B29 and TU-4

I recall reading that they even recreated Boeing logo’s on the control column and while the engine cowlings were too large for the Russian powerplants they were the same size as the B-29, BUT – Stalin said the same and so this was taken on a quite literal basis what with him being who he was…..?

Read about it years ago in a book called ‘Inside The Soviet Army’ by Viktor Suvorov….

the hole in the wing that served no function (mistake made during that airframe’s manufacture)….

….half the bomb bay crew access tunnel one colour, the other half another (plant ran out of the correct paint)

and do we paint it in US markings and get shot as imperialists, or paint on Red Stars and get shot for not obeying Stalin’s orders in making the copy identical to the original B-29.

somewhere…….

just how close a copy of the B29 was the TU-4 would the parts be interchangable?
http://www.aviamonuments.ru/planes/Rossiya/Moskovskaya+obl./126
I understand there might be one of them in China on display somewhere near Beijing as well as one in Russia is this correct?

I recall reading that they even recreated Boeing logo’s on the control column and while the engine cowlings were too large for the Russian powerplants they were the same size as the B-29, BUT – Stalin said the same and so this was taken on a quite literal basis what with him being who he was…..?

Oh a thank’s for the Desk TOP shot Flank mate!:dev2:

h’mmmm 1806 desk top’s now it’s a MAGIC Tardis trip over time Screen saver I tell YOU!!!:eek:

We did a Thread a few year’s back on this, interesting stuff all the same!! don’t take me wrong!

Maybe Franc in China could possibly add more info for us, I am in contact with him a lot now and again via Icq

” Gut Nacht ” for now I am Knackered!!

CHINESE TU-4: IS THERE ANY RADAR INSIDE THAT FLAT BUBBLE ABOVE ITS FUSELAGE?

Hello! I would like to know if inside that fairing above Chinese Tu-4’s fuselage there is any radar…Yefim Gordon’s Red Star Volume 7 state no….I would like to know the true;)

Hey, I spend 12 hours a day here. You don’t expect me to work as well do you?

Thanks Ken I knew I could rely on someone correcting me if I was wrong. You’ll have to forgive me as I’m at ‘work’ and don’t have access to any reference material.

Obviously not too busy though…….. 😉

Ken

Regarding the location of survivors:

There is 1 at the Russian air force museum in Morino, Russia.

That would be MONINO……

Photographed last August at Monino….

As for interchangeability, as Arthur says, the dimensions & skinning was different – as were the engines and guns.

The Tu-4 used Soviet ASh-73TK radials and the guns were 20mm on early aircraft – later Tu-4’s had 23mm cannon.

Yefim Gordon’s ‘Tupolev Tu-4 – Soviet Superfortress’ (Vol 7 in the Red Star’ series) gives a good history of the Soviet Tu-4 – how and WHY it was copied.

Please don’t mention the bullet holes…………….

Ken

Thanks Ken I knew I could rely on someone correcting me if I was wrong. You’ll have to forgive me as I’m at ‘work’ and don’t have access to any reference material.

IIRC, the Tu 95 made use of a heavily modified version of the fuselage from the Tu 85 “Barge”, itself developed from the Tu 80, which in turn was a modified Tu 4…

The Tu 16 could be thought of as making use of elements of the Tu 85 fuselage and some of the production process’s…
Zeb

The Tu-16 was a ‘clean sheet of paper’ design that owed nothing to the Tu-4/Tu-80/Tu-85/Tu-95.

It was derived from ‘Article 88’ – and had a fuselage diameter of 2.5m.

The fuselage diameter of the Tu-95 series was 2.9m.

Ken

IIRC the Tu-104 airliner also used a fuselage of that ancestry but in a passenger carrying format.

Surprisingly(or maybe not) most of the first generation Soviet turbine powered heavy bombers were based on the fuselage of the Russian version of the B-29. Certainly the Tu-95 and Ilyushin(Il-16 I think) were.

IIRC, the Tu 95 made use of a heavily modified version of the fuselage from the Tu 85 “Barge”, itself developed from the Tu 80, which in turn was a modified Tu 4…

The Tu 16 could be thought of as making use of elements of the Tu 85 fuselage and some of the production process’s…

Lesser known members of the family were the Tu 70 and 75 transports, analogous to the Boing 377 and C97 respectfully. These made use of the wings and tail mated to a larger fuselage. Interestingly (according to Yefim Gordon’s TU 4 book), the prototype Tu 70 is thought to have made use of major airframe components (possibly the entire wings) from one of the original impounded B29’s (the Gen. H.H. Arnold Special)…

Zeb

Surprisingly(or maybe not) most of the first generation Soviet turbine powered heavy bombers were based on the fuselage of the Russian version of the B-29. Certainly the Tu-95 and Ilyushin(Il-16 I think) were. Aha, found it I think I might have been wrong about the Il-16 but cannot be sure as there is no picture on Wiki. The machine I had in mind was the Myasischev M-4 Bison.

Here are the Chinese ones:

Find : 40°10’58.51″N 116°21’34.04″E

On http://maps.google.com/maps

Regarding the location of survivors:

There is 1 at the Russian air force museum in Morino, Russia.

There should be 2 in China, both at China Aviation Museum in Datangshan.

They made almost 1000 of them, so I’m pretty sure there are one, or two, somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Maybe a Russian “China lake”.

I have no idea about parts interchangability, but i really doubt it.

There are two in China, at the Datang Shan museum (or whatever it’s called now). One is a drone carrier, one has a radarsaucer à la E-3 on it’s fuselage. Both have been refitted with turboprops, the only known survivor with the original pistons is the one in Monino, of which you have posted a link to.

While they are an as exact-as-possible copy, there aren’t many if any parts interchangeable between the B-29 and the Tu-4. Reason is that during the reverse engineering, the B-29s imperial building standards were translated to more common metric standards for the Tu-4. In the process, the Tu-4 actually became a bit lighter than the B-29 giving it a bit more ceiling and a bit more range. Further evidence of course that the metric system is superior 😀