The idea of recreating past aircraft is gaining more and more supporters among amateur aircraft designers. There are many such machines in our country. One of the latest works is the revival of V. B. Shavrov's Sh-2 famous amphibian by a group of modelers from Tyumen in the Urai region. It is interesting that none of the enthusiasts in this group had any special aviation education, no ties with the aviation industry, and the nearest aircraft plant was located more than 1,000 kilometers away. But they were motivated by a huge desire to see this historic aircraft of wood and metal come alive.
To realize this dream took them only a year of hard work. Unfortunately they couldn't get their hands on an M-11 engine as the one that powered the original VB Shavrov amphibian. However, they were able to get an old "Prague" four-cylinder engine with a capacity of 74 l. A full-size Sh-2 could not be built with this engine, but for these modelers who previously created quite a few flying models, it was easy to manufacture a real aircraft in 3/4 scale. In other countries, such smaller versions are called "replicas." The Sh-2 from Tyumen took part in competitions at the SLA-89 air meet, being one of the first domestic entries.
It was the excitement and anticipation for the money prize which brought the Sh-2 to Riga for the SLA-89. The Technical Commission did not make a single comment (you can't make any comments when you are faced with such a great job.) Test pilot Yuri Sheffer performed the Sh-2's first flight and gave the aircraft a perfect score. Then there were a lot more flights both taking off from the ground, from the Spilva airfrield, and from the water hydrodrome at Kish-Lake. Passengers on these flights were also members of the Technical Committee, aviation veterans, aviation writers, Sergey Markushin, Alexander Lastovkin and others. The Tyumen modelers' work was awarded one of the main prizes of SLA-89.
The Tyumen Sh-2 has a solid wood construction, nearly the same as the 1930s plane, except for the chassis, equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers. The chassis is installed or removed when preparing the aircraft for flight from land or water. Of course, the aerodynamics, design and layout of the Sh-2 are now only of historical interest. Yet the economy is, in my opinion, in need of light airplanes and amphibians today. The Sh-2, even in its original form, could still be of great benefit. As the aviation industry has not developed such aircraft, it provides a wide opportunity for enthusiasts. The Tyumen modelers decided to build two full-size Sh-2 aircraft by next summer. The full-size Sh-2 would be built in Moscow by former test pilot Vladimir Vinitsky.
Designers S. Markushin and H. Lastovsky from the city of Tyumen in the Urai region showed a high level of technical performance in their replica. The 75-liter air-cooled "Prague" engine provides a 60 km/h take-off speed and maximum speed at twice that. It is a good engine, which is to be put to the credit of its designer, V. Rebenchuka. The Tyumen builders were awarded a prize of 5000 rubles, which was all used for... airframe repairs: sadly, on one flight from the Spilva the airport it suffered a crash, though from a low altitude.
, photographed at UralExpoArms'2009 exhibition in Nizhny Tagil. The photos are taken by Pavel Permyakov:
