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Rather than using a straightforward multi-engine configuration with engines mounted on the wings, the Slesarev Svyatogor was designed to use engines housed within the fuselage that drove external propellers via a belt system. This approach was intended to reduce drag and improve aerodynamic efficiency, but it introduced considerable mechanical complexity. At a time when engine reliability was already a major issue in aviation, such a system posed significant engineering challenges.

Construction of the Svyatogor began during World War One, but progress was slow due to industrial limitations and the broader strains placed on the Russian economy. Difficulties with the transmission system delayed the project and it was abandoned in 1921 after the death of Slesarev. The Svyatogor never flew.

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The Arado Ar 234 V6 was the first four-engine prototype of the Ar 234. It used four BMW 003 turbojets in separate nacelles under the wings. It still used the take off trolly and landing skid.

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Not weird from a looks point of view, but from the designer having no knowledge of aeronautical design. Not surprisingly, it was a failure, almost killed test pilots, some of who refused to fly it again. Eventually used as a tool to teach young engineers what not to do.

One design error: Poor design led to the undercarriage being too long to retract into the wing recesses. To rectify this the undercarriage was shortened. This in turn resulted in the propeller having insufficient ground clearance. Silvansky shortened the propeller blades to compensate. This all led to poor performance and an inefficient engine/propeller power balance.

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The Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in the late nineteenth century during a period of rapid naval modernization. Laid down in 1885 at the New Admiralty Shipyard and commissioned in 1891, she was named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The ship was intended primarily for service with the Baltic Fleet, to counter the small armoured ships of the other Baltic powers.

Imperator Aleksandr II displaced approximately 9,000 tons and featured a relatively low freeboard, which limited seaworthiness in rough conditions but reduced her profile as a target. Her main armament consisted of two 12-inch guns mounted in a single forward barbette. Secondary armament included four 9-inch and eight 6-inch guns positioned in single mounts along the hull, supplemented by smaller quick-firing guns intended to counter torpedo boats, which were emerging as a significant threat in naval warfare of the period. She also incorporated a ram bow, as tactical doctrine of the day emphasized ramming tactics.

Operationally, Imperator Aleksandr II spent most of her career in the Baltic Sea. She was renamed Zarya Svobody in May 1917 following the Russian Revolution. Turned over to the Kronstadt port authority on 21 April 1921, she was sold for scrap on 22 August 1922.

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The Sukhoi Su-15 was an early Soviet jet fighter prototype developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the immediate post-war period. It must be distinguished from the later supersonic interceptor that shared the same designation.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the Su-15 lay in its propulsion arrangement. It was powered by two Klimov RD-45 turbojets, derived from the British Rolls-Royce Nene. Unlike most twin-engine fighters of the era, which placed engines side-by-side, the Su-15 mounted its engines in tandem along the fuselage centreline. This unusual configuration was driven largely by the relatively large diameter of centrifugal-flow turbojets. The forward engine was positioned low in the fuselage, with its exhaust exiting beneath the midsection, while the second engine was located behind it, exhausting at the extreme rear of the fuselage.

This arrangement imposed further unconventional design solutions. In order to provide airflow to the rear engine, complex intake ducting had to be routed past the cockpit. As a result, the cockpit itself was offset slightly to the port side rather than being centred on the fuselage axis. This asymmetrical layout was highly unusual for a fighter aircraft and reflected the compromises required to accommodate the tandem engine installation.

Flight testing began in 1949 but quickly revealed serious shortcomings. Stability and control issues became apparent, particularly at higher speeds where swept-wing aerodynamics were not yet fully understood. These problems culminated in the loss of the prototype in June 1949 during a test flight, bringing the programme to an abrupt end.

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The Sukhoi Su-7 (1944) was a high-altitude interceptor prototype, derived from the Su-6 ground-attack aircraft. The Su-7 was a mixed-power aircraft, with a Shvetsov ASh-82FN piston engine with two TK-3 turbochargers in the nose and a Glushko RD-1-KhZ rocket engine in the tail. This mixed power approach was intended to solve the problem of intercepting fast, high-flying bombers before jet engines were mature enough to do the job alone.

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