Tu-95 Bear

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http://www.aviationlive.org Online Aviation Pics,Videos and Forum (Туполев Ту--95) (NATO reporting name Bear) is the most successful and longest-serving Tupolev strategic bomber and missile carrier built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Tu-95 is still in service, as of 2008, and is expected to remain in service with the Russian Air Force until at least 2040.The Tu-95 is powered by four Kuznetsov turboprop engines, each driving contra-rotating propellers, and remains the fastest propeller-driven aircraft to go into operational use. Its wings are swept back at 35 degrees, a very sharp angle by the standards of propeller-driven aircraft. To date, it remains the only turboprop-powered strategic bomber to have entered operational service. A naval version of the bomber is designated Tu-142. The design bureau led by Andrei Tupolev designed the Soviet Union's first intercontinental bomber, the 1949 Tu-85, it was a scaled up version of the Tu-4 a B-29 copy. The Tu-85 was deemed to be inadequate against the new generation of American all-weather interceptors. A new requirement was issued to both Tupolev and Myasishcev design bureaus in 1950, it had to have an un-refuelled range of 8000km (4,970 miles), far enough to threaten key targets in the United States. Other goals included the ability to carry a 11000kg (24,250lb) load over the target. The big problem for Tupolev was the engine choice, the first generation jet engines had a large fuel consumption and turboprops gave a better range. Also in a parallel race to build an intercontinental bomber was Boeing, but the recently developed J57 enabled the B-52 to be jet-powered. The Myasischev bureau decided to use early jet engines. Tupolev decided to work on the problems with high-speed turboprops for the new bomber now designated the Tu-95. With eight-bladed contra-rotating propellers the engine that emerged was the Kuznetsov NK-12 with a nominal 12,000 eshp (8948kW) power rating. Although the engine was advanced, the fuselage design was conventional: it was low-wing cantilever monoplane with 35 degrees of sweep. The angle ensured that the main wing spar passed though the fuselage in front of the bomb bay. It had a retractable tricycle landing gear, with the main gear retracting rearwards.The first aircraft flew in 1953. For a long time, the Tu-95 was known to Western intelligence as the Tu-20. While this was the original Soviet Air Force designation for the aircraft, by the time it was being supplied to operational units it was already better known under the Tu-95 designation used internally by Tupolev. The Tu-20 designation quickly fell out of use in the USSR. Since the Tu-20 designation was used on many documents acquired by Western intelligence agents, the name continued to be used outside the Soviet Union.

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Uploaded: February 10th, 2008 @ 9:59 am
Author: Freeaviation

Length: 07:23
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