Tupolev Tu-22: Russia's Pioneering Supersonic Bomber [Hardcover]

Sergey Burdin (Author), Alan Dawes (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pen & Sword Books (February 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844152413
• ISBN-13: 978-1844152414
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,465,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good and not so good, February 15, 2007

By 

Efim Sandler "fimych" (Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tupolev Tu-22: Russia's Pioneering Supersonic Bomber (Hardcover)

Tu-22 has been one of my favorite aircrafts of the VVS (Soviet Air Force). For a long time only some photos in the western sources very available to the readers. From the beginning of the perestroika, end of 80s, a mass wave of material rushed from different sources, but once again - nearly nothing on Tu-22. First publications began to appear in the Russian and Western aviation periodicals in the late 90s. This book is the first serious dedication to the subject. One can see, the authors did a great job of going through a lot of research and interviewing the people that dealt with Tu-22 over the years.
Very detailed technical sections describe Tu-22, its equipment and weaponry in particular and as a combat complex. Tu-22 service sections are accompanied by pilot and navigator schemas, maps and drawings - that you don't see in most of the aviation books.
Now the negative:
First impression - low level design and planning. The most of the photos are of pure quality, no drawings, color panel is very poor. Very poor color design and positioning, although the content is very attractive, its appearance kills the impression. I think the book could benefit from more photos of much better quality, especially those from 90s - you can find plenty of them in the western aviation periodicals.
The 'technical' sections are too technical and in my view could be better placed as appendix. Lack of the walk-around section - only some poor photos of the bomb bay and cockpit.
Design section - very brief, mostly talking about the soviet procedures of introducing a new aircraft into the service. I think there should be much more - projects, drawings, people.
I wish more should be dedicated to people, working and flying Tu-22, at least their names should be fully written (not only the second name) and photos presented, beginning from the Tupolev OKB test pilot Yuriy T. Alasheyev.

In general, I think this aircraft deserve much more. The reading is quite easy, besides the technical sections. I can recommend this book to any aviation enthusiast, but keep in mind the mentioned above problems. I hope that this book will take the shape of a "Famous Russian Aircraft" serious in the nearest future.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not beautifully illustrated but a good read, June 14, 2007

By 

Laurent Stern - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tupolev Tu-22: Russia's Pioneering Supersonic Bomber (Hardcover)

This book is no 'Famous Russian Aircraft: Tu-22 Blinder' book. No big photographs, no walkaround but I found it more interesting to read that Yefim Gordon books (that are very good but systematic and a bit tedious). Quotes and stories are interesting. If you want to learn about the radical changes this plane introduced for bomber pilots, read this book.