Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia (1948-1967)
Multi-Role Twin Engined Aircraft – 23 Built

After World War Two, the new Communist Yugoslavian Air Force Command began a long process of restoring the destroyed aviation industry. The first attempts were made in the late 1940s, when several new and experimental designs were built, including the Ikarus 214. While most of these would remain prototypes or be built in small numbers, they would serve as a base for future developments and the experience gained would be used in the following years.

History

The first steps towards rebuilding the new Communist Yugoslav aviation industry were made during the war on 24th October 1944. Negotiations with representatives of many pre-war aircraft manufacturers about the possibility of reviving the devastated aircraft industry were held at Zemun near the capital city of Belgrade. Many pre-war aircraft industry designers and engineers would survive the war, and would be used to form the base of the future Yugoslav aviation industry.

Two years later (23rd February 1946), the Aeronautical Technical Institute created a competition for the development of four new designs. One was for a flying school and tourism aircraft, while the others were for a two-seater basic trainer, an advanced trainer, and a multi-seat trainer version that could potentially be used as a transport plane. The Aeronautical Technical Institute was a pre-war institution which was responsible for placing orders and monitoring new aircraft development. During the period of 1947 to 1952, several different designs, including the maritime role, what would become the Ikarus 214, were produced. 

Constructor Group No.5, under the leadership of the aircraft engineer and professor Sima Milutinović, received orders to design a light two-engined transport and bomber crew trainer aircraft under the military designation 214. After the calculations and drawings were completed, the production of the first prototypes began in 1948 at the Ikarus factory. By 1949, two prototypes were completed and were designated 214P and 214D.

Name

The original military designation of this plane was simply 214. After the first two prototypes were built, the manufacturer’s name, Ikarus, was added to the designation. However, some sources call it the type 214 or simply the 214. This article will use the 214 designation for the sake of simplicity.

Technical Characteristics

The 214 was designed as a low wing, twin engine, mixed construction plane. Despite being primarily intended as a transport and trainer plane, the 214’s fuselage was designed to be able to withstand bomber duties. The fuselage had an unusual design and was built by combining two monocoque “sandwiches” (two light skins placed around a thick core) shell construction (same as on the British de Havilland Mosquito which was in use with the Yugoslavian Air Force.) The 214’s fuselage was large and had plenty of room for use as a transport or passenger aircraft.  The 214 passenger version had 7 seats placed behind the pilot’s cockpit. On both sides of the fuselage, there were two rounded and two elongated windows. The 214 (except the later built 214PP and AM-2) had a large and fully glazed round shaped nose with good all round forward visibility.

The wings were made of wood and consisted of two box shaped longerons. The whole wing was covered with birch glue. The twin tail vertical and horizontal stabilizers were also made of wood. The rudder and the elevator were made of duralumin and covered with canvas.

The first engine used by the two prototypes was the air-cooled Ranger SVG-770C providing 520 hp, with the two-bladed Hamilton standard type propellers. The second prototype, and all subsequent aircraft were equipped with the stronger nine-cylinder air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1, which delivered 600 hp. Four fuel tanks were placed in the wing longerons, with a total fuel load of 780 liters (206 gallons.) The 214 used B-95 gasoline as its main fuel.

The landing gear retracted (except on the first prototype) into the rear engine nacelles but was not completely covered. The rear tail wheel was fixed but was provided with a brake system. The landing gear was hydraulically driven.

The pilot’s cockpit was positioned above the front fuselage and provided a good all-around view. In the cockpit there were positions for two crew members (pilot and assistant) and dual controls which were connected with the rudders and elevators with wire. However, this flight control system was flawed, because it took a few seconds before the plane responded to the command given by the pilot, for example during turns, climbs, or descending maneuvers. This made the 214 particularly difficult to fly during harsh and bad weather. 

Inside the cabin were several flight instruments, such as the airspeed and altitude indicators (type Teleoptik 456-6 and 452, the 214AS version had two altitude indicators), two variometers (type Teleoptik 26B), a turn and slip indicator (type 441-0), a horizontal situation indicator (type Teleoptik 32C, the 214AS version was equipped with two), a magnetic compass (type 443-0), two engine tachometers, fuel and oil gauges, landing gear indicator, and thermometer. Additional equipment for the crew’s safety included parachutes, fire extinguishers, oxygen bottles, and heating & ventilation. In the first series of aircraft produced in 1958, a SCR-522 radio unit was installed This radio had 8 watts of power with a range of 50-290 km (30-180 mi) depending on altitude. The 214F version was equipped with a Rudi Čajevac radio-telephone.

One of the prototypes was armed with three 7.92 mm MG-15 machine-guns, one forward fixed, one on the side (not specified whether  it could be aimed) and one in the rear facing turret. The decision to use older captured German MG-15s was most likely based on the fact that the 214 was to be used as a trainer aircraft, with better and more modern armament reserved for front  line aircraft. The 214 could also be equipped with a bomb load of four 50 kg (110 lb) bombs. Weapons were rarely installed on the production versions, as they were used mostly for transport.

