 OKB
Tupolev
A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft
By Yefim Gordon and Vladimir Rigmant
Midland Publishing, ©2005
ISBN 1-85780-214-4
Hardbound, 360 Pages
Available from Specialty Press
for $59.95
Yefim Gordon and Midland Publications have put out quite
a nice collection of OKB volumes, with Ilyushin and Yakovlev already on
the shelves. The latest in this series takes a look at OKB Tupolev, which
is the oldest Russian design bureau still in existence. The authors take
you on a long journey from those idyllic beginnings in the 1920s, through
the Cold War, and into the present. Tupolev was a broad-based design bureau,
tackling both civil and military subjects, so it is little wonder that
this book is nearly 400 pages in length.
The book begins with a brief history of the OKB. It is brief because
a detailed history of the OKB could easily cover 400 pages without talking
about the aircraft themselves. From developing metal forming techniques
in the 1920s to many of its designers arrested during Stalin’s purges,
the pre-war years make for an incredibly fascinating read. During the
war, most of the Tupolev OKB was under guard and ordered to design aircraft.
The Tu-2 and Pe-2 came out of this jailhouse design bureau. Following
the war, Tupolev soon regained his good name by duplicating the B-29.
That led to development of indigenous bomber designs, and later, some
impressive civil aircraft. By the 1970s, the strategic bomber force of
the Soviet Union was almost entirely of Tupolev design, culminating with
the impressively large Tu-160 Blackjack bomber in the 1980s.
With the brief history out of the way, the book then spends the next
several hundred pages examining each aircraft designed by the Tupolev
OKB. This is an incredible list of subjects and includes both manned and
unmanned vehicles. Nearly all of these are accompanied by general arrangement
drawings and plenty of photos (some, obviously, get more photos than others).
Put it all together and you have a wonderfully comprehensive reference
of Tupolev aircraft.
For those who are Russian aviation nuts, this is a great book to have.
While the price might put you off, do not let it. This title is worth
every penny, especially if you are interested in the more esoteric designs
from Tupolev. My thanks to Specialty
Press for the review copy. |
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