View source for Lisunov Li-2

{{Short description|Airliner and military transport aircraft}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = Li-2
| image = File:Lisunov Li-2T HA-LIX Hahnweide 2011 02.jpg
| caption = Li-2 HA-LIX landing at [[Kirchheim unter Teck|Hahnweide airfield]], Germany in 2011, in original [[MALÉV]] livery since August 2008
| type = Cargo/passenger utility aircraft and light bomber
| national_origin = Soviet Union
| manufacturer = GAZ
| introduction = 1939
| primary_user = [[Soviet Air Forces|Soviet Air Force]]
| more_users = [[Aeroflot]]
| produced = 1939–1952
| status = Out of production; in limited service
| number_built = 6,157<ref>Pearcy 1995</ref><ref>Davies 1993</ref> (per later research 4,937)<ref name="Gradidge p. 20"/>
| developed_from = [[Douglas DC-3]]
| variants = 
}}
[[File:Li-2 HA-LIX 01.jpg|thumb|Li-2 HA-LIX in [[Budaörs]], Hungary, 2008. It was then the only airworthy Li-2 known. 2002-2008 named [[Theodore von Kármán|Kármán Tódor]]<ref>[http://www.li-2.hu/?modul=html&content=esemenyek_fontos Fontos események] li-2.hu</ref>]]
[[File:Li-2 HA-LIX AS-62IR 01.jpg|thumb|[[Shvetsov ASh-62]] radial piston engine, mounted on Li-2 HA-LIX, 2008]]
[[File:Li-2 HA-LIX Cockpit 01.jpg|thumb|Li-2 HA-LIX Cockpit, 2008]]

The '''Lisunov Li-2''' (NATO reporting name: '''Cab'''), originally designated '''PS-84''', was a [[license-built]] Soviet version of the [[Douglas DC-3]]. It was produced by Factory #84 in [[Khimki|Moscow-Khimki]] and, after the factory's evacuation in 1941, at the [[Tashkent Aviation Production Association]] in [[Tashkent]]. The project was directed by aeronautical engineer [[Boris Lisunov|Boris Pavlovich Lisunov]].

==Design and development==
[[File:Lisunov Li-2 HA-LIQ cabin.jpg|thumb|Li-2 passenger cabin]]
[[File:Лисунов Ли-2 18418809, Монино - музей ВВС RP9781.jpg|thumb|Li-2 medevac cabin]]

The Soviet Union received its first [[Douglas DC-2|DC-2]] in 1935. A total of 18 DC-3s had been ordered on 11 April 1936, and the government of the USSR purchased 21 DC-3s for operation by Aeroflot before [[World War II]]. A production licence was awarded to the government of the USSR on 15 July 1936. Lisunov spent two years at the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]], between November 1936 and April 1939 translating the design. One of the engineers who accompanied him to Douglas was [[Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev]]. Design work and production were undertaken at State Aviation Factory 84 in Khimki (now a suburb of Moscow).<ref name=Amazing>[http://www.dc3history.org/airlinesoftheworld/russianaviation.html "Russian Aviation LI-2."] ''DC3History.org''. Retrieved: 12 April 2015.</ref> The Soviet version was given the designation '''PS-84''' – Passazhirskiy Samolyot 84, passenger airplane 84 (i.e. made in GAZ/State Aircraft Plant No. 84).

Despite the original intention to incorporate as few changes as necessary to the basic design,<ref>Gobel, Greg. [http://www.wingweb.co.uk/aircraft/The_Douglas_C-47_Dakota.html "Soviet Lisunov LI-2."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231061829/http://www.wingweb.co.uk/aircraft/The_Douglas_C-47_Dakota.html |date=2007-12-31 }} ''wingweb.co.uk.'' Retrieved: 17 July 2010.</ref> the GAZ-84 works had to make some 1,293 engineering change orders to the original Douglas drawings, involving part design, dimensions, materials and processes, most as a part of [[metrication]] of the design from [[U.S. customary units]] to suit Soviet standards,<ref>[http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/myasichev.html "V.M. Myasichev."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616061954/https://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/myasichev.html |date=2019-06-16 }} ''ctrl-c.liu.se''. Retrieved: 17 July 2010.</ref> no small task for Vladimir Myasishchev to accomplish. The well-established [[Shvetsov]] OKB-19 design bureau, responsible for the great bulk of the Soviets' air-cooled radial aviation powerplant designs of the 1930-40s, used their [[Shvetsov ASh-62]]IR radial engines, a Soviet development of the nine-cylinder [[Wright R-1820]] ''Cyclone 9'', to power the PS-84. The same [[Wright Aeronautical]] ''Cyclone 9'' radial also powered the earliest Douglas DST "Sleeper Transport" versions, and initial 21-passenger versions, of the original American DC-3 airliner.

