The history of aviation knows a very large number of aircraft of various types and types. It is unlikely that all the names of the aircraft can even be listed. However, it is quite possible to cover the main models. Let's find out how aircraft are classified, their types, types, names will also be considered.
Names
Let's take a look at the list of names of the main foreign aircraft manufacturers in alphabetical order. The list includes both existing companies and abolished ones:
- Aérospatiale (France).
- Airbus (EU).
- Boeing (USA).
- British Aerospace (UK).
- British Aircraft (UK).
- Heinkel (Germany).
- Junkers (Germany).
- McDonnell Douglas (USA).
- Messerschmitt (Germany).
The names of aircraft in alphabetical order, produced in the USSR and post-Soviet countries, are given below:
- An (Antonov).
- And (Polikarpov).
- Il (Ilyushin).
- La(Lavochkin).
- LaGG (Lavochkin, Gorbunov, Gudkov).
- Li (Lisunov).
- MiG (Mikoyan and Gurevich).
- Po (Polikarpov).
- Su (Dry).
- Tu (Tupolev).
- Yak (Yakovlev).
How are planes classified?
First of all, let's find out what planes are. The names of aircraft can tell a lot, but the classification will tell us even more. How are aircraft classified? They do this according to the following parameters:
- as intended;
- speeds;
- number of engines;
- motor type;
- chassis type;
- mass;
- number of wings;
- fuselage size;
- control type;
- take-off shape.
We will now dwell on some of the above points.
Classification by purpose
It is considered the most common. According to this indicator, all aircraft were divided into two large types: military and civilian. In addition, each of the listed groups has its own division into smaller categories.
According to the specific functional affiliation, military aircraft are classified into the following specialized categories: bombers, interceptor aircraft, aircraft fighters, attack aircraft, military transport vessels, fighter-bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft.
In civil aviation, flight vehicles are divided into the following categories: passenger, agricultural, transport, postal, experimental, etc.
Bombers
The task of the bomber is to destroy targets on the ground. They do it with bombs and missiles.
Now let's find out the names of military aircraft. Among the bombers, the following models of domestic production can be distinguished: Su-24, Tu-160, Su-34. During the Second World War, the domestic Pe-2 bomber was especially famous. But the very first can be called the famous "Ilya Muromets" - the creation of the great designer Igor Sikorsky. This device took off for the first time in the air in 1913. In the era of the First World War, it was converted into a bomber. Ilya Muromets aircraft were also used during the Civil War.
Among foreign aircraft, one can single out modern American strategic bombers Northrop B-2 Spirit, XB-70 Valkyrie, Rockwell B-1 Lancer, B-2, B-52 Stratofortress, US-made aircraft of the 30s Boeing B- 17 and Martin B-10, German WW2-era Junkers Ju 86 and Heinkel He 111 bombers.
Fighters
The main task of these devices is the destruction of aircraft and other objects that are in the air.
The names of fighter planes will also say a lot to a connoisseur of military affairs. The most famous Soviet models of the Second World War period are LaGG-3, I-15 bis, MiG-3, I-16, I-153, Yak-1. In the same era, German aircraft Bf.109, Bf.110 and Fw 190, as well as jet Me.262, Me.163 Komet and He 162 Volksjager won world fame.
Among the Sovietfighters of a later era should be distinguished MiG-31, Su-27 and MiG-29. Currently, the sky is filled with modern Russian aircraft. Their names are well known to aviation specialists. These are 4++ generation fighters Su-35 and MiG-35.
The world's first number five generation fighter, the Boeing F-22, as well as the earlier F-4 and F-15 Eagle models, stand out from modern American models.
Fighter-bombers
They combine the functions of the first two categories of aircraft we have described. That is, they destroy both air and ground targets.
The German Me.262, a modified model of the British Supermarine Spitfire fighter, De Havilland Mosquito, and the Soviet Yak-9 are considered the first fighter-bombers.
Among modern jet aircraft, it is necessary to highlight the domestic MiG-23B, Su-17M, MiG-27 and the American model F-105.
Interceptors
They are a separate subspecies of fighters designed to destroy enemy bombers. Unlike conventional fighters, they are equipped with powerful radar equipment.
