Russian Aviation Museum

Pre-War Antonov-designed gliders (U-4 single-seater and U-6 two-seater) were revived in peace time as A-1 and A-2. Both had similar simple open-frame construction, all-wooden with wire bracing and fabric covering.
The A-1 was designed for bungee launching and had a detachable fuselage nacelle. Two-spar rectangular wing was of a constant chord. The leading edge was reinforced by ply planking to the front spar. Tail unit was tapered with rectangular controls. Wooden
2-wheel undercarriage incorporated single rubber shock absorber. It was fitted to the fuselage frame and could be replaced by alternative single-wheel one.

Slightly more sophisticated A-2 tandem two-seater was intended for winch launching or aero-towing. It was designed in 1942.

Both gliders have been produced in large numbers. Further development of this class has been undertaken by B.R.Oshkinis (BRO-9 and 11) and at the Kazan Aviation Institute (KAI-6,9,10,11).


Type A-1 / A-2
Function Trainer
Year ? / 1942
Crew 1 / 2
Length 5.60m / 6.23m
Wingspan 10.56m / 13.05m
Wing area 15.64m2 / 16.13m2
Wing aspect ratio 7.13 / 10.55
Empty 92kg / 160kg
Loaded 164kg / 320kg
Wing Load (kg/m2) 10.5 / 19.8
Maximum 70km/h / 90km/h
Sinking 1.15m/sec / 1.2m/sec
Maximum Towing 130km/h