The Soviet standard design practice usually mandated fully shuttered engines in order to cope with temperature extremes. A slightly shorter span was incorporated, but many of the other alterations were less evident. The passenger door was moved to the right or starboard side of the fuselage, with a top-opening cargo door on the left or port side in place of the original passenger door. The structural reinforcement included slightly heavier skins, because the metric skin gauges were not exact equivalents of the American alloy sheet metal. Standard Soviet metric hardware was different and the various steel substructures such as engine mounts and landing gear, wheels, and tires were also quite different from the original design. Later modifications allowed the provision of ski landing gear in order to operate in remote and Arctic regions. The first PS-84s had begun to emerge from the GAZ-84 production line by 1939.<ref>Mondey 1978, p. 213.</ref>

By the time Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the USSR on 22 June 1941]], 237 PS-84s had been built at GAZ-84, all in civil passenger configuration. In response to the invasion, the Kremlin set in motion a plan to relocate much of the industrial capability of the Soviet Union to the East, with production of the Li-2 ending up at GAZ-33 in [[Tashkent]], now the capital of [[Uzbekistan]]. After a monumental struggle, the factory was producing PS-84s again by January 1942.<ref name=Gunston>Gunston 1995 {{Page needed|date=April 2015}}</ref><ref>Goebel, Greg. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100626001147/http://www.vectorsite.net/avc47_2.html "Foreign-Build Dakotas."]}} ''Vectorsite,'' 1 February 2011. Retrieved: 4 September 2011.</ref>

GAZ-124 at [[Kazan]] also built ten aircraft before the start of World War II, and 353 Li-2Ts were built by GAZ-126 at [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]] between 1946 and 1950, before that plant switched to [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15|MiG-15]] production.<ref>[http://www.oldwings.nl/st/li2.pdf "Lisunov Li-2 (PS-84)."] ''"Soviet Transports".'' Retrieved: 4 September 2011.</ref>

Some military versions of the Li-2 also had bombing equipment—such as bomb sight and bomb racks, and defensive turret, unlike the military [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47]] development of the DC-3, which was strictly an unarmed military transport. The defensive armaments consisted of MV-3 dorsal turret with a 7.62&nbsp;mm (.30&nbsp;in) [[ShKAS]] machine gun, later replaced with a 12.7&nbsp;mm (.50&nbsp;in) [[Berezin UB|UBT]] heavy machine gun. Additionally two ShKAS machine guns on pivot mount could also be mounted on both sides of the rear fuselage near the cargo door. A version designated '''Li-2VV''' (''Voyenny Variant'' = military variant) had a redesigned nose for extra ShKAS machine gun and could carry up to four 250&nbsp;kg (551&nbsp;lb) bombs under the central fuselage. Smaller bombs could be carried inside the fuselage and thrown out of the cargo door by the crew.<ref name="Shunkov2008">Shunkov 2014, p. 306–307</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:Lisunov Li-2 Aeroflot Monino 1994.jpg|thumb|Lisunov Li-2 of Aeroflot at Monino near Moscow in 1994]]
The PS-84 had flown with Aeroflot primarily as a passenger transport before World War II. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 many of the PS-84s were taken into military use and redesignated the '''Lisunov Li-2''' in 1942. The military models were equipped with a machine gun on dorsal turret. The aircraft were used for transport, partisan supply, bombing, and as ambulance aircraft.<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>

A total of 4,937<ref name="Gradidge p. 20">Gradidge 2006, p. 20.</ref> aircraft were produced of all Li-2 variants between 1940 and 1954 and it saw extensive use in Eastern Europe until the 1960s. The last survivors in use were noted in China and Vietnam during the 1980s.<ref name="Gradidge p. 20"/> There were many versions, including airliner, cargo, military transport, reconnaissance, aerial photography, parachute drop, bomber and high altitude variants. In Poland they were fitted for cropdusting against forest pests.<ref name=jonca/> The Li-2 also saw extensive service in the Chinese Air Force in the 1940s and 1950s.

