Wingspan: Did you know?

Kinja'd!!! by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 09/28/2017 at 12:35

Tags: wingspan ; planelopnik
STARS: 12

Back in 1945, the US Army Air Forces began looking for a bomber that could strike distant targets from bases in the US. That search ended with the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, but before we got to the eight-engined monster that has been flying since 1952 (that’s 65 years, folks), Boeing had a contract in hand to build the Model 462, a straight-winged behemoth powered by six Wright T35 turboprop engines. Fate, in the form of captured German data on swept wings, changed the course of aviation history. But this is what might have been.

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Interestingly, the Russians were never able to match the range and performance of the jet-powered B-52. To this day, their long-range strategic bombing workhorse has been the Tupolev Tu-95 , which bears a certain resemblance to the Model 464-35, with swept wings housing four turboprop engines turning contra-rotating propellors. Like the B-52, the Tu-95 also took its maiden flight 1952.

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If you enjoyed this post, please join in the conversation and let me know. For more stories about aviation history and aircraft oddities, head over to Wingspan .

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Replies (5)

Kinja'd!!! "X37.9XXS" (x379xxs)
09/28/2017 at 12:43, STARS: 0

According to my research, the TU95 has a range of 9400 miles without refueling

The B52 has a range of 8800 miles without refueling

(Only 600 miles difference, but the TU95 does have the edge)

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/28/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 2

The 462 looks like a U2 with an engine fetish.

Kinja'd!!! "WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
10/03/2017 at 09:54, STARS: 1

Cool stuff as usual! First thing I thought of when I saw the top picture was that it looked like a straight-wing, 6-engine Bear.

Also, the empennage looks enormous in the sketches - was it going to be a taildragger, for rough/unpaved runways?

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
10/03/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 1

No, it would have been tricycle. I think they were basically taking the B-29 and scaling it up. Way up. And that vertical stab is ridiculously big.

Kinja'd!!! "WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
10/03/2017 at 10:13, STARS: 0

Interesting - I wonder if they were just scaling it up (kinda does look like that) or if there was some other reason why the vertical stabilizer needed to be so big (adverse yaw). I was thinking that maybe it was for low-speed rudder effectiveness — though that really requires a big rudder, not a big vertical stab (not necessarily the same thing).

Anyways, cool aircraft!