| Myasishchev M-50 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 |
The Myasishchev M-50 (NATO reporting name Bounder) was a Soviet prototype four-engine supersonic 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 ICBMs 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, that claimed 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 an M-50 and not a nuclear-powered plane at all.
Specifications (M-50A)[]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two
- Length: 57.48 m (188 ft 6 in)
- Wingspan: 35.10 m (115 ft 2 in)
- Height: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 290.6 m² (3,128 ft²)
- Empty weight: 85,000 kg (187,000 lb)
- Loaded weight: 175,000 kg (386,000 lb)
- Max. takeoff weight: 200,000 kg (440,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Dobrynin VD-7M, 2 × Dobrynin VD-7MA
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,950 km/h (1,212 mph)
- Cruise speed: 1,500 km/h (930 mph)
- Range: 7,400 km (4,600 mi)
- Service ceiling: 16,500 m (54,100 ft)
- Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
- Wing loading: 602 kg/m² (123 lb/ft²)
- Thrust/weight: 0.29
Armament
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Soviets Flight Testing Nuclear Bomber, Aviation Week, 1 December 1958, p. 27.
External links[]
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