Several airlines operated Lisunov Li-2s, among others [[Aeroflot]], [[CAAK]], [[Czech Airlines|CSA]], [[LOT Polish Airlines|LOT]], [[Malév|MALÉV]], Polar Aviation, [[TABSO]] and [[Tarom]].<ref>Gradidge 2006, pp. 682–691.</ref>

Only one Li-2 restored to [[airworthy]] condition exists in Europe. The Hungarian registered HA-LIX was built in 1949 in Airframe Factory Nr.84 (GAZ-84) of Tashkent, as serial number 18433209 and was operated by MALÉV till 1964. It was withdrawn to a museum in 1974 as an airforce parachute trainer airplane. After a complete reconstruction finished in 2001 it flies sightseeing tours and regularly participates at air shows. It is operated by the Goldtimer Foundation, based at [[Budaörs Airport]], [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]].<ref>[http://www.goldtimer.hu/li2-a.html "Li-2."] ''goldtimer.hu''. Retrieved: 12 September 2019.</ref> The North Korean Air Force is known to still use a number of Li-2s for transport{{when?|date=May 2025}}, although they may have been decommissioned despite their continued presence on certain airbases.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==Accidents and incidents==
{{Further|List of accidents and incidents involving the DC-3}}

==Variants==
[[File:Lisunov Li-2.png|thumb|Lisunov Li-2 side elevation silhouette]]
[[File:Lisunov Li-2T ’17 yellow’ (CCCP-48986) (38763557362).jpg|thumb|Lisunov Li-2 bomber at the [[Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow]]]]
;PS-84: Original passenger airliner, equipped with 14-28 seats. Somewhat smaller span and higher empty weight, it was also equipped with lower-powered engines compared to the DC-3. The cargo door was also transposed to the right side of the fuselage.
;PS-84I: Medevac version.
;Li-2: Redesignation of PS-84s impressed into military use.
;Li-2D: Paratroop transport version (1942), with reinforced floor and tie-downs, plus cargo doors (slightly smaller than the C-47 doors) on the left.
;Li-2F: Aerial photography version.
;Li-2G: Freighter version.
;Li-2K: Military transport aircraft with defensive armament (designation started from 17 September 1942).
;Li-2P: Basic civil passenger model (1945).
;Li-2PG: Civil "combi" passenger-cargo version.
;Li-2PR: Glass nose version.
;Li-2R: "Reconnaissance" version, with bulged windows fitted behind the cockpit.
;Li-2T: Transport version (1945).
;LI-2T: Polish bomber trainer version.
;Li-2V: High-altitude weather surveillance version of the Li-2, equipped with turbocharged engines.
;Li-2VV: Transport/bomber version (1942)
;Li-2NB: Night bomber version (1944), minimal changes from ordinary bomber version. The navigator/bombardier station was moved to behind the left pilot, night bombsight was installed behind the emergency door to improve aiming, and the emergency door itself replaced with convex glass.<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
;Li-3: Yugoslavian version equipped with American [[Pratt & Whitney R-1830]] engines (similar to the DC-3)
;Kamov Ka-Li-2 Vintokryl "Project-Kh": Proposed compound helicopter with a Kuznetsov TV-2 turboshaft driving two three-blade rotors; not built.<ref>Gordon, Yefim; Komissarov, Sergey (2013). Unflown wings : Soviet and Russian unrealized aircraft projects 1925-2010. Birmingham: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. pp. 90-91. {{ISBN|978-1906537340}}. pp. 611-612</ref>