First Test Flights

The 214 made its first flight on 7th August 1949, at the Zemun airfield near Belgrade. Immediately, there were problems with the lack of an adequate retractable landing gear. As a temporary solution and to speed up the testing process, the engineers simply reused the landing gear from an Il-2 (which was in use by the Yugoslav Air Force), but for technical reasons it was not retractable and remained fixed. There were also problems with inadequate propellers, as the 214 prototypes had to use propellers designed for a single engine aircraft. Despite the fact that it was never intended to be used with a fixed landing gear, military officials demanded that the flight tests begin as soon as possible. During its first test flight, one of the two engines simply stopped working. The pilot made a turn back towards the airfield, but the 214 could not maintain altitude and the plane crashed killing the test pilot Lieutenant Sima Nikolić.

An investigation that was subsequently conducted found that the fixed landing gear and the poor choice of propellers created too much drag. The single working engine could not overcome this drag. In addition, the vertical tail surfaces proved to be inadequate.

Prior to this accident, the engineers and designers predicted, at least in theory, that the 214 could maintain a constant altitude with only one working engine. In case of such a scenario, the test pilots were instructed to fly to the large and open Borča field,  Belgrade, and land there. Why the pilot decided to return to Zemun airfield instead of proceeding to the instructed field was impossible to determine. Despite this accident, the development of the 214 would go on.

The second prototype was fully completed by December 1949. In order to avoid accidents, the second prototype spent almost two years being redesigned and tested. Unfortunately, there is no information about any flights made during this period, but it is possible that some were conducted. This plane received larger vertical tail surfaces and a new landing gear. More intense flight tests were made from 1951 on. During this time, different trainer configurations were tested. These were basic training variants with three crew members and no armament, a bomber training variant with four crew members with up to three machine guns and bombs, and as a passenger transport variant with two crew members, six passengers, and no armament.

During 1954 and 1955, the second 214 prototype was equipped with Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 engines. It made its first flight with these engines on the 16th of September 1955 without any problems. In 1957, the second prototype was modified for use as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft (serving as the basis for the later 214F variant). This prototype would be used in this role until September of 1959, when the plane was lost in an accident. 

In 1955, it was decided to put the 214 into limited serial production. It  began in 1957 (or 1958 depending on the sources) and, by the time it ended in 1960, a total of 21 (or 20 depending on the source) 214 planes were produced. 

Anti-Submarine role

In 1958, a decision was made by the Yugoslavian Air Force for the adaptation of the 214 for anti-submarine operation. The first series of 214s produced was allocated to the 97th Air Regiment (this unit was renamed into the 97th Anti-Submarine Regiment in November 1958). The first group of pilot officers from the 97th Air Regiment was moved to Zemun airfield for training on the 214 in October 1958. All pilots from the 97th Air Regiment (which was equipped with British de Havilland Mosquitos) completed training by July 1959. In the period of 1959 to 1960, there were 41 pilots in training, but the number was reduced to 25 in 1961 and 1962. The entire training process was carried out under the leadership of World War II veteran Captain Okanović i Semolić.

As the 214 lacked any equipment for anti-submarine operations, it could be used only in reconnaissance missions, and only weather permitting where visibility was good. In 1960, there were plans to improve the 214’s anti-submarine performance by adding the necessary equipment. One modified aircraft, under the new 214PP (No. 61004) designation, was tested by Captain Petar Savić on the 6th of May 1960. Two years later, a new anti-submarine version, 214AM2 (No.61015), also known as 214M-2, was tested in June 1962 by pilot Aleksandar Prekrasov. Both versions had a fully enclosed nose instead of the standard glazed one (the sources are not clear, but it appears that other 214  were also equipped with an enclosed nose). In addition, the 214AM2 was provided with a radar placed below the front nose. However, this improved version was still not up to the task of anti-submarine duties. Even if the crew spotted an enemy submarine, it could hardly do anything. Due to equipment delays, more extensive testing was not possible before 1963. The 214AM2 was tested in Batajnica (near Belgrade) and later in Pula on the Croatian coast. The tests of the 214AM2 were completed by 1965, and the results of these tests assessed the variant as partially successful. 

Even before these tests were completed, in May 1964, by the order of the Secretary of National Defense, the 97th Anti-Submarine Regiment was reorganized as 97th Auxiliary and Support Regiment and supplied with C-47 transport planes. The 214 was still in use with this unit but mostly in a transport role. This decision to remove the 214 from the anti-submarine role was based on the fact that they were not sufficiently equipped, and could not effectively engage submarines. The 214 would be used by this unit up to 1966, when they were removed from service.

The 214F 

In 1960, three aircraft, designated as 214F, were built in the Ikarus factory to be used as photo-reconnaissance planes. The main difference was the removal of the seats inside the plane’s fuselage and replacing them with positions for a cameraman, his assistant, and  camera equipment. 

Limited Operational Service Life

Despite being designed to fulfill several different roles, the 214 (beside the two anti-submarine modifications) was mostly used as a light transport and sometimes for day and night bomber crew training. The aircraft that were used in this role received the 214AC or 214P designations and, in total, 18 were built of this version. The basic transport and training variant had 7 seats placed behind the cockpit, with four on the right, and three on the left side. In some sources, the passenger number is listed as 8. The idea to use the 214 as a light bomber was rejected due to the rapid development of more advanced fighter-bombers. The 214 had many technical problems during its operational use, such as inadequate radio equipment, problems with the control of the wing flaps, inadequate electric equipment for night flights, and cracks that would appear in the propeller spinners after extensive use. 

In Civilian Service

By 1966, only six 214 transport versions were still operated by the Yugoslavian Air Force. The next year, these six were withdrawn from service and given to the Aeronautical Association of Yugoslavia for use. They were registered as passenger planes with two crew members and seven passengers. These received the following civilian markings based on their stations: YU-ABN in Ljubljana, YU-ABO in Vršac, YU-ABT in Novi Sad, YU-ABS in Zagreb, YU-ABR in Sarajevo and YU-ABP in Skopje.

In 1968, only four were listed as operational and, by 1970, they were removed from the civilian registers. While they remain stored, some parachute flights were carried out after 1970. In the following years, all except one were scrapped. This aircraft (No.60019) was given to the Yugoslav Aviation Museum near the Capital of Belgrade in 2001. The plane is in a poor state of repair and is waiting for restoration. Due to the financial difficulties of the museum, there is only a small chance that it will be restored in the near future.

Production Run

As previously mentioned, the decision for the production of the 214 was made in 1955. By the time the production ended in 1960, a small series of 21 aircraft was produced (excluding the two prototypes.) Many sources state that around 20 were built but, according to Č. Janić. and O. M. Petrović, 21 were built (18 214AC and 3 214F). The problem with determining the exact number of produced aircraft lies in the fact that, in some sources, the three produced 214F include the prototype which was modified for this role. Despite the fact that the production began during 1957 (by Ikarus), the whole process was slow and, by the 1st of January 1959, only six 214 were built. Only one was built in 1957 and an additional five during 1958. By January 1st 1962, there were 21 aircraft in service with the Yugoslavian Air Force, with 17 fully operational. In the following years, there were no accidents and an average of between 15 and 18 were fully operational at any given time. In order to increase the 214’s operational service life, one additional factory (Vazduhoplovno-Tehnicki Remontni Zavod) was opened in Zagreb for the production of spare parts and repairs. The Ikarus factory, due to its  involvement  in other projects, was  exclusively involved in the production of spare parts from 1962 to 1964.

Due to the small numbers built, the 214 had only a few different variants.

• 214P and 214D prototypes – Two prototypes built and tested with different engines.
• 214F – 3 built as photo-reconnaissance planes. 
• 214AC (214P) – Main production version. 18 were built as trainer/passenger planes.
• 214PP – One production aircraft was modified for anti-submarine operation.
• 214AM-2 – One production aircraft was modified as an improved anti-submarine variant.

Conclusion 

Despite not being a successful design, the 214 did see operational use in the Yugoslav Air Force. As only small numbers were built, the model’s role was limited. The 214’s greatest success was that it helped rebuild the destroyed Yugoslavian aircraft industry and the designers and engineers gained additional experience in working with more modern aircraft designs.

Ikarus 214 Specifications
Wingspan	53 ft 2 in / 16.2 m
Length	38 ft 9 in / 11.2 m
Height	13 ft  / 3.95 m
Wing Area	320 ft² / 29.8 m²
Engine	Two nine cylinder air-cooled P&W R-1340-AN-1 with 600 hp
Empty Weight	3,740 lbs / 3,970 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight	11,080 lbs / 5,025 kg
Fuel Capacity	780 l
Maximum Speed	227 mph / 365 km/h
Cruising speed	186 mph / 300 km/h
Range	670 mi / 1,080 km
Maximum Service Ceiling	23,000 ft / 7,000 m
Crew	One pilot and One copilot
Armament	Three 7.92 mm MG-15 Machine Guns Bomb load of four 50 kg bombs

Gallery

Illustrations by Carpaticus

Credits

• Written by Marko P.
• Edited by Stan Lucian & Ed Jackson
• Illustrations by Carpaticus
• B. B. Dimitrijević (2012), Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992, Medija centar Odbrana.
• Č. Janić. and O. M. Petrović (2011), Kratka Istorija Vazduhoplovstva u Srbiji, Aerokomunikacije, Beograd.
• B. B. Dimitrijević., P. Miladinović  and M. Micevski. (2014), Jugoslovensko Pomorsko Vazduhoplovstvo 1918-1991, Institut za savremenu Istoriju Beograd.
• Aero Magazin, No. 58  2004.
• http://www.vazduhoplovnetradicijesrbije.rs/index.php/istorija/245-ikarus-214 
• http://otpisani.niceboard.com/t1351-ikarus-214 
• http://www.paluba.info/smf/index.php?topic=12247.0