The Svyatogor was a large experimental Russian aircraft, constructed by Vasily Slesarev in 1916. The aircraft was named after the mythological hero Svyatogor

Svyatogor

Svyatogor is the name of a Kievan Rus' mythical bogatyr from bylinas. His name is a derivation from the words "sacred mountain"...

.

Development

The work on the Svyatogor began in 1913. It was a large wooden biplane, with wings and fuselage covered in fabric. The aircraft was propelled by two large propellers, 6 meters in diameter. Everything on the aircraft was over-sized, the nose wheel was 1.5 meter in diameter and the four rear wheels were 2 meters in diameter. The engines were placed inside the fuselage to allow access during flight.

The aircraft awoke much interest, but failed to receive funding before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In desperate need of aircraft, the project was given a 100,000 rubles funding by E.M. Malynsky and production started in December 1914.

As suitable engines were hard to come by, Slesarev tried to mount some that had been taken from a downed Zeppelin

Zeppelin

A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...

. He contacted the French when this did not work out, and received some Renault engines, which could produce 220 hp

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

. These arrived in January 1916. Despite being without money, the construction of the revised design continued. The project stalled however with the transmission problems and the death of Slesarev in 1921.

Specifications