Among the Soviet interceptors, the following aircraft names are known: Su-15, Su-9, Tu-128, Yak-28, MiG-25. Of the American models, you can designate the F-16 and Grumman F-14. The Japanese Mitsubishi F-2 aircraft and the British interceptor Panavia Tornado ADV are also known to the world.
Stormtroopers
Their tasks include air support for ground forces.
The most famous attack aircraft of the WWII era are the Il-2 and Il-10 aircraft. At the same time inthe enemy used the Hs 129 and Ju 87 for similar purposes. Among modern attack aircraft, the names of the Su-25, F / A-18, A-10 aircraft should be highlighted.
Military transport vehicles
The main tasks of military transport aircraft is the delivery of military cargo and personnel.
The aircraft of this class currently in service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the Il-76, An-26, An-124 and An-12. Among American analogues, the Douglas YC-15, Boeing C-17, Boeing C-97 and Boeing E-8 should be highlighted.
Passenger aircraft
The review of civil aviation models will start with them. This type of aircraft, as the name implies, is designed to carry passengers.
The first production aircraft carrying civilians is considered to be the same domestic "Ilya Muromets", which in the future was converted into a bomber. He made his first flight from St. Petersburg to Kyiv with sixteen passengers back in 1914.
The most popular airliner during the existence of aviation is the American Douglas DC-3, which made its first aviation flight back in 1935. Various modifications of it are still in use today. For example, the Soviet version of this aircraft was the Li-2.
The first aircraft were described above. The names of the main competitors in the modern passenger aviation market are Boeing and Airbus.
Boeing
The American company Boeing originated back in 1916. Since then, it has been engaged in the production of aircraft, mainlyway, for civil aviation, although there are also military transport models. The most famous names of the passenger aircraft of this company are Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 747-8, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787.
The first of the above models was released in 1968, and today is the most massive of all passenger aircraft. The Boeing 747, produced a year later, is a pioneer among wide-body airliners. The Boeing 747-8 is the longest passenger aircraft. It was released in 2010. Today, the Boeing 777, which has been produced since 1994, has become the most popular in the passenger aviation market. The newest model of the corporation at the moment is the Boeing 787 of 2009.
Airbus
As mentioned earlier, Boeing's main competitor in the world market is the European company Airbus, headquartered in France. It was founded much later than its American rival - in 1970. The most famous aircraft names of this company are A300, A320, A380 and A350 XWB.
Introduced in 1972, the A300 is the very first twin-engine wide-body aircraft. The A320, manufactured in 1988, was the first in the world to use a fly-by-wire form of control. The A380, which first took to the skies in 2005, is the largest in the world. He is able to take on board up to 480 passengers. The latest development of the company is the A350 XWB. His main task was to competepreviously released Boeing 787. And this airliner successfully copes with this task, bypassing its rival in terms of economy.
Soviet passenger planes
The Soviet passenger aviation industry was also represented at a decent level. Most of the models are Aeroflot aircraft. Names of the main brands: Tu, Il, An and Yak.
The first domestic jet airliner is the Tu-104, produced in 1955. Tu-154, the first takeoff of which was made in 1972, is considered the most massive Soviet passenger aircraft. The 1968 Tu-144 gained legendary status as the world's first airliner to break the sound barrier. He could reach speeds of up to 2.5 thousand km / h, and this record has not been broken to our time. At the moment, the latest operating model of the airliner, developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau, is the Tu-204 aircraft of 1990, as well as its modification Tu-214.
Naturally, besides Tu, there are other Aeroflot planes. The most popular names are: Il-18, Il-114, Il-103, An-24, An-28, Yak-40 and Yak-42.
Airliners from other countries of the world
In addition to the above, there are noteworthy models from other manufacturers of passenger aircraft.
The British De Havilland Comet, launched in 1949, is the world's first jet airliner. The French-British airliner Concorde, developed in 1969, gained wide popularity. It went down in history due to the fact that it is the second successful attempt (after the Tu-144) to create a supersonic passenger aircraft. And so far, these two airliners are unique in this regard, since so far no one else has been able to produce a passenger aircraft suitable for mass operation, capable of moving faster than sound.
Transport workers
The main purpose of transport aircraft is to transport goods over long distances.
Among the aircraft of this type, it is necessary to designate Western models of passenger aircraft modified for transport needs: Douglas MD-11F, Airbus A330-200F, Airbus A300-600ST and Boeing 747-8F.
But most of all in the production of transport aircraft, the Soviet, and now the Ukrainian design bureau named after Antonov, became famous. It produces aircraft that constantly break world records in terms of carrying capacity: An-22 1965 (carrying capacity - 60 tons), An-124 1984 (carrying capacity - 120 tons), An-225 1988 (takes on board 253, 8 t). The latest model holds the hitherto unbroken load capacity record. In addition, it was planned to use it to transport the Soviet Buran shuttles, but with the collapse of the USSR, the project remained unrealized.
In the Russian Federation with transport aviation, everything is not so rosy. The names of Russian aircraft are as follows: Il-76, Il-112 and Il-214. But the problem is that the currently produced Il-76 was developed back in Soviet times, in 1971, and the rest are planninglaunch only in 2017.
Agricultural aircraft
There are aircraft whose task is to treat fields with pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. This type of aircraft is called agricultural.
U-2 and An-2 are known from the Soviet samples of these devices, which, due to the specifics of their use, were popularly called “maize” by the people.
Speed Division
In addition to the classification of aircraft by purpose, which we studied in detail above, there are other types of ranking. These include classification by flight speed. On this basis, aircraft are divided into the following categories: subsonic, transonic aircraft, supersonic aircraft and hypersonic.
It's easy to see that subsonic aircraft move slower than sound. Transsonic aircraft fly at near-sonic speeds, supersonic aircraft break the sound barrier, and hypersonic aircraft are more than five times faster.
At the moment, the fastest hypersonic vehicle in the world is considered to be an experimental hypersonic vehicle from the USA X-43A 2001. It can reach speeds of 11,200 km/h. In second place is his compatriot X-15, released back in 1959. The speed is 7273 km / h. If we are not talking about experimental vehicles, but about those aircraft that perform specific tasks, then the American SR-71, capable of speeds up to 3530 km / h, has the championship. Among domestic devices, it is necessary to single out supersonicMiG-25. Its maximum speed can reach up to 3000 km/h.
In passenger aviation, things are much worse with speed. To date, only two supersonic airliners have been produced: the domestic Tu-144 (1968) and the French-English Concorde (1969). The first of them can develop speed indicators up to 2.5 thousand km/h, which is a civil aviation record, but this is only the tenth place among aircraft of all purposes. It should also be noted that at the moment there is not a single supersonic airliner that is in operation, since the use of the Tu-144 was abandoned back in 1978, and the use of the Concorde was stopped in 2003.
Hypersonic passenger planes never existed at all. True, now there are several projects of both domestic and foreign design bureaus for the production of a hypersonic airliner. Among them, the most famous is the European ZEHST. This aircraft will be capable of speeds up to 5,000 km/h, but the timing of its creation is unclear. There are two similar projects in Russia - Tu-244 and Tu-444, but at the moment both of them are frozen.
Other types of classification
By the number of engines in aircraft, there is a ranking from one to twelve engines.
According to the type of engine, aircraft are divided into the following categories: electric, piston, turboprop, jet, rocket, and also devices with a combined engine.
According to the type of chassis, the classification of aircraft is as follows: wheeled,ski, hovercraft, caterpillar, float, amphibian. Naturally, wheeled aircraft are the most widely used.
By weight, aircraft are divided into super-light, light, medium-weight, heavy and super-heavy aircraft.
According to the number of wings, in the direction of decreasing their number, aircraft are divided into polyplanes, triplanes, biplanes, sesquiplanes and monoplanes.
There is also a classification according to the size of the fuselage: narrow-body and wide-body.
According to the classification of the type of control, aircraft are divided into manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to the form of take-off, all aircraft can be divided into the following categories: vertical take-off, horizontal and short.
Variety
We learned what the classification of aircraft is, their types, types, names were also considered. As you can see, a very large number of models are presented that perform various functions and have very different technical characteristics. The world of aviation is truly multifaceted, and it will not be possible to describe absolutely all of its aspects in one review.
Nevertheless, we can give a general idea on this issue by describing the most famous aircraft that have gone down in history. Species and names, despite their large number, are still really systematized in a certain way in order to clarify the essence of this topic.
