Early Eastern Wings
During the First World War, pilots of the Russian Empire largely flew foreign designed aircraft. The Odessa based Anatra company, which operated from 1913 to 1918, initially built aircraft under license from companies such as Farman, Morane, Nieuport and Voisin. However, Anatra also produced designs of its own.
The Anatra DS Anasal, which first flew in the summer of 1916, was developed as a replacement for the Anatra D Anade reconnaissance aircraft. The Anatra D, in spite of several design flaws, was accepted into service in May of 1916.
While the Anade served as a starting point for the Anasal, many refinements were made to improve strength and stability. A major change was replacing the Anade’s fabric-covered wood frame fuselage with a wooden panel construction. This change was dictated largely by the installation of a more powerful engine.
The Anasal was powered by a 150-horsepower Salmson radial engine, notable for its unusual use of liquid cooling, which required a bulky radiator. This design choice seemingly contradicted one of the main advantages of radial engines: avoiding the added weight of liquid-cooling systems by relying on airflow for cooling. While some references indicate this configuration was unique, Salmson produced a series of liquid-cooled radial engines between 1908 and 1920 which powered over 30 different aircraft types.
The Anasal was a definite improvement over the undependable Anade, not only in handling and responsiveness but also in ease of maintenance and ground operations. It was considered a competent aircraft for its time and intended role, though inferior to the best British and German designs of the era.
While reconnaissance was the Anasal’s primary mission, it could also be used for light bombing duties. The aircraft could carry between 50 and 80 kilograms of bombs, which the observer could release manually from his station behind the pilot. For defense, the Anasal had a single forward-firing Vickers machine gun for the pilot, and the observer’s station could be fitted with various machine guns mounted on a ring.
Uprising and Upheaval
1917 was a year of tremendous change in Russia; Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, and a short-lived provisional government took power. The Bolshevik Revolution in Autumn of that year thrust the nation into a civil war that would last until Autumn of 1922.
Following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, the Anasal came into service with non-Russian forces. The treaty ceded large portions of Russian-held territory to the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey) and recognized Ukraine as an independent state.
With the Russian army largely disbanded and ineffective in Ukraine, German and Austro-Hungarian forces advanced with little resistance. Upon reaching Odessa, they discovered a substantial cache of aircraft at the Anatra factory: over 200 completed aircraft, including more than 100 Anasals, were found in storage, and another 100 were in various stages of construction.
Although the Anasal was not considered suitable for frontline combat duties, it was seen as quite acceptable for training purposes. This allowed aircraft factories in Austria-Hungary to concentrate their efforts on producing combat aircraft rather trainers.
During the Russian Civil War, both the White (anti-Bolshevik) and the Red (pro-Communist) forces employed the Anasal. The aircraft also saw use by Czechoslovak and Polish legions aligned with the White movement.
At the end of the First World War, Anasals had been distributed across the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. They were divided between the newly independent nations of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Austria and Czechoslovakia were each equipped with around 20 aircraft, while Hungary had roughly half that number.
Between 1918 and 1920, Hungary experienced a series of political upheavals and became involved in conflicts with neighboring countries. One notable episode was a brief skirmish in the spring of 1919 between Hungarian and Czechoslovak forces, during which Anasals from both sides were used.
What Remains and Learning More
Many Anasals were repurposed for training throughout the 1920s; First as flight trainers, and later for ground-based maintenance instruction. Eventually, most of them were retired and scrapped during the course of the decade.
Of the more than 350 Anasals built between 1917 and 1918, only one original example is known to survive. It is preserved in the collection of the National Technical Museum in Prague, Czech Republic.
A full scale replica of an Anasal can be found in the collection of the State Aviation Museum of Ukraine in Zhulyany.
This link will take you to a brief summary of the Anasal and photos of the Anasal replica at Zhulyany.
Pickled Wings 