This Day in Aviation History
January 9th, 1951
First flight of the Tupolev Tu-85.
 
The Tupolev Tu-85 (USAF/DoD reporting name ‘Type 31’, NATO reporting name Barge) was a Soviet prototype strategic bomber based on the Tu-4, an unlicensed reverse engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was the ultimate development of the B-29 family, being over 50% heavier than its ancestor and had nearly double the range. Only two prototypes were built before the program was canceled in favor of the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber which was much faster and had the same range….
 
Source:
Wikipedia, Tupolev Tu-85: http://gstv.us/2iSNwLO
 
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Photo from: http://gstv.us/2iSTV9w
 
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