Customer Reviews

Soviet Secret Projects Bombers Since 1945, Vol. 1

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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 amazing Midlands Publishing book by Tony Buttle and Yefim Gordon entitled: Soviet Secret Projects: Bombers since 1945. The book, chock full of photographs, diagrams, and models of projects that never made the prototype stage, allows each design to come to life for the reader. Gordon is considered the worldwide expert on Russian/Soviet aircraft and his access to OKB archives for Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Antonov, Tupolev, Myasishchev, Beriev, and Yakolev lend his books a perspective that few can match.

From the original designs for a jet bomber using captured German jet technology, to the adaptation of three interned US B-29 bombers into the TU-4 BULL, to the development of the Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160, the saga of Soviet bomber development is fascinating. Politics and connections with the Politburo won quite a few contracts for Tupolev OKB, some over designs that were far superior in performance. The Tu-160 BLACKJACK, originally a Myasishchev design, was handed over to Tupolev OKB for design finalization, prototyping, and production as a result of serious political lobbying by its Politburo and Defense Ministry sponsors. The Sukhoi bomber on the book cover, resembling in many ways the mythical MIG fighter in the movie FIREFOX, is one of the most interesting and attractive designs that never made it to production. Thanks to this book, we get the chance to learn more about what was once a sketch on a designer's notepad.

The aviation books written by Gordon and released under Midland Publishing, Aerofax, and Red Star banners share the accumulated wealth of Gordon's contacts in Russia and his personal photo archive, especially in this volume. Secret Projects gives you a glimpse into the fascinating world of many Soviet and Russian designs that might have been lost forever. For that alone, it is worth every dollar of the cost. Highly Recommended.

The previous books in the series have all been excellent, the German WW2 three volume set was wonderful, the British set was likewise great, and this book is excellent. What a suprise. As the title indicates, it covers the bombers in development from the end of WW2 to the fall of the Soviet empire and a bit beyond. Being a huge fan of "paper-projects" this book is right up my alley, going into detail on the various bombers and ground-attack planes that were in the design phase. Like the British works, this book covers the bombers that went into service as well, which ties in nicely with the background of the bombers that never were.

If I have to offer a criticism, it's that there aren't more photos and diagrams. Each bomber gets at least a photos or drawing, no matter how obscure. However, when they cover almost were's like the Tu-64 I want more photos, shots of the mock-up, etc. Offer me a feast and I'll want desert, I suppose.

I imagine that this series will follow the British ones, where we will next get a book on fighter developments of the same period, followed by a book on fighter and bomber projects of WW2. I can only hope that after this they will turn to the Japanese experimental planes of WW2 and a similar trilogy on the US aircraft projects. As I'm not sure if there are sufficient aircraft to warrant a book on the Italian projects of WW2, this extended series will become the primary reference for secret aircraft projects for the last 70 years.

If you have any interest in the subject, buy this book. It's that good.

Matt

It appears that with the collapse of the Soviet Union a lot of previously secret information is being released. It also seems that at last the western publishers have been able to connect with Russian writers to actually get a lot of information public for the first time.

This book is one in a series, it covers all of the various Soviet design bureaus. For some of the bureaus, information is scarce because they still consider the information secret.

The book is broken down into varous categories such as piston engined, early jet, ground attack, very high performance design studies, and so on. Many of the planes closely resemble the planes of the time being built in the free world. One looks very much like the American B-45 Tornado. Other planes explore entirely different configurations as their engineers experimented to find the best shape to meet the demands of the customer and to take advantage of the new technologies being developed.

To the aviation buff, here is a set of aircraft you haven't seen before.

Beautiful book for anyone who loves the Soviet aircraft.
Many projects are unknown and very surprising.
The quality of this book is equal to other books "secret project".

Up to the high standard set by the pervious books in this series

I was very disappointed with the lack of info on the Tu-4. While the book is comprehensive, it lacks detail on the plane that the Soviets used to literally springboard their aviation industry forward in design and manufacturing. Considering that many of the aircraft covered in the book didn't even appear in the form of a flying prototype, while the Tu-4 was a production aircraft, I consider this a glaring omission! Merely referring to another book in the series that covers the Bull in greater detail struck me as either lazy, smug, or deceptive. Perhaps all three. I can't and won't recommend this book to my fellow aviation buffs. Sorry, close but no cigar...

Este livro foca muitos projectos de aviões da ex. URSS, e mostra que a indústria aeronáutica Soviética era mais avançada que a dos EUA.

Aconselho a sua aquisição.

Good book, Unusual subject. As with all books of this type, you have to question how many of these designs were "paper airplanes" that had no chance of ever being built. But it is still interesting to look through the vivid imaginations of the designers.