FAI Record File Number 8511

³ (FAI Record File Number 8652

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes