KONSTANTIN KALININ WAS A SOVIET AIRCRAFT DESIGNER. His designs were unconventional, which made them controversial during the Stalin era—and also, in retrospect, interesting projects for my GMax hobby of building aircraft for use in Microsoft Flight Simulator FS9.
My GMax rendering of an earlier Kalinin, the colossal K-7.
Kalinin’s giant K-7 probed the limits of my staring at a computer screen as I figured out GMax details. Seeking relief after its completion, I traded aircraft ungainliness for unorthodoxy of the K-12, Kalinin’s flying-wing aircraft.
Origins. Kalinin began his K-12 rationally enough with models and a half-scale piloted glider version that first flew in 1934.
Kalinin’s piloted glider. Images from j2mcl Planeurs.
The full-scale craft was intended to be a bomber, though Kalinin tried covering his bets with Soviet authorities by imagining it as a passenger craft as well.
Development. The craft initially became heavier with each iteration, then lighter as elements such as bomber hardware and armament were omitted. Originally to have a licensed variant of the Wright Cyclone, more powerful engines were also assayed. The final design had twin Shvetsov M-22 nine-cylinder air-cooled radials; these, licensed versions of the British Bristol Jupiter originally designed in late World War I.
Then the Tale Gets Complicated. The Wikipedia entry for the Kalinin K-12 is brief: It recounts, “A subscale glider to test the K-12’s features flew in 1934, piloted by V.O. Borisov. The K-12 flew in autumn 1936 and was demonstrated at Tushino in August 1937. The full-size K-12, however, was cancelled after Konstantin Kalinin was arrested and executed as an enemy of the state.”
More details are found here and there around the Internet. In 1933 Kalinin submitted three proposals to the VVS Scientific Test Institute. One was conventional, another was a twin-boom design, the third was tailless.
Image above from airpages.ru.
Gee, I wonder who influenced whom: See the Belyaev DB-LK, an earlier GMax project of mine. The calendar suggests Kalinin as the innovator, Belyaev as the follower. And a fat lot of good it did either.
Above, my rendering of the Belyaev DB-LK “Batwing.” Below, the Kalinin K-12.
On, Then Off, Then On Again. Then a Major Off. The prototype K-12 flew in July 1936. Its pilots gave it at best a mixed review. In particular, poor aerodynamic control was noted. The project was cancelled, then revived in 1937 by invitation to a Moscow airshow. This time around, the K-12 was given a bizarre livery and called жар-птица, Zhar-Ptitsa, “Fire Bird.”
The K-12 in Fire Bird livery. Image from Wikipedia.
Kalinin was encouraged to divert part of his attention—and production facilities—to a batch of 10 more K-12 prototypes. Alas, this led to his being investigated for “manipulation of state resources.” On October 22, 1938, Stalin had Kalinin arrested, sentenced, and shot. Or maybe, say other Soviet sources, he was shot as a spy in 1940.
Either way, it was законченность, fini, the end of Kalinin’s tailless aircraft. Until I stumbled on a three-view when researching Kalinin’s K-7.
GMax K-12 Notes. The K-12 made use of earlier GMax elements, including pilot and gunners (the latter, articulated by the “tick18” prefix of GMax coding intended for beacon movement).
Above, the nose gunner/bombadier. Below, the pilot.
An oddity presented itself in the K-12’s dual rudder articulation: They work normally when the craft is standing still, but exhibit barely perceptible action (visibly or dynamically) when the K-12 is at significant speed.
Above, stationary; below, at speed.
I’m forced to use GMax’s default name-based coding; this, because of conflicts between the latest Microsoft Windows and my relatively ancient GMax software. I wonder if the rudders’ unorthodox placement relative to the craft’s center-of-gravity has some corrupting effect on the software’s built-in flight-dynamics engine?
All in good fun with an extremely enjoyable time-gobbling hobby. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025