The Vakhmistrov Zveno (Flight) is a system of several aircraft rigidly linked together. One was a heavy powerful central carrier, the rest being light fighters that were quick and maneuverable, but they could not fly at long distances, which is why they needed some kind of “air base”.
The project of the first version of the Zveno, later named Zveno-1 and consisting of a TB-1 bomber and two I-4 fighters, was presented by the Soviet aircraft designer Vladimir Sergeyevich Vakhmistrov in June 1931. The project was approved, and six months later the aircraft carrier took off the ground.
It happened at one of the airfields near Moscow. The most experienced pilots were selected to perform the first flight. The pilot Adam Zalevsky took the pilot’s seat of the bomber, Andrey Sharapov was the co-pilot, and Alexander Anisimov and Valery Chkalov were in the fighter cockpits. In the rear cabins of the bomber are Morozov, an engineer from the Research Institute, and Vakhmistrov himself.
The heavy bomber with fighters took to the air normally. At an altitude of 1000 meters, the fighters unhooked from the carrier but not quite successfully. The right wheel hit the wing of the aircraft carrier, breaking through the skin. But Chkalov did not lose his head; he sharply swerved the fighter to the right, then to the left, broke away and flew away. Quickly freeing the tail of his aircraft, Anisimov followed.
From Chkalov’s report after the test of the “Zveno”:
The project of the first version of the Zveno, later named Zveno-1 and consisting of a TB-1 bomber and two I-4 fighters, was presented by the Soviet aircraft designer Vladimir Sergeyevich Vakhmistrov in June 1931. The project was approved, and six months later the aircraft carrier took off the ground.
It happened at one of the airfields near Moscow. The most experienced pilots were selected to perform the first flight. The pilot Adam Zalevsky took the pilot’s seat of the bomber, Andrey Sharapov was the co-pilot, and Alexander Anisimov and Valery Chkalov were in the fighter cockpits. In the rear cabins of the bomber are Morozov, an engineer from the Research Institute, and Vakhmistrov himself.
The heavy bomber with fighters took to the air normally. At an altitude of 1000 meters, the fighters unhooked from the carrier but not quite successfully. The right wheel hit the wing of the aircraft carrier, breaking through the skin. But Chkalov did not lose his head; he sharply swerved the fighter to the right, then to the left, broke away and flew away. Quickly freeing the tail of his aircraft, Anisimov followed.
From Chkalov’s report after the test of the “Zveno”:
