Today we’re taking a look at a flying boat that had its origins in the early 1940s.
It would not see active service until after the second world war, but it saw service for
decades during the Cold War and the design itself would mark the beginning of a new generation
of successful military aircraft.
Hailing from the Soviet Union, powered by a pair of chunky radial engines, carried by
a distinctive gull-wing, and defended by potent 23mm autocannons, this was the Beriev Be-6,
also known by its NATO designation of Madge.
The origins of the Be-6 can be traced back to 1942.
Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev, the founder of the design bureau, had proposed a design known
as the Beriev MDR-10.
This was a twin-engine, heavy flying boat, with a gross weight of 22,000 kilos, a long
operational range, and a powerful defensive armament.
The MDR-10 could be built to fill a variety of needs: it could be built as a long-range
maritime patrol aircraft, a general reconnaissance aircraft, or a transport and landing aircraft
with an amphibious landing gear system.
Unfortunately, the MDR-10 would never leave the drawing board due to the threat of the
rapidly advancing German Army.
Not only did the Beriev design bureau have to relocate further east, setting up shop
in the city of Omsk, but they then had to put their efforts into fulfilling the existing
order for the Be-4 reconnaissance aircraft (which we covered recently)…and doing this
after a massive relocation, with minimal equipment was enough of a challenge on its own – let
along designing and building an even larger aircraft.
Because of this the Soviet administration was happy to fill the gap in its flying boat
arsenal with lend-lease PBY Catalinas, specifically an updated version known as the PBN Nomad.
But despite the fact that they would go on to serve well with Soviet forces, not everyone
was happy with using the PBN.
Several senior officers felt that the design was too light, not being able to carry a large
enough payload, and some felt that it was too old – indeed when the first PBNs began
arriving the basic design of the airframe was already a decade old as it was.
The Navy did not want to be left with an obsolete design at the conclusion of the war with Germany,
one which might swiftly be followed by a war with the western powers, and this led to renewed
interest in the heavy flying boat design that had been proposed a year earlier by Beriev.
Both the commander of Soviet Naval aviation -Zhavoronov- and the People’s Commisar of
the Navy -Admiral Kuznetzov- reviewed the proposal in depth and gave the official go-ahead
for a full design project to begin.
This go-ahead came with a formalised set of requirements.
Beriev was to build a twin-engine heavy flying boat; it was to have a loaded take-off weight
between 20,000 and 25,000 kg; it was to have a maximum speed of no less than 400 km/h,
a range of 5000km, endurance of up to 20 hours, and it must be able to carry 4,000kg of ordnance.
Despite the Navy’s urgency, work did not begin on the prototype until the spring of
1943.
As mentioned in the previous video covering the Beriev Be-4, the design bureau was forced
to relocated due to the oncoming threat of the German invasion.
Beriev had first relocated to new facilities at Omsk, but it lacked the required facilities
to allow for both production of the Be-4 and that of this newer, much larger design.
A request was then submitted, and granted, for everything to be moved to factory 477
at Krasnoyarsk.
Things did not get off to a particularly smooth start.
The factory had the space, but it lacked in practically everything else, and despite a
recent influx of new staff Beriev still found itself with a manpower shortage.
On hand the bureau had 36 designers, and about 100 engineers and laborers – which may sound
like a lot, but for the development of a large, technologically complex aircraft, it really
wasn’t – especially when you factor in things such as deadlines, and the fact that
Beriev was also under contract to build the Be-4 as well.
Because of this, the final design layouts and diagrams were not complete until late
1943, but they were quickly approved, and construction of the prototype got underway.
The resulting aircraft, in accordance with its specification, was of all-metal construction,
with fabric covered rudders and ailerons.
It was completed with the distinct gull wing structure, with twin outrigger floats and
a large, capacious hull. Power would be provided by twin Shvetsov ASh-72 18-cylinder radial
engines, producing up to the 2,250 hp under take-off power and driving four-bladed constant
speed propellors.
The engine nacelles would be angled upwards very slightly, an attempt to increase upwards
force during take-off - at the cost of forward thrust during flight.
