Sikorsky Ilya Muromets
The Ilya Muromets  refers to a class of Russian pre- world war-one large four-engine commercial airliners and heavy military bombing aircraft used during World War I by the Russian Empire.The aircraft series was named after IIya Muromets, a hero from Russian mythology.The series was based on the Russky Vityaz or Le Grand, the world's first four-engined aircraft, designed by Igor Sikrosky The Ilya Muromets aircraft as it appeared in 1913 was a revolutionary design, intended for commercial service with its spacious fuselage incorporating a passenger saloon and washroom on board.During World War I, it became the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit.This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the early stages of the war, as theCentral Power had no aircraft capable enough to challenge it until much later, with the 1916-17 origin Zepplelin Staaken R.VI, the only example of any of the Imperial German Riesenflugzeug airframe designs to be produced in any quantity during World War I.

       

Role	Heavy Bomber
National origin	Russian Empire
Manufacturer	Rusco Baltic Wagon Company
Designer	Igor Sikrosky
First flight	11 December 1913
Introduction	1913
Retired	1922
Primary user	Imperial Russian Air Force
Number built	85+
Developed from	Sikorskyi Rus'ky vityaz

The Ilya Muromets (Sikorsky S-22) was designed and constructed by Igor Sikorsky at the Russo-Baltic Carriage Factory (RBVZ) in Riga in 1913. It was based on his earlier S-21 Russky Vityaz, which started out as the twin-engined Le Grand, then as the twin tandem engined Bolshoi Baltisky before placing all four of the Baltisky's engines in a tractor configuration along the lower wing's leading edge to create the Russky Vityaz — which had played an important role in the development of Russian aviation and the multi-engine aircraft industries of the world.

Following the February Revolution in 1917, the Ilya Muromets bombers continued to fly with the Russian Imperial Army but others were seized by the provisional government with pilots also defecting to the Ukrainian squadron of Hetman and General Pavlo Skoropadsky, with at least one Ilya Muromets being flown by Polish forces. The remainder of the aircraft flew with the Red Army until mid-1919.