Chellenge?

[Filonian]

Any of our developers fancy a challenge?











Graham

[cstorey]

Crumbs! Is that the Maxim Gorki? and if so, where is it?

[Garry Russell]

Thank goodness it wasn't real

[WhisperJet]

I'll fancy a Burj Khalifa Air Taxi repaint...

Nick

[Filonian]

Details as supplied by sender of pics.: -

Built in Russia during the 1930s, it flew 11 times before crashing and killing 15 people.

The designer, Konstantin Kalinin, wanted to build two more planes but the project was scrapped.

Later, Stalin had Kalinin executed.

Evidently, it was not good to fail on an expensive project under Stalin .

It's got propellers on the back of the wings, too. You can count 12 engines facing front.

The size would be equivalent to the Empire State Building on its side, with cannons.

And you think the 747 was big... not only a bunch of engines but check out the cannons the thing was carrying.

In the 1930s the Russian army was obsessed by the idea of creating huge planes.

At that time they were proposed to have as many propellers as possible to help carrying those huge flying fortresses into the air, jet propulsion has not been implemented yet.

Can you imagine what it would be like sitting in this thing when those cannons go off?



Graham

Not many photos were saved from those times because of the high secrecy levels of such proje cts and because a lot of time has already passed.


Still, on the attached photos you can see one such plane - a heavy bomber K-7.

[Tako_Kichi]

It's a very cleverly done 3D model but the real thing didn't have battleship guns on it!

[speedbird591]

I've unearthed another - very rare - photo of it. This time in action in a dogfight with the experimental Nazi flying saucer of the time. What do you mean you haven't heard of that, either?



Ian

(p.s. wiki for the story of the real thing)

[DispatchDragon]

Did I sleep through the winter? is it April 1st already??


Oh well back to mundane beta testing of Austers, and Swallows and Vampires and stuff

Leif

[nigelb]

May the Force be with you, Luke!
Nigel²

[austerdriver]

What an ugly looking aircraft.