The prototype was to be armed with six 12.7mm Berezin machine guns in the nose, waist positions,
dorsal turret and tail turret, along with the capability to carry up to 4,000 kg of
bombs, mines or torpedos on its external racks located on the wings.
This payload capacity allowed the Be-6 to mount up to two very heavy torpedos, a powerful
asset to have when the majority of torpedo-bombers at the time could carry a maximum of one,
and most of these were medium-sized.
The prototype, dubbed LL-143, was completed by the spring of 1945.
It was then disassembled and prepared for transportation to the port city of Taganrog,
where it would complete its initial tests.
Parts for a second prototype had been pretty much fully completed by this time as well,
though it would not be sent across for assembly until 1946.
So complex was the first prototype, that it took almost two months to fully re-assemble
it once everything had been delivered by rail, and a number of tests were done at the factory
before rolling it out for water trials and flight tests.
When complete, it was undoubtedly an unusual looking aircraft, with its very deep hull
and gull wings, though whether it’s of graceful beauty or ugly military utility is up for
debate.
Finally, on the 6th of September 1945, LL-143 would make its maiden flight; this was then
followed by a series of ten test flights that ran for approximately seven weeks, terminating
in mid-November due to the onset of the Russian winter.
Rather hilariously, at the end of the 10th and final test flight, the aircraft could
not be physically pulled ashore as the wind had picked up and it kept getting blown further
out to sea.
In the end it would take five days to finally bring the aircraft ashore, with teams pulling
it in by stages, breaking apart the sea ice that would form each night and threaten to
crush the hull.
Rather unsurprisingly, this marked the end of testing for the year, and further development
had to be halted for the winter - the prototype not flying against until May 27th 1946.
The next batch of evaluations consisted of 19 flights, and the aircraft amassed a total
flight time of 19 hours and 39 minutes during these, but it was then that the prototype
was almost lost.
During a pre-flight check, a mechanic decided to test the limiters of the dorsal turret,
and fired a salvo from the 12.7mm Berezin at the wing, at the exact location of the
recently filled fuel tank!
Though only a few armour-piercing bullets were fired, it was still more than enough
to ignite the fuel, and flames began to spread on the prototype’s wing.
The situation was quickly remedied by nearby flight mechanics, who swiftly took a fire
extinguisher to the wing and smothered the flames, thus saving the prototype from an
early, and embarrassing end.
Beriev was pleased that the prototype was saved, but also decided to take the opportunity
to analyse the damage and evaluate the durability of the aircraft.
After repairs, tests continued - on July 22nd the Chairman of the State Commission personally
took the aircraft up for a flight, and was apparently thoroughly impressed.
In his post-flight report he noted “The LL-143 aircraft -in piloting technique- is
simple and quite accessible to a medium-skilled pilot.
Compared to the PBY Catalina, the LL-143 has better manoeuvrability and seaworthiness,
easier takeoff and landing, and also maintains a more stable attitude during flight, removing
the burden of constant micro-adjustments from the pilot.”
High praise indeed claiming that the prototype - despite still being in development - had
better characteristics in virtually all facets than perhaps the most renowned flying boat
of all time…
Although one could speculate that a thoroughly negative evaluation might have been asking
for a one-way trip to a Siberian salt mine.
Either way, things looked promising, and at this point, it became clear that the LL-143
had been sufficiently developed to warrant ceasing the flight tests, and to begin the
preparations to make the aircraft suitable for mass production.
This would involve final adjustments to the design, and Beriev was instructed to make
some recommended modifications: this included re-engining to the more powerful Ash-73 engine,
and upgrading the weaponry and radio equipment.
At this stage in development, before moving further, the LL-143s specifications were as
follows.
23 metres in length, with a wingspan and height of 33 and 7.45 metres respectively, making
the airframe rather large.
The aircrafts normal takeoff weight was around 21 tons, it achieved a maximum speed of 371
km/h at sea level, and it had a total flight range of 2,800 km with normal loading.
Aside from various small design issues which naturally occur when a design is in prototype
phase, the range was highlighted as a shortcoming, something which would be remedied in its successor.
Work on the new, modernised variant began on April 25th 1947, and it would be built
from the existing airframe of the second LL-143, which had not been fully assembled.
