Beriev MBR-2: Soviet Flying Boat

MBR-2 of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet at anchor in Kola Bay, 1942.

The Beriev MBR-2 was a Soviet multi-purpose (including reconnaissance) flying boat which entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1935. Out of 1,365 built, nine were used by foreign countries (including Finland and North Korea). In the Soviet Union, it sometimes carried the nickname of "Kорова" (cow) and "Амбар" (barn).

Design

The MBR-2 was designed by Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev and first flew in 1931, powered by an imported 373 kW (500 hp) BMW VI.Z engine. Production models, which arrived in 1934, used a license-built version of this engine, the Mikulin M-17 of 508 kW (680 hp), and could be fitted with a fixed wheel or ski undercarriage.

Beriev also designed a commercial airliner derivation, the MP-1, which entered airline service in 1934, and a freighter version, which followed in 1936.

In 1935, an improved version was developed, the MBR-2bis, powered by the Mikulin AM-34N engine, and fitted with an enclosed cockpit, dorsal gun-turret and enlarged vertical tail. In this configuration, the machine remained in production until 1941. As with the MBR-2, the bis spawned a commercial derivative and the MP-1bis entered service in 1937.

Variants

MBR-2M-17: Short-range maritime reconnaissance, bombing flying-boat, powered by a 508 kW (680 hp) Mikulin M-17B piston engine.

MBR-2AM-34 or MBR-2bis: Improved version, powered by a Mikulin AM-34N engine.

MBR-2M-103: One MBR-2AM-34 was fitted with the more powerful M-103 engine. One prototype only.

MP-1: Civil version of the MBR-2M-17 flying-boat. It could carry six passengers in an enclosed cabin.

MP-1bis: Civil version of the MBR-2AM-34 flying-boat.

MP-1T: Freight transport conversion of MBR-2.

Operators

Finland

The Finnish Air Force operated five captured aircraft from 1941.

Soviet Union

Aeroflot

Soviet Naval Aviation

North Korea

North Korean Air Force

General Information

Type: Patrol aircraft

Manufacturer: Beriev OKB

Designer: Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev

Status: Out of production; retired

Primary user: Soviet Navy

Number built: 1,365

Manufactured: 1934-1941

Introduction date: 1935

First flight: 1931

Specifications (MBR-2 AM-34)

Crew: 4-5

Length: 13.50 m (44 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in)

Height: 5.00 m (16 ft 5 in)

Wing area: 55 m2 (590 sq ft)

Airfoil: root: MOS-27 (18%); tip: MOS-27 (10%)

Empty weight: 2,718 kg (5,992 lb)

Gross weight: 4,245 kg (9,359 lb)

Powerplant: 1 × Mikulin AM-34NB V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 620 kW (830 hp)

Maximum speed: 275 km/h (171 mph, 148 kn) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Cruise speed: 190 km/h (120 mph, 100 kn)

Range: 1,600 km (990 mi, 860 nmi)

Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

Guns:

1× 7.62 mm (0.30 in) PV-1 machine gun in bow

1× 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun in dorsal turret

Bombs: 300 kg (660 lb) of bombs, mines, and depth charges carried underwing

Bibliography

Green, William (1968). War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Five, Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.

Kulikov, Victor (September 1998). "L'hydroaviation MBR-2, pillier de la reconnaissance naval soviétique" [The Seaplane MBR-2, Pillar of Soviet Naval Reconnaissance]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French). No. 66. pp. 22–29.

Munson, Kenneth (1969). Bombers, Patrol and Transport Aircraft 1939-45. Blandford.

An Aeroflot Beriev MP-1 at Yalta circa 1939.

Beriev MBR-2-M-34 with closed cabins and refined shape, 1932. (SDASM Archives)

Beriev MBR-2, 1939. (SDASM Archives)

MBR-2, Northern Fleet Air Force Museum, Safonovo, Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, 14 April 2018.

MBR-2 with M-34N engine, 1935.

MBR-2, 1939. (SDASM Archives)

MBR-2M-34, s/n VV-182, of the Finnish air force, 24 August 1941. (Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive photo 49275)

MBR-2, 1939. (SDASM Archives)

MBR-2, 1939. (Photo from Pravda, 11 October 1941)

Lieutenant Kainulainen, who was the first to find the Russian MBR-2 flying boat with his patrol near Mustaniemi, Finland on 16 February 1943. The three flight officers on board had set off to sneak onto the ice, using a liquid compass they had removed from the plane, but they were caught at dawn. (SA-Kuva photo)

Navigator of the 28th Aviation Squadron of the 118th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force, Junior Lieutenant Georgy Georgievich Pavlov (1923 – missing in action 4 March 1944), at the machine gun of his MBR-2 in low-level flight, circa 1943.