Beriev Be-6

Be-6
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Be-6 at Ukrainian State Aviation Museum
Role	Maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft
Manufacturer	Beriev OKB
First flight	1949
Retired	Late 1960s
Primary users	Soviet Navy People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force
Produced	1949–57
Number built	123
Developed into	Beriev Be-12

The Beriev Be-6 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 34", NATO reporting name "Madge") was a flying boat produced by the Soviet Beriev OKB. It was capable of accomplishing a wide variety of missions, such as long-range maritime reconnaissance, coastal and supply line patrols, torpedo/bombing strikes, mine-laying, and transport operations.

Design and Development

The Be-6 was a gull-winged aircraft with twin oval vertical stabilizers on top of a deep fuselage. The aircraft was of all-metal construction except for fabric covering the rudders and ailerons. The fuselage was divided into eight watertight compartments to improve survivability. The engines were installed in the bends of the wings with the floats on an underwing cantilever rack. Each float was divided into four watertight compartments.

Operational history

File:A-4B VA-93 intercepts Be-6 off Japan 1964.jpg

A U.S. Navy A-4B intercepting a Be-6 off Japan, 1964.

The Be-6 was built from 1949 to 1957 at the Beriev plant in Taganrog. The aircraft went through 19 variants through its production cycle, and 123 aircraft were eventually built. Since requirements of Soviet naval aircraft did not change rapidly, the reliable Be-6 stayed in service until the late 1960s. Some aircraft ended service as civilian unarmed transports in Arctic regions. One survivor is preserved at the Ukraine State Aviation Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. Beriev Be-6s operated by the Peoples Republic of China PLANAF proved useful in patrolling the long coastline and huge territorial waters off China's coast. During the 1970s the original Shvetsov radial engines began to wear out with no replacements available, so several aircraft were re-engined with Wopen WJ-6 turboprop engines, in new nacelles, for a new lease of life and were redesignated Qing-6.

Operators

People's Republic of China

• People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force

Soviet Union

• Soviet Naval Aviation

Variants

• LL-143: Prototype of Be-6 with Shvetsov ASh-72 radial engines; nose, beam, ventral and tail positions for a total of six 12.7mm UBT machine-guns.
• Be-6: standard production aircraft with Shvetsov ASh-73 radial piston-engines.
• Qing-6: Be-6 aircraft of the PLANAF re-engined with Wopen WJ-6 turboprops.

Specifications (Be-6)

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Data from Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft

General characteristics

• Length: 23.5 m (77 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 33 m (110 ft)
• Height: 7.64 m (25 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 120 m² (1,292 ft²)
• Empty weight: 18,827 kg (41,506 lb)
• Loaded weight: 23,456 kg (51,711 lb)
• Landing weight: 20,928 kg (46,138 lb))
• Max. takeoff weight: 29,000 kg (64,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Shvetsov ASh-73TK radial engines, 1,800 kW (2,400 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 414 km/h (218 kn, 257 mph) at 1,800 m (5,900 ft)
• Cruise speed: 280 km/h (173 mph) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
• Landing speed: 147 km/h (105 kn, 91 mph)
• Range: 5,000 km (2,700 kn, 3,100 mi)
• Service ceiling: 6,100 m (20,013 ft)

Armament

• Guns: 5 × 23 mm (0.91 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon in 3 remotely controlled turrets
• Bombs:
  
  • General ordnance, or
  • 2×1,000 kg (2,205 lb) torpedoes, or
  • 8 mines

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Martin PBM Mariner

References

• Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
• Gordon, Yefim & Komissarov, Dmitry. Chinese Aircraft. Hikoki Publications. Manchester. 2008. ISBN 978-1-902109-04-6