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ANT-11

The first flying boat, created in the Tupolev Design Bureau, ANT-8 or MDR-2, received a flattering assessment at state trials, but was not accepted for service. On November 9, 1928, the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Air Force Directorate approved the mission for the sea heavy torpedo bomber MTBT. A flying boat with a normal bomb load of 2000 kg (with a reloading load of 2400 kg) and armament from four DA machine guns (two on two turrets with a reserve of 12 discs each) was required. Provided suspension bombs caliber up to 1000 kg inclusive. Alternatively, the car was supposed to carry two torpedoes TAN-12 or TAN-27, which were dropped separately or in one splash.

Since 1929, the AN Tupolev design bureau has developed a project for a sea heavy torpedo bomber ANT-11 (MTBT). It was a flying boat with side floats or sponsons for lateral stability. Provided for the placement of a telescopic mast for setting sail. In the early 1930s, aircraft were equipped for operation in the Northern regions, including the YG-1 and Rohrbach. The stabilizer being rearranged in flight and the electrical heating of torpedo-emitters were envisaged.

Very high demands were placed on the seaworthiness of the boat. The military demanded a landing in the open sea at a wavelength of up to 2 m. They intended to provide stability with side “gills” (like the German Dornier “Val” aircraft that wasw in service under the designation DV). The “gills” are large protrusions in the form of a thick and short wing at the waterline.

A crew of six was planned: a commander freed from other duties, a pilot, a navigator (he's a scorer, a torpedo player, a radio operator and a photographer), a flight mechanic and two gunners. Interestingly, the pilot was envisioned alone, but the control was twofold. The second, disconnected, steering wheel, if necessary, had to be picked up by a mechanic sitting next to the pilot. The point about detachable sailing armament was an exotic task. Designers had to design a telescopic mast and everything else that was required for movement under the wind.

A preliminary study of the project on the instructions of the MTBT was carried out at TsAGI in 1929. The machine received the designation ANT-11. It was a four-engine monoplane-catamaran (with two boats). “Gills” were not needed. Stability ensured the distance between the fuselages. Machines of a similar scheme, but wooden, while serially built in Italy. The Soviets in the Far East in the mid-30s operated several Italian passenger flying catamaran boats S.55. The stabilizer was made movable, allowing to change the installation angle in flight.

But ANT-11 remained only in rough draft. The competing project executed in 1930 by the Central Design Bureau under the leadership of R.L. Bartini.