 Early Soviet Jet Bombers
Red Stars Volume 17
By Yefim Gordon
Midland Publishing, ©2004
ISBN 1-58780-181-4
Softbound, 128 Pages
Available from Specialty
Press for $34.95
As the archives relax and more information comes out of the former
Soviet Union, post-war Russian aviation is beginning to be seen in a
different light. This book exposes an area of Soviet aviation rarely
seen in Western texts: that of early jet bombers. Like the United States
and Britain, the Soviet Union underwent a learning curve in designing
jet aircraft, and the early jet bombers from all sides suffered in many
ways. This book looks at the early Soviet designs from several manufacturers,
and shows many of the problems and triumphs experienced in these early
years of the jet age.
The book is broken down into chapters on specific manufacturers, with
the first chapter dealing with Ilyushin. Ilyushin's first bombers were
heavily armed but rather bland in appearance, with the Il-22 being the
design on the cover of this book. Following this section comes the design
bureau of Myasishchev. None of these designs came to fruition, but many
of the designs incorporated features that were useful in designing later
bombers.
Following this comes what many will find the most fascinating chapter:
The Junkers Heritage. This is the section that deals with the post-war
analysis of the Ju 287 forward-swept wing aircraft. This is a fascinating
chapter to read, and the resultant Soviet aircraft would make for a very
interesting model. There are plenty of clear photos here that would make
detailing and finishing a model very easy.
Following the Junkers heritage comes a section on Baade's last bombers
and Tupolev's first jet bombers. These sections show some of the more
interesting designs to come out of this early jet period. The Baade bomber
featured outrigger landing gear and fuselage main gear, similar to the
B-47 (in fact, this aircraft looks a bit like a pudgy twin-engined B-47,
with a T-tail). Tupolev, in trying to get as much power out of those
early jet engines, placed a third engine in the fuselage, with the air
intake in the root of the vertical fin, supplementing the wing-mounted
engines. This odd design did not pan out and later variants faired this
in.
The final section of the book deals with probably the most successful
early Soviet jet bomber, the Ilyushin Il-28. Dubbed the Soviet 'Canberra',
this plane saw very similar service and found its way into the air forces
of a great number of countries. This book only covers the initial development
and production of the design, though, and leaves the operational end
of things out, hopefully to be filled in with a future Red Stars volume.
This is a great addition to the Red Stars line and is the first time much
of this information has been seen in Western publications. The amount of
information presented, and the clarity of photographs and drawings throughout,
make this a worthwhile investment for those interested in Soviet aviation.
My thanks to Specialty Press for the review sample.
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