Myasishchev M-50
| Myasishchev M-50 | |
|---|---|
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| Myasishchev M-50 on display at Monino Aviation Museum | |
| Role | Strategic bomber |
| Designer | Myasishchev |
| First flight | 27 October 1959 |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary user | USSR |
| Number built | 2 |
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The Myasishchev M-50 (NATO reporting name Bounder) was a Soviet prototype four-jet engine supersonic strategic bomber, which never attained service. Only one prototype was built, which was believed to have first flown in 1957. The M-50 was constructed by the Myasishchev design bureau.
It was a fast jet bomber with four engines: two Dobrynin VD-7 and two VD-7F turbojets. Two engines were located under the wing and two on the tips of its shoulder-mounted, truncated delta wings.
The second M-50 was designated M-52 and carried Zubets 16-17 turbojets, around which the aircraft had been designed. The engine installation was modified, and a second tailplane added to the top of the fin. M-50 participated in a Soviet Aviation Day flyby in 1961. M-52 was completed but was not flight tested.
Like most of the early 1960s supersonic strategic bomber projects, the M-50/52 program was terminated due to the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missiles and the priority assigned to the Soviet space program.
Nuclear bomber hoax
The 1 December 1958 issue of Aviation Week included an article Soviets Flight Testing Nuclear Bomber claiming that the Soviets had made great progress in their own nuclear aircraft program.[1] This was accompanied by an editorial on the topic as well. The magazine claimed that the aircraft was real beyond a doubt, stating that "A nuclear-powered bomber is being flight tested in the Soviet Union. ... It has been observed both in flight and on the ground by a wide variety of foreign observers from Communist and non-Communist countries." In reality, however, the article was a hoax. The aircraft in the photographs was later revealed to be a M-50 and not a nuclear-powered plane at all.
Specifications (M-50A)
Data from [2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 57.48 m (188 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 35.10 m (115 ft 2 in)
- Height: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 290.6 m2 (3,128 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 85,000 kg (187,393 lb)
- Gross weight: 175,000 kg (385,809 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 200,000 kg (440,925 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Dobrynin VD-7F afterburning turbojet, 137.29 kN (30,865 lbf) thrust each wet
- Powerplant: 2 × Dobrynin VD-7 non-afterburning turbojet, 110 kN (24,000 lbf) thrust each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,950 km/h (1,212 mph; 1,053 kn)
- Cruising speed: 1,500 km/h (932 mph; 810 kn)
- Range: 7,400 km (4,598 mi; 3,996 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 16,500 m (54,134 ft)
- Wing loading: 602 kg/m2 (123 lb/sq ft)
- Thrust/weight: 0.29
Armament
- 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) of bombs or missiles carried in internal bays
See also
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- B-58 Hustler
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Myasishchev M-50. |
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