Antonov A-11
# Antonov A-11

The Antonov A-11 is a single-seat, high performance, all-metal sailplane built in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. 150 were produced.

## Design and development

The almost all-metal A-11 was Antonov's first non-wood framed sailplane. It is a cantilever mid-wing monoplane, with straight tapered wings mostly swept on the trailing edge and set with 1.5° of dihedral but no washout. A single spar with a metal-skinned leading edge forward of it and fabric covering aft forms most of the span but the curved tips are supported by twin spars. The fabric-covered ailerons are slotted, with set-back hinges and mass balances. They can be drooped together through 8° to act as flaps. Inboard, there are slotted flaps on the trailing edges and spoilers, mounted at mid-chord and quite close to the fuselage, of the gapless kind opening upwards $only.^{:342–3}$

The fuselage of the A-11 is a metal monocoque of pod and boom form, with a gradual transition between the two. It carries an all-metal, straight edged 90° V- or butterfly tail, its control surfaces mass-balanced with external weights. The three-piece canopy stretches smoothly from the nose to above mid-chord without a stepped windscreen. There is a retractable monowheel undercarriage, sprung but without brakes, assisted by a rubber-mounted skid forward of the wheel and a tail bumper aft, formed by a short, shallow ventral $fin^{:34–6}$

The A-11 first flew on 12 May 1958. It was approved for aerobatics, spins and cloud $flying.^{:38-9}$

## Aircraft on display

Information from Ogden

* Central Russian Air Force Museum, Monino
* Panevezys Airfield Monument

## Specifications (Antonov A-11)

Data from The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde Volume $II^{:342–3}$

General characteristics

* Crew: one
* Length: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
* Wingspan: 16.5 m (54 ft 2 in)
* Height: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) at cockpit
* Wing area: 12.15 $m^2$ (130.8 sq ft)
* Aspect ratio: 22.4
* Airfoil: TsAGI R 111 A
* Empty weight: 294 kg (648 lb)
* Gross weight: 400 kg (882 lb)

Performance

* Stall speed: 60 km/h (37 mph, 32 kn)
* Never exceed speed: 350 km/h (220 mph, 190 kn)
* Aerotow speed: 200 km/h (124.3 mph; 108.0 kn)
* Winch launch speed: 120 km/h (74.6 mph; 64.8 kn)
* g limits: +8.66 -3.9 at 300 km/h (186.4 mph; 162.0 kn)
* Maximum glide ratio: 32 at 97 km/h (60.3 mph; 52.4 kn)
* Rate of sink: 0.74 m/s (146 ft/min) at 86 km/h (53.4 mph; 46.4 kn)
* Wing loading: 33 $kg/m^2$ (6.8 lb/sq ft)
