The monument to the front-line fighter-bomber Su-7B

Monument to the front-line fighter-bomber Su-7B near a military airfield. Previously, he stood a few hundred meters from this place - at the intersection of Vostochnoye Shosse and Avenue of the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. This area of the city was even unofficially called "Airplane". However, due to the construction of a powerful interchange, the monument was first dismantled, and the plane was transported to the courtyard of the district air defense headquarters. Even brief notes about this event flashed in the central press with a general statement that the Khabarovsk residents were unhappy that the city had lost a monument. Fortunately, in the fall of 2005, the monument to the famous airplane was reopened, albeit somewhat aloof from the busy avenue. The boring and massive pedestal of gray concrete was replaced, it seems to me, with a much more interesting solution in terms of design and general perception. For an aircraft, especially a combat one, a “dynamic” pedestal is better suited than a heavy, monumental one.

The development of the prototype Su-7 - the C1 aircraft - began at the Sukhoi Design Bureau back in 1953. Three years later, taking into account foreign experience, the concept of a fighter-bomber was already being worked out with might and main. The Air Force needed an aircraft capable of quickly surmounting the enemy’s air defense zone and delivering a nuclear charge or conventional medium-caliber bombs to the target. At the same time, such an aircraft had to carry powerful airborne weapons, capable of not only effectively hitting ground targets, but also fighting with enemy fighters. Serial production of the aircraft, which received the official designation Su-7B, began at the factory number 126 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Far Eastern Engineering Plant) in the second half of 1960. However, the first fighter-bombers came into service with the Air Force units deployed in the European part of the USSR. For many years, the Su-7B became the main tactical fighter-bomber of the Soviet Air Force, it was delivered to many countries of the Soviet camp and allies of the USSR. The closest foreign counterparts to this aircraft were North American F-100C / D Super Saber and Fairchild F-105 Thunderchief. According to NATO classification, the Su-7B was designated Fitter-A.

Some more reference data on the Su-7B: the wingspan is 16.6 m, the mass of an empty aircraft is 8370 kg, the maximum take-off is 13043 kg, the maximum speed is 2120 km / h, and the flight range is 1130 km.