Secret Russian aircraft of WW 2 on Hist Chan U.S. now 6p.m. PDT time Warner

[John Kettler]

They just covered the revolutionary I-16 in the Spanish Civil War. The show trials of 1937 have begun!

Regards,

John Kettler

[ April 27, 2006, 06:16 PM: Message edited by: John Kettler ]

[Sivodsi]

Thanks for the headsup.

[John Kettler]

Sivodsi,

You're welcome! I was blown away by some of what was there. Had no idea the Russians beat the Germans in the rocket fighter race, but the flying sub was simply stunning.

What was great for me about the show was that I got to learn a lot of the aviation history that I never knew and see some fabulous archival footage. What happened there laid the foundations for what came later, the stuff I dealt with professionally during my aerospace career: MiGs, ANs (Antonovs), Yaks, Lyulkas, etc., all were my stock in trade, and that rocket research you saw grew to become simply staggering in its extent. Look, for example, at the SA-6, whose integral rocket ramjet design left Western intelligence agog. It boosted under solid fuel, then blew off intake covers to convert to a ramjet. Look at all those nasty rocket-propelled cruise missiles which took us decades to field a counter to, the heavy lift rockets, the stupendous AN-400 transport, and the huge helicopters. The roots all trace back to what you saw.

Regards,

John Kettler

[ April 29, 2006, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: John Kettler ]

[Sivodsi]

Yeah, some astonishing stuff there alright. It was interesting the point about the Mig 15 being an original Russian rather than a copy of a similar German jet as the west at the time thought. The program seemed to suggest that the Tup 144 was as well when they pointed out that it flew before the concorde, which contradicts sources such as this: "Built as a competitor to the Anglo-French Concorde from modified plans stolen from the French"

But its amazing what the Russians achieved despite (or because of??) the interference of the paranoid flight phobic demogogue Stalin.

Loved the flying tank, though one wonders how much use a couple of flown in t-70s would have been. Better than nothing, I suppose.

[John Kettler]

Sivodsi,

GRU Major Vladimir Rezun (aka Viktor Suvorov) says in either INSIDE THE AQUARIUM or INSIDE SOVIET MILITARY INTELLIGENCE that the problems was that while the GRU did a fine job of obtaining the plans,

Soviet industry simply wasn't equal to the manufacturing task, something which has happened before, as in the Mya-4 "intercontinental" jet bomber. It was so range deficient that it could only reach the U.S. on a one way mission, then land in Mexico, refuel, and return to the Soviet Union. Krushchev's take? "Mexico is not your mother in law. You can't just drop in when you feel like it. The planes will be lost to us."

Plenty of other examples could be cited, but to get back to WW II, just look at the beyond extrordinary effort it took to duplicate the B-29s they interned. During my aerospace days I also heard some rumblings to the effect that the blueprints the GRU got had a few subtle but important design differences from what gave the British and French a safe reliable aircraft. IOW,

the Soviets may've been "helped" to their Paris Air Show disaster.

Regards,

John Kettler