72287 KALININ K-5

The Kalinin K-5 was a Soviet high-wing passenger and transport aircraft with a fixed undercarriage from the interwar period. The aircraft was first flown in October 1929, and serial production began shortly after. Approximately 260 examples of this aircraft were built in its course. The drive was provided by a single Mikulin M-17F engine with a capacity of 730 HP. Concept work on the Kalinin K-5 began in 1926, but only a year later the first sketches of a new aircraft began to be created, which was to replace the German-made Junkers F-13 and Dornier Komet aircraft used by Aeroflot at that time. While many design solutions were developed very quickly, a lot of attention was required to select the appropriate drive unit, and the choice of designers fell on the Mikulin M-17F engine. Ultimately, the Kalinin K-5 turned out to be quite a successful machine with good range, but low top speed and very low rate of climb. The aircraft remained in civilian use until 1940, and the Red Army used it until 1943 as a light transport aircraft.