Tupolev ANT-1

The Tupolev ANT-1 was the first aircraft built by the Tupolev design bureau, designed by Andrei Tupolev from his earlier work on aerosledges and boats. It was an experimental single-seat machine, intended to test Tupolev's ideas and to help the Soviets understand the use of metal in aircraft manufacturing. The airframe mixed materials: aluminium was used in the wing partitions and ribs and in the tailplanes, while the other weight-carrying parts were wood and the fuselage and wings were covered in linen fabric. It was powered by a single 26 kW Anzani radial engine and reached 135 km/h. It was flown frequently over the next two years for tests, then stored in the assembly workshop, hung from the ceiling. Only one was built, and its exact fate is unknown; it was probably destroyed in the German advance on Moscow in 1941.