Every major nation has had aircraft that have been used solely to test structures, engines and equipment. The aircraft that are used for this purpose can be anything from prototypes to full production airframes to specially built vehicles.

We in the West are used to what have been used for test aircraft, but it seems that nothing matches the huge variety and number of airframes that have been used by the Soviet Union and Russia.

Thanks to probably the number one team of writers on aircraft from Russia and the Soviet Union, Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov, we now have the most up to date rundown on the various aircraft used as well as the purpose for their use. Some of them look quite ordinary, while others have been highly modified for their new intended purpose.

The book is generally divided into sections depending on the use. These sections are aerodynamics, aircraft systems, propulsion, avionics, weapons, weather research, geophysical research and miscellaneous. The authors have tried to find photos of each of what seems to be thousands of aircraft that have been used and have been pretty successful in many regards. There are also a number of pages of color profiles of some of the aircraft that have been used.

You'll find a goodly number of well known types in here such as the MiG-15, Su-27, MiG-29, Tu-134, Tu-2, Pe-8 and others. In each section, the planes are listed by type so you'll find the An-2 near the front of the section, for instance. I was particularly taken by the bevy of ejection seat trial aircraft and some of the interesting locations for the test section (the tail of an IL-28, for example). Each entry has as much information as is known about the purpose of the aircraft. I found the high speed stuff to be pretty interesting as the Soviets used the Tu-4 in many of the ways the US used the B-29. I was also taken by the similarity of subjects of research and it makes me wonder if one side was imitating the research being done on the other.

This is by far the most comprehensive book to have ever been written on the subject. It is not what I'd call light reading as it took me a considerable while to go through the book. However, it is a fascinating look into things that eventually made it into production and some things that would have been interesting had they worked. A book that I know you will enjoy and one I can easily recommend to you.

July 2011

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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