Designed by Pavel Tsybin to a 1944 specification,[3] the Ts-25 was of a high-wing design, with a box-shaped fuselage featuring a hinged nose for ease of loading the aircraft's cargo.[1] The aircraft had a fixed tricycle landing gear, with skids to aid in landing, and was of steel-tube-braced wooden construction with the nose covered in fabric.[1] The fuselage was otherwise covered in plywood; the wing was tapered, with its spar being steel-tube strut braced.[3] The intended load of the aircraft consisted of a jeep-type vehicle and a 57 mm (2.2 in) anti-tank gun.[1][4]
Operational history
Following flight tests that completed in 1948, the Ts-25 was accepted for production;[1] it is regarded as the first domestically produced glider to be built in significant quantities for the Soviet Airborne Forces (VDV).[5] It was first publicly displayed at the 1948 Tushino Air Display.[6] Eventually up to 480 of the aircraft were built at the Chkalovsk manufacturing plant between 1948 and 1954.[1] Some were used by the VDV in training maneuvers. One was modified with 25 passenger seats for evaluation for potential civilian use on routes including Moscow, Gorki, and Novosibirsk.[3] Two were supplied to the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1952 and given the desigation NK-25; the Yakovlev Yak-14 was preferred by the Czechs.[3]
^Zaloga, Steven J. (1995). Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of Soviet and Russian Airborne Forces, 1930-1995. Novato, CA: Presido. p. 122. ISBN978-0891413998.
