So I got a bunch of antique Air Trails Pictorials today, back from 1949 and 1952. On the cover of the February 1949 issue (Cover story: "The Reds Aren't Stallin'") is a group of Tu-74 bombers, which was a sort of
2nd generation B-29 and above these os a jet fighter, the likes of which I've never seen. The fuselage is broadly based on a P-80, with narrower cheek inlets, the edges of the rear stab are all straight-edge, with a T tail. The wings have a light sweep, with more on the leading edge than the trailing. It is painted in a pleasing salmon, with yellow fuselage and vertical stab bands, both of which have a red star in them. There are no wing stars. A yellow tipped nose and a yellow "6" ahead of the cheek air inlets completes the view. The drawing is by Frank Tinsley, and the 3-view inside only lists it as a Soviet "high-speed research jet plane". So my question are these: Is this some kind of Soviet "Luft '46" or did this aircraft actually fly? and Does or did anyone make a model of the Tu-74?- posted
18 years ago