==Operators==
[[File:RMB2-2fen-A.gif|thumb|Li-2 in the Chinese RMB]]
[[File:Lisunov Li-2s.jpg|thumb|Lisunov Li-2 at Chinese Aviation Museum]]
[[File:Lisunov Li-2 PLAAF.jpg|thumb|Lisunov Li-2 at Beijing Civil Aviation Museum]]
===Military===
;{{BUL}}: [[Bulgarian Air Force]]
;{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}: [[Czechoslovak Air Force]]
;{{CHN}}: [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]]
:Total of 214 Li-2 aircraft were imported for military and civil usage; the last Li-2 retired in 1986.
:{{Ill|People's Armed Police Forestry Corps|lt=Forest Protection Police|zh|中國人民武裝警察部隊森林部隊}} (predecessor of People's Armed Police Forestry Corps) - used by [[Forest Police Smokejumper Company]]<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-22 |title=回顾武警森林部队70年：曾被誉为"红孩儿敢死队" |trans-title=Revisiting the 70 years history of the PAP Forestry corps; Once nicknamed the "Fearless red boys" |url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2038220 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=[[The Paper (newspaper)|The Paper]]}}</ref>

;{{HUN}}: [[Hungarian Air Force]]: [[Maszovlet]]: [[Malév Hungarian Airlines|Malév]]
;{{LAO}}
* [[Royal Lao Air Force]]
* [[Pathet Lao]] guerrilla forces (1962–1975)
;{{MAD}}
;{{MGL}}: [[Mongolian People's Army|Mongolian People's Army Aviation]]
;{{PRK}}: [[Korean People's Air Force]]
;{{flagicon|North Vietnam}} [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam]]: [[Vietnam People's Air Force]]
;{{POL}}: [[Air Force of the Polish Army]] (after 1947 [[Polish Air Force]])
;{{ROM}}: [[Romanian Air Force]]
;{{USSR}}: [[Soviet Air Force]]
*[[12th Military Transport Aviation Division|12th Aviation Division Long-Range]], from 1943
*As of January 1955, a transport aviation division of [[Soviet Long Range Aviation|Long Range Aviation]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://engine.aviaport.ru/issues/67/page27.html |title=Николаев А. ДАЛЬНЯЯ АВИАЦИЯ: САМОЛЕТЫ И ЛЮДИ |access-date=2017-01-28 |archive-date=2017-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708041347/http://engine.aviaport.ru/issues/67/page27.html}}</ref>
*other units
;{{SYR}}: [[Syrian Air Force]]
;{{YUG}}: [[SFR Yugoslav Air Force]]
*[[1st Transport Aviation Regiment]] (1945–1948)
*[[119th Transport Aviation Regiment]] (1948–1959, Li-3 1970)

===Civil===
;{{PRC}}
* [[SKOGA]]
* [[CAAC Airlines|CAAC]]
;{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
* [[Czech Airlines|CSA]]
* Government of Czechoslovakia
;{{HUN}}:
* [[Maszovlet]]
* [[Malév Hungarian Airlines]]
;{{PRK}}: [[Air Koryo|Korean Airways]]
;{{POL}}: [[LOT Polish Airlines]] operated up to 40 Li-2s as passenger airliners until 1960s.<ref name=jonca>Jońca, Adam (1985). ''Samoloty linii lotniczych 1945-1956'', Barwa w lotnictwie polskim no.4, WKiŁ, Warsaw, {{ISBN|83-206-0529-6}} {{in lang|pl}}, p.4</ref>
;{{ROM}}: [[TAROM]]
;{{USSR}}: [[Aeroflot]]
;{{VIE}}: [[Vietnam Airlines|CAAV]]

==Specifications (Li-2P)==
[[File:Liszunov Li-2.svg|thumb|260px|Lisunov Li–2]]
[[File:Lisunov Li-2 17 yellow (8034056180).jpg|thumb|Bombs and defensive turret of Li-2]]

