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5.0 out of 5 stars
Little Known Information from the Soviet Union, March 8, 2005
This review is from: Early Soviet Jet Bombers - Red Star Vol. 17 (Paperback)
At the end of the Second World War it was clear the the future of combat aircraft design lay in the area of jet power. The Soviets established design bureaus in the areas of Germany they controlled and continued the development of the Jumo engines. But by 1946 Soviet designs were put into production that passed the performance of the Junkers engines.
Likewise the early airframes of the Soviet jets looked a lot like the Arado. But soon the Russian designs had moved beyond the German into designs that looked much the designs being produced in the US and England.
This book has a tremendous amount of detail and a huge number of photographs of these late 1940 designs. I can only guess that this book became possible only with the relaxing of tensions at the end of the Soviet Union. It's a most interesting book, and it's just part of a series put together on Soviet aircraft by Midland Publishing.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Gordon sheds considerable light on long lost Soviet bomber projects in this excellent Red Star release, June 7, 2006
This review is from: Early Soviet Jet Bombers - Red Star Vol. 17 (Paperback)
Prototypes and X-planes have always held a special place in the aviation enthusiasts' heart. The fascination with what could have been and an enthusiasm for unheralded aircraft design are showcased in this excellent Red Star volume on Russian jet bomber design by aviation expert Yefim Gordon, entitled: Early Soviet Jet Bombers(The 1940's and early 1950's). Gordon brings this unique era of Soviet aircraft design to life, and his access to OKB archives for Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Antonov, Tupolev, Myasishchev, Yakolev, and Lavochkin lend this volume considerable weight and expertise.
The Soviet quest for a viable jet bomber began just prior to the end of World War II as the introduction of jet engines created a new aviation arms race. The acquisition of plans, tooling, and prototypes for the German Arado bomber project and the capture and subsequent use of German aircraft designers helped jump start and facilitate the Soviet design and testing effort. Their work resulted in some intriguing aircraft like the forward swept wing EF 131, EF 132, and Project 140 designs that demonstrated the feasibility of the forward swept wing decades before the American X-29 and Sukhoi S-47 Berkut took flight. Though already posessing a capable strategic prop bomber in the TU-4 BULL (a reverse engineered B-29), the Soviet authorities knew a jet bomber was a necessity to maintain a strategic and tactical advantage in a cold war growing ever more bitter, and threw all the major design bureaus into the effort. In this push, they were assisted by the the British export of samples of the Rolls-Royce and Neno jet engines, designs the Soviets promptly reverse engineered and incorporated into their own testing and development process.
The story behind this phase of Soviet bomber development is fascinating and Gordon tells it well. As shown in his other Red Star volumes, political connections with the Politburo were extremely important, with some designs chosen simply due to political considerations. One design bureau that suffered from a lack of pull was the Lavochkin OKB, which created some elegant fighter and bomber designs that never made it off the drawing board. This volume focuses primarily on the designs from the main Soviet bureaus of Ilyushin, Sukhoi, Myasishchev, and Tupolev but also includes information from Lavochkin and the German design bureau. Ultimately it was an Ilyushin design similar to the British Canberra that became the Soviet's first service jet bomber, the IL-28 BEAGLE. In later years the Myasishchev M-4 BISON and Tupolev TU-16 BADGER would fill the strategic bomber role, but that information is contained in another volume.
Gordon's books are consistently top notch and readers know the quality they get with the Red Star and Midland Publishing imprint. The accumulated wealth of Gordon's contacts in Russia and his personal photo archives astound and overwhelm with detail, especially in this volume. Everything from design notes to test flight results are included within, as well as the usual treasure trove of photographs, models, and blueprints. This book gives you a glimpse into the fascinating world of many Soviet designs that might have been lost forever if not for Gordon. For that alone, it is worth every dollar of the cost. Highly Recommended.
A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO
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