[STOCK] 1:1 Scale Polikarpov Po-2 Biplane

[EvenFlow]

 

INTRODUCTION

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

~Nikolai N. Polikarpov after preliminary flight testing of the Po-2, circa June 1927 A.D.

Well, so out of all the high performance, cutting edge propeller aircraft I could build, I've decided to recreate this. Speed of a caffeinated YF-12, maneuverability of a F-15S/MTD, firepower of an Iowa-class battleship. The true top tier airframe from a more civilized age. On a serious note, the Po-2 was initially designated U-2, and was created in late 20s in the USSR as a general-purpose aircraft. During the WWII it was usually used as a reconaissance aircraft, but low-level night bombing runs were also quite common, made especially famous by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, composed of an all-woman pilot and ground crew complement. Suprisingly, the Po-2s combat usage did not end in 1945. Polikarpov biplanes were spotted over the Korean skies in the early 50s, mostly used as reconaissance and light bomber aircraft. Frankly, the USAF pilots reported the Po-2 to be notoriously hard to shoot down due to it's extremely low, sub-200kph top speed which sat below the stall speed of most US jet aircraft. Apart from combat use, the Po-2 has seen service among many airforces, serving as a trainer and utility aircraft in the miitary. It's 5 cylinder 100HP Shvestov M-11 radial engine was incredibly low-maintenance, making the Po-2 extremely well-suited for service in rough conditions. Albeit unarmed at first, later variants of this aircraft recieved a ShKAS machinegun as a rear turret and a small bombload of 250kg.

 

 

FEATURES

Not all that much in the way of features on this one due to it's small size. There are a few though:

1. Fully functional, spinning propeller, along with a semi-detailed Shvestov M-11 engine.

2. Flaps, toggleable with AG 1

3. Some nice little details, such as the gear assembly, the wing spars and the ShKAS MG in the back.

4. 1:1 scale, which is a feature considering how small the whole thing is! (only 8m long, that isn't much space to fit alot of detail in, really.)

 

 

HOW TO FLY

Due to it's relatively low-power engine, the Po-2 requires some special care while flying. Startup procedures are identical to all my other prop planes, namely:

1. Startup and takeoff

• Idle the throttle and engage brakes. SAS needs to be off.
• Stage the first stage. The ring securing the propeller in place will come off. Switch to the propeller with " ] ".
• Start up the propeller. Hold down ALT and either Q or E. Hold the key until the roll indicator in the bottom left corner of the screen will reach it's limit. Remember to have SAS disengaged in this stage if you want the propeller to work. SAS, along with neutralising set roll trim with ALT can be used to stop the propeller post-flight.
• Switch back to the main vessel, engage the SAS (although the craft is perfectly flyable without it of course) and disengage the brakes. After the propeller has started rotating sufficiently quickly you can add throttle and begin the takeoff.
• Allow the plane to gain speed. It will, albeit rather slowly.
• Wait until the plane hit's AT LEAST 21m/s, then you can ever so slightly apply elevator. Now is the hardest part of the whole flight:
• Manipulate the elevator and keep the plane level, so that your speed starts to increase. Once it's above approx. 30-35m/s you are fying safely.

2. Flight

• Turn gently and dont bank too much, since the rudder response is average at best, and if you find yourself low on speed (sub-20m/s) while banking, you might find yourself unable to level the plane out before it loses too much altitude.
• Watch the speed and keep it above 20-25m/s, preferably even higher. Under 20m/s the plane will stall out.
• Apply elevator delicately, don't bleed speed if not necessary, climb at a shallow angle. Watch out not to clip the propeller into the ground while landing.

 

Here we have an entirely historical photo of a Po-2 carrying a RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb since, as we all know, the Po-2 was the backbone of Soviet strategic bomber force during the Cold War.

Fly safe and enjoy. Feel free to leave suggestions on what i should build next. The plane is built out of 133 parts btw. All stock.

 

DOWNLOAD LINK

https://kerbalx.com/EvenFlow/Po-2

Updated on 24-07-2017, V1.0

CHANGELOG

1.0 - initial release

Edited July 24, 2017 by EvenFlow

[YoeriCookie]

Is stronk)))

Medal for yuo comrade

[EvenFlow]

 

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Baltic Sea, a Los Angeles class submarine is setting off on a covert operation...

Coming Soon.

[Azimech]

" Here we have an entirely historical photo of a Po-2 carrying a RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb since, as we all know, the Po-2 was the backbone of Soviet strategic bomber force during the Cold War. "

Hilarious!

And good model btw. I really enjoyed flying the U2 in the IL2 series.

[EvenFlow]

3 hours ago, Azimech said:

" Here we have an entirely historical photo of a Po-2 carrying a RDS-37 thermonuclear bomb since, as we all know, the Po-2 was the backbone of Soviet strategic bomber force during the Cold War. "

Hilarious!

And good model btw. I really enjoyed flying the U2 in the IL2 series.

Hah, honored to hear words of praise from a guy who pretty much started the stock propeller plane boom in KSP! Quite a coincidence too - I've also first encountered the Kukuruznik back in my days of playing the original Il-2 Sturmovik on my old computer with a twitchy flightstick. It was one of the few aircraft I could actually control decently thanks to it's turtle pace and great handling which helped make up for my god-horrible flying skills.

And they really were horrible considering I was in the 1st grade of primary school back then and the closest I usually got to flying was through operating the flaps and landing gear as a co-pilot on the 737s my dad was flying out in FS 2004. Good times! c:

The RDS-37 was missing from Po-2's payload options in Il-2 though a far as I remember. Quite a significant flaw, really!

[klond]

 All the photos are really nice.  Oh, and I NEED that submarine.

[EvenFlow]

6 hours ago, klond said:

 All the photos are really nice.  Oh, and I NEED that submarine.

 

Do you want the Soviet surface fleet to go with your submarine sir?

Coming Soon-er