As intended it was re-engined with Ash-73, capable of producing 2,400 hp under takeoff
power, which had been requisitioned from an existing Tu-4 bomber, though the turbochargers
were removed.
The aircrafts previous armament was revised, replacing the dorsal 12.7mm Berezin machine
gun with a far more powerful loadout; twin 20mm B-20 cannons.
This aircraft, receiving the designation Be-6, underwent its preliminary factory tests in
Taganrog from July 2nd to October 3rd 1948.
The Be-6 performed a total of 34 flights, with a total flight time of 43 hours during
this timeframe - along with one 2,000 km long range test over the Sea of Azov.
However, like the first prototype, these tests would not go completely smoothly either.
One flight ended in a very near miss - as the aircraft began to experience intense vibrations
whilst flying at 5,000m.
These vibrations were so strong that the battery was ripped from its mounting, killing power
to the radio equipment; the engine radiators were damaged to the point of failure; and
the entire superstructure of the airframe began to deform.
Watching some of the bolts and rivets literally come away from the framing and panelling,
the crew was instructed (rather sensibly) to be ready for an immediate bail-out.
In the end this didn’t happen, as the pilot, M.V Tsepilov, managed to bring the aircraft
down for an emergency landing before its self-disassembly had actually completed.
A post-flight evaluation revealed that a bolt securing the left steering column had sheared
off in flight, resulting in fluttering of the control line and elevator - causing the
entire aircraft to experience violent oscillations.
Eventually the Be-6 was repaired after a long stint at the workshop, and it was then considered
for further upgrades - reflecting the rapid technological advancements being made in the
post-war era.
A naval scout without radar in 1945 may have been acceptable, but by 1948 it had become
clear that any seaplane lacking it was a blatant anachronism.
Further weapon installations were also explored at the same time, with all the machine guns
in the bow and tail to be replaced with 20mm cannons.
It was also decided to adjust some elements of the design relating to the central hull
and tail, along with increasing the crew to eight people (including a radio operator),
and installing anti-icing systems on the aircrafts windscreen .
These conversions - known as the Be-6TR - were completed through late 1949 until early 1950,
followed by further factory testing and full evaluations.
At this point the aircraft was subject to an extensive and methodical evaluation in
comparison to the PBY Catalina, a design 15 years old by this point.
The two were compared side by side in terms of ease of control, seaworthinesss, stability,
flight on one engine, ease of takeoff and landing, armament, and versatility of application.
This is a rather interesting point that’s worth delving into, as it’s hard to stress
how unusual it was (especially in this era of aviation) to be using a design a decade
and a half old as a standard.
It shows how highly the Soviets regarded the Catalina, and also how sound of an aircraft
it was - a sentiment also mirrored today considering its one of the few ww2-era aircraft that are
still flown recreationally outside of their historical significance.
The performance aspects are also interesting to compare, the Catalina was significantly
smaller than the Be-6 - and was almost half the weight.
In terms of speed, the PBY could just about manage 315km/h at sea level, compared to the
377 of the Be-6 - not a huge upgrade in speed considering the time difference between them
and the fact that the Catalinas engines are half the power of the ASh-73s.
Armament-wise the Be-6 of course wins out, sporting five cannons in comparison to the
Catalinas four machine guns, though the Catalina wins hands down in terms of ease of manufacturing.
Ease of piloting is hard to determine, as US and Soviet reports both tend to lean heavily
towards their own aircraft, which is not really surprising.
But it was likely the Catalina -if we’re being impartial - as it was a significantly
more simple and reliable aircraft with fewer systems to worry about.
The final Beriev test report, submitted on August 31st 1950, concluded that the Be-6
met the requirements and was a superior platform than the Catalina, which was a fair conclusion
- although by no means was the Catalina considered significantly worse.
In any case, the Be-6 was then transferred to State specialists for their evaluation.
The state tests generally agreed in Berievs assessment, though countered that they believed
the aircrafts armament should be once again upgraded - this time 23 mm NR-23 cannons replacing
the previous mounts; following this suggestion the armament was changed to five 23mm cannons
in three remote controlled turrets.
