How the Soviet Union Once Built the Noisiest Airliner in the World out of a Nuclear Bomber

https://jalopnik.com/how-the-soviet-...r-i-1831399230

It’s the 1950s, and you’re the Soviet Union. Your deepest rivals, the Americans
and their corporations, are all preparing the latest and greatest jet airliners
to fly them all over the world. And you’ve got... pretty much nothing. But you
do have a huge bomber ready to deliver the apocalypse.

The Tupolev Tu-95 was just that bomber, ready to fly from Arctic bases in the
Soviet Union to drop a huge nuke or 10 on all the big and shiny American cities
we all love. With its eight contra-rotating propeller blades approaching the
speed of sound, it was so loud it could make your bones rattle. But more
importantly, it existed. And it had the range. So the Soviets decided to adapt
it into an airliner to rival planes like the Boeing 707, as you’ll learn in this
extremely cromulent video from Mustard:

https://youtu.be/22H8M8h6Hdo

Of course, “rival” is relative. The Tupolev Tu-114, as it became known, had some
pretty significant drawbacks. Even though it’s one of the fastest
propeller-powered planes of all time, it still wasn’t a jet. Plus, those noisy
engines weren’t exactly quieted for civilian use, with decibel levels roughly
equivalent to a car horn blaring in your face for hours on end.

But hey, at least it was reliable.



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