{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Aircraft of the Soviet Union : the encyclopaedia of Soviet aircraft since 1917<ref name=GunstonAotSU>{{cite book |last1=Gunston |first1=Bill |title=Aircraft of the Soviet Union : the encyclopaedia of Soviet aircraft since 1917 |date=1983 |publisher=Osprey |location=London |isbn=978-0850454451 |page=165 |edition=1st}}</ref>
|prime units?=met
<!--
General characteristics
-->
|crew=4 (5-6 '''Li-2T''')<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
|capacity=24 passengers / (20 troops '''Li-2T'''){{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
|length m=19.65
|length note=
|span m=28.81
|span note=
|height m=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=91.33
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|airfoil='''root:''' [[NACA airfoil|NACA 2215]]; '''tip:''' [[NACA airfoil|NACA 2206]]<ref name="Selig">{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref>
|empty weight kg=7700
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=11280
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
<!--
Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=[[Shvetsov M-62]]
|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines
|eng1 hp=900
|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=3
|prop name=variable-pitch propellers
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!--
Performance
-->
|max speed kmh=280
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=245
|cruise speed note={{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed note=
|range km=2500
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=5600
|ceiling note=
|g limits=<!-- aerobatic -->
|roll rate=<!-- aerobatic -->
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading note=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
<!--
Armament
-->
|guns=
:* 3× 7.62 mm (.30 in) [[ShKAS]] machine guns '''Li-2T / Li-2VV'''<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
:* 1× 12.7 mm (.50 in) [[Berezin UBK]] machine gun '''Li-2T / Li-2VV'''<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
|bombs= 
:* 1,000 kg bombs (normal load) '''Li-2VV'''<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
:* 2,600 kg (5,732 lb) of bombs (short distances) '''Li-2VV'''<ref name="Shunkov2008"/>
|avionics=
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
* [[Douglas DC-3]]
* [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]]
* [[Douglas AC-47 Spooky]]
* [[Showa/Nakajima L2D]]
|similar aircraft=
* [[Boeing 247]]
* [[Ilyushin Il-14]]
* [[Junkers Ju 52]]
* [[Saab 90 Scandia]]
|lists=
* [[List of aircraft of World War II]]
* [[List of civil aircraft]]
|see also=
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=R.E.G. |title=Aeroflot, an airline and its aircraft : an illustrated history of the world's largest airline = Aėroflot |date=1993 |publisher=Paladwr Press |location=Rockville, Maryland |isbn=0-9626483-1-0 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Yefim |last2=Komissarov |first2=Sergey |last3=Komissarov |first3=Dimitriy |title=Lisunov Li-2 : the Soviet DC-3 |date=2006 |publisher=Midland |location=Hinkley |isbn=1-85780-228-4}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gradidge |editor1-first=Jennifer M. |title=The Douglas DC-1/DC-2/DC-3 : the first seventy years |date=2006 |publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) |location=Tonbridge |isbn=0-85130-332-3}}
* {{cite book | last=Gunston |first=Bill |title=The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995 |year=1995 |publisher=Osprey |location=London |isbn=9781841760964}}
* {{cite book |title=Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1945-46 |editor1-last=Bridgman |editor1-first=Leonard |year=1945 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co |location=London }}{{cite book |title=Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1945-46 |editor1-last=Bridgman |editor1-first=Leonard |year=1945 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co |location=London }}
* {{cite book |last=Mondey |first=David |title=The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft: Military and Civil Aviation From the Beginnings to the Present |year=1978 |publisher=A & W Publishers |location=USA |edition=1st |isbn=9780890097717 |url=https://archive.org/details/completeillustra00mond }}
* {{cite book |last1=Pearcy |first1=Arthur |title=Douglas propliners DC-1--DC-7 |date=1995 |publisher=Airlife Pub |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-261-X}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shunkov |first1=Viktor Nikolayevich |title=Красная армия |date=2014 |publisher=[[AST (publisher)|AST]] |location=Moscow, Russia |isbn=978-5-17-037177-8|language=RU}}

==External links==
{{commons|Lisunov Li-2}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060426215802/http://www.centercomp.com/cgi-bin/dc3/story?1332 Lisunov Li-2 (NATO: Cab) by Maarten Brouwer]
* [http://modelingmadness.com/scott/books/sp/li2.htm ''Lisunov Li-2: the Soviet DC-3'', reviewed by Scott Van Aken]
* [http://www.goldtimer.hu/ Gold Timer Foundation Restorers of the only remaining Li-2 still in flying condition. (Hungarian)]
* [http://www.airliners.net/photo/Malev---Hungarian/Lisunov-Li-2T/1556957/L/&sid=8f62d37b7b1eaf73641bc4a692b64333 Hungarian/Lisunov Li-2T]

{{Douglas DC-3 family}}
{{Soviet transport designations}}
{{WWIIUSSRAF}}
{{Czech transport aircraft}}

[[Category:1930s Soviet airliners]]
[[Category:1940s Soviet military transport aircraft]]
[[Category:Low-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Douglas DC-3]]
[[Category:Lisunov aircraft|Li-2]]
[[Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear]]