The aircraft also received a radar upgrade, some revisions to the fuel supply system and
a brand-new navigation system.
Due to the new equipment, a significant re-design to the hull was necessary - the new variant
now called the Be-6M.
This, the main production variant, featured a range of 4,800 km, a maximum speed of 377
km/h at sea level, and the capability to carry up to 4000kg of ordnance or cargo.
This perhaps shows the optimism of the original specification, which required a speed of 400
km/h, a range of up to 5000 km, a flight duration up to 20 hours, and the capability to carry
up to 4,000 kg of general ordnance, as despite seven years of development the Be-6 still
fell short in the speed and range department, though admittedly not by much.
Old Be-6TR airframes were correspondingly upgraded to the new Be-6M standards, which
underwent tests until February of 1951, receiving almost unanimous praise for the aircraft from
those who manned it.
And so, after further safety testing and verification of flight systems, the aircraft was cleared
by the State and launched into mass production in 1952 .
In order to produce the necessary documentation for the workers who would produce parts for
the aircraft, the number of Beriev employees was temporarily boosted by three or four times
the usual number.
Despite the vast number of personnel, the Be-6 was an extremely complicated aircraft
to produce, and every worker at the plant, either drafting plans or building the first
Be-6, reportedly worked large numbers of overtime hours.
These hurried working conditions rather understandably had a negative effect on the fruit of their
labours, as the first production aircraft, sent to the Navy for tests, was something
of a disaster.
The aircraft was shoddily put together and required the replacement or tightening of
over 700 rivets by Navy staff, whilst the hull of the aircraft, designed for extended
use upon the water was not watertight - and often leaked when it rained, soaking and destroying
the expensive equipment that had just been installed.
Upon receiving complaints that he had delivered a hopeless product, Beriev blamed the tight
deadlines that had been placed upon the factory; he vowed to eliminate further defects, but
could only guarantee this if the workload was moderated.
And so when Full production followed this was done at a more sensible pace, with a total
of 123 aircraft being constructed until 1957 when the last Be-6 rolled off the production
line.
In the following years, the Be-6 would be used in a variety of different roles, including
search and rescue.
These aircraft, designated Be-6SS, were stripped of weaponry and became the first dedicated
search and rescue aircraft of the Soviet military.
An anti-submarine variant was also produced, designated the Be-6PL, and featured a hydro
acoustic search and detection system.
This variant was accepted as a modification to Be-6s in 1955, and was able to detect a
submarine at a depth of up to 50 metres.
This version of the Be-6 was easy to recognise, as the tail turret was replaced by a protuberance
that housed the detection equipment.
The last major attempt at modification was the Be-6KL, in 1965-67, which was intended
to be capable of communicating with Soviet submarines without the necessity of the submarine
to surface.
Tests were carried out in early 1967 but produced generally sub-par results and the project
was cancelled shortly thereafter.
The Be-6 was operated by the Soviets in patrol, maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine
duties until the early 1970s.
The aircraft also served as a testbed for some experimental weaponry, such as the high-altitude
BT-45-54 torpedo.
Operating with the 289th Regiment the aircraft performed torpedo bombing training runs in
Anna Bay, also conducting long-range reconnaissance test flights - surveying large areas of Greenland
and Kara Seas.
Some of the aircraft in this regiment were fitted with extra fuel tanks, improving the
aircrafts already impressive endurance to just over 20 hours.
During the 1950s crews of Reconnaissance squadrons were involved in supporting roles, using 2
or 4 Be-6s based out of the Bay in Novaya Zemlya - the archipelago mainly used for Soviet
nuclear tests.
Some of the crews operating from this area were given the rather unfortunate job of flying
through the radioactive cloud at different altitudes and intervals to measure the nature
of the decline of radioactivity.
These aircraft were not specially armoured or protected against radiation, and fitted
only with extra measuring equipment, which doesn’t paint a happy picture for the long-term
health of the airmen that had this particular job.
Most commonly (and famously), Be-6s, along with their crews, were kept on high alert
around the clock to ensure the rapid rescue of airmen or seamen lost in the bitterly cold
seas around Russia.
