MiG-105 'EPOS' G.E.Lozino-Lozinskij, A.I.Mikoyan/M.I.Gurevich

40K, EPOS Analog 105.11 at the Monino AF Museum, ; Note an unusual way main gear is retracting - to the upper wing surface! So better protection from overheat is provided.

Project of Aerocosmic system 'Spiral' started in 1965 under supervision of leading designer G.E.Lozino-Lozinsky in Design Bureau of A.I.Mikoyan. Project included two wide-fuselage aircraft, linked into aerodynamically clean horizontal takeoff/landing system for multiple use. Orbital airplane supposed to take of from "mother ship" at altitude 28-30km.

Two scaled (1:3 and 1:2) unmanned prototypes were designated 'Bor' and were flown during rocked launches to test heat screen.

There were also three "Analog 105" aircraft, built to evaluate subsonic handling during landing ("105.11", see picture), supersonic ("105.12") and hypersonic ("105.13") behavior.

44K, B/W Photo by Yu.Borodich from the article in 'Krylia Rodini'. EPOS Analog 105.11 on the test airfield. Note that one in Monino has skis, but this one has 'conventional' landing gear.

Unlike "Space Shuttle"/"Buran", EPOS employed flexible "scale plate armor" made of many steel plates, hanged on special ceramic bearings. This solution allowed to keep all plates in place in wide temperature range, and is much cheaper "Space Shuttle"/"Buran" quartz based skin.

24K, Photo of a mocket by Alexej Egorov from the article in 'Krylia Rodini'

• MiG-105 at Mark Wade's ENCYCLOPEDIA ASTRONAUTICA
• Spiral ( projekt 50)

Modified April 18, 1996

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