Polikarpov R-Z
The Polikarpov R-Z was a Soviet two-seat reconnaissance bomber of the mid-1930s, a major redesign of the R-5 built at Moscow's Zavod No.1 and powered by an M-34N engine. It first flew in January 1935, and 1,031 had been built when production ended in 1937. The R-Z fought in Spain, where Republican crews knew it as the Natacha, against Japan at Khalkhin Gol and against Finland in the Winter War, and it was being replaced by the Ilyushin Il-2 when Germany invaded in 1941.
Why It Mattered
The R-Z was a major redesign of the Polikarpov R-5 and succeeded it in production as the Soviet Air Force's standard light reconnaissance bomber. History of War records that the redesign raised top speed from 143 mph to 196 mph while keeping the R-5's basic layout in a smaller, lighter airframe. The type fought in three wars in four years: in Spain from 1937, against Japan at Khalkhin Gol in 1939, and against Finland in the Winter War that followed. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the R-Z was still serving with a number of light bomber regiments, even as its replacement was already arriving.
Design Notes
The redesign was produced at Zavod No.1 in Moscow by D S Markov and A A Skarbov, working from the R-5SSS, the R-5's most advanced variant. The fuselage was new, deeper and of monocoque construction, with a sliding canopy for the pilot and a fixed glazed fairing for the observer. Power came from an 850 hp M-34N engine, in place of the licence-built M-17F of the earlier aircraft. Armament was two fixed and one flexibly mounted ShKAS machine guns, with up to 500 kg of bombs. A ground-attack version added four fixed machine guns below the wings, and a civil variant, the P-Z, was built in considerable numbers to carry mail and two passengers.
Operational History
The R-Z first flew in January 1935, and the Soviet Air Force chose it over the competing Kochyerigin LR, another R-5 derivative. Zavod No.1 built 1,031 R-Zs between 1935 and 1937. Both the Soviet Air Force and Aeroflot flew the type in large numbers, as they had its predecessor. Its first use in combat was in Spain from 1937, where 61 aircraft were delivered to the Spanish Republican Air Force and nicknamed Natacha. The Spanish aircraft flew in tight formations, using co-ordinated defensive fire to hold off fighters, then returned individually at low level. They were nonetheless easy prey for the Nationalists' Fiat CR.32s, although overall losses were relatively low: 36 of the 61 delivered survived to be captured by the Nationalists when the war ended in April 1939. In 1939 the type fought against Japan above Mongolia, at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, and against Finland in the Winter War. Finnish troops named it Hermosaha, "nerve saw", after the unpleasant noise of its engine. When Germany invaded in June 1941, replacement by the Ilyushin Il-2 was already under way, although a number of light bomber regiments still flew the type.
Afterlife
The aircraft captured in Spain passed into Nationalist hands, and the type's operator lists record it in Spanish Nationalist as well as Republican service. Its other career was civil: Aeroflot used the R-Z in large numbers, and the P-Z variant carried mail and passengers. Neither source fetched for this record names a surviving aircraft, so any preservation of the type is a question for the survivor survey that follows. What the written record keeps is the pair of names the wars gave it: Natacha in Spain, and Hermosaha, "nerve saw", in Finland.