Myasishchev M-50

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasishchev_M-50

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.


Role
Supersonic strategic bomber

Designer
Myasishchev

First flight
27 October 1959

Status
Retired

Primary user
USSR

Number built
2

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. 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.

In reality, in the early Sixties Soviet Union did test a technology demonstrator
for a nuclear-powered strategic bomber, Tupolev Tu-95LAL, similar to the
somewhat earlier American Convair NB-36H project, but, being based on the
turboprop Tu-95, it was never supersonic, it never flew under nuclear power (its
main goal was to test the nuclear reactor shielding efficiency), and, moreover,
it was developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau, as Myasischev company had lost
the competition to develop the prototype. It was deemed successful, but further
development dragged because of environmental concerns. When the functional ICBMs
appeared, the majority of funding and development effort was shifted into that
field, and in the late Sixties the project was scrapped for good.

Specifications (M-50A)

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)
Cruise speed: 1,500 km/h (932 mph; 810 kn)
Range: 7,400 km (4,598 mi; 3,996 nmi)
Service ceiling: 16,500 m (54,100 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




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