Engels MI

The Engels MI was a Russian floatplane/fighter developed in 1916. It was a parasol cantilever flying boat with a V-Section hull, and downswept wingtips incorporating flotation chambers.

Engels MI
Role	fighter
Designer	Y.R. Engels
First flight	1916
Introduction	1920
Retired	1920
Primary users	Soviet Air Force Imperial Russian Air Service
Number built	4

Production history

In 1916 the Russian government expressed a need for a flying counter-float-plane against the German Albatros W.4. Y.E. Engels came up with the Engels MI, and after initial testing an order for 50 was placed on 27 April 1917. Only three were produced by October 1917, and as a result production quietly stopped.

Operational history

One aircraft survived the Russian Revolution, and was delivered to the Naval Aviation School at Nizhny Novgorod in 1920.

List of operators

Russian Empire

• Imperial Russian Air Service

Soviet Union

• Soviet Air Force

Specifications

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 14.2 m² (153 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 385 kg (849 lb)
• Gross weight: 555 kg (1,224 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 75 kW (101 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch pusher propeller

Performance

• Wing loading: 39.2 kg/m² (8.0 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.18 hp/kg

Armament

• Guns: 1 x fixed forward firing 7.62mm Maxim gun