Many of the aircraft were not the Be-6SS variant, but instead standard Be-6Ms, occasionally
fitted with high power Shtyr-1 beacons - capable of being seen for up to 80km and illuminating
patches of dark sea at up to 10km.
Along with success with the Navy, Beriev did end up securing one export customer for the
Be-6 – and that was China.
20 examples, sold between 1959 and 1960, served in similar roles as their Soviet counterparts
but significantly outlived them.
The ASh-73 engines apparently wore out long before the airframe did, being replaced with
Chinese-made Wopen WJ6 turboprops which capable of outputting up to 4,250 hp.
12 of these aircraft were still in operation with the Chinese Navy in 1999, and two were
verified as being active as late as 2003.
Though the aircraft itself became obsolete by the end of the 1950s in the Soviet Union,
the Be-6 served as a test-bed for the new generation of anti-submarine equipment, and
helped development of that particular area of aviation - though the equipment was fairly
finicky.
It was reported that the anti-submarine radars could give a range of 4-5km in the Barents
Sea, but that fell to a measly 2-300 metres in the Black Sea.
The aircrew’s difficulties in the early days of such technology - partially due to
squadron leaders and higher-ups in the Soviet aviation industry not understanding the temperamental
nature of the technology, and expecting far too much far too soon of it - resulted in
them scrapping the idea when it didn’t meet expectations.
Despite this the Be-6s did see some success, one Be-6 successfully monitored a submarine
in 1958 for four and a half hours whilst remaining undetected.
By the early 1960s the technology had matured a little and on March 23rd 1961 two dedicated
anti-submarine Be-6 squadrons were founded.
Their work was fairly uneventful, but with one notable exception.
On March 23, 1963, the crew of an Mi-4PL anti-submarine helicopter discovered an unidentified submarine
at the combat training ground of the Northern Fleet.
A number of anti-sub Be-6s were dispatched, and they co-ordinated with helicopters and
surface vessels to track the unknown contact.
Despite the attempts of the submarine to break away from the pursuit, the hydroacoustic equipment
on the Be-6 allow it to be continuously monitored for 33 hours!
Having run out of battery power at this point, the British Porpoise-class diesel boat S07
Sea Lion was forced to surface.
After this incident, Britain only dispatched nuclear submarines to conduct reconnaissance
in the Barents Sea.
With nuclear submarines, monitoring them became an impossibility for the Be-6 due to the increased
depths and times of submersion.
But for a time the Be-6s would be a fairly common sight for American fighters during
the cold war on their long, meandering, often low-altitude patrols.
Named ‘Madge’ by NATO, missiles certainly rendered the gunners somewhat obsolete - though
they were a fairly new technology for much of the 1950s.
In any close-quarters combat involving gunnery, the 23mm cannons would have made the ‘Madge’
quite hard to approach, as even a single round from the NR-23s contained enough explosive
filler to cripple or outright destroy a fighter.
Eventually, Its inability to effectively counter submarines after the early 1960s resulted
in the replacement of the Be-6 by more capable and modern airframes.
The fundamental design of the Be-6 did not end here though, as the tried and tested airframe
would serve as the genesis to its own successor.
As far back as the late 1950s the idea of fitting the aircraft with turboprops had been
floated by Beriev, and the idea eventually led to the Be-12.
The Be-12 would carry on the lineage of the Be-6 pretty much into the modern day.
It outlived the Soviet Union, it saw service with multiple countries throughout the 80s,
90s, early 2000s, and a few are still kicking about today – though their operational status
is somewhat nebulous.
But the Be-12 is deserving of its own full video, so we will look at that another day.
As always, thank you all so much for watching, and a big thank you of course to the Patreon
supporters.
As I’m away at the moment this list cannot be updated, but I shall endeavour to do so
for the next video that should be going up a few days after my return.
A big thank you of course to our wing commander tier patrons, our highest tier members, and
seeing as I’m currently away I’m hoping to post some photos of my travels on the Patreon
page, so keep an eye out for that.
But thank you all so much for your continued support, I’m going to chill out a bit longer,
and then I’ll see you all again soon.
Goodbye.