ANT-16 (TB-4)
Role Heavy bomber
National origin Soviet Union
Manufacturer Tupolev
First flight 3 July 1933
Status Retired
Primary user Soviet Union
Number built One
Developed from Tupolev TB-3
Variants ANT-20

The Tupolev ANT-16 (also known as the TB-4; Russian: Тяжелый Бомбардировщик – Heavy Bomber) was an experimental heavy bomber aircraft designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.

Design and development

Conceptually representing evolution of the TB-3 bomber, the ANT-16 was designed under the doctrine that size and payload were more important for a bomber than speed because it would be able to protect itself with defensive armament.[1] The twin 5 by 1.8 by 1.8 metres (16.4 ft × 5.9 ft × 5.9 ft) bomb bays were the largest in the world at that time and presented many design challenges in order to preserve structural rigidity of the airframe.[1]

The sole prototype first flew on 3 July 1933 with M. M. Gromov at the controls. The test flight program was completed by 29 September 1933 with disappointing results. The two top-mounted engines performed poorly and a significant portion of thrust generated by the wing-mounted engines was absorbed by the two meter-thick (6 ft 7 in) wing. A proposal to re-equip the aircraft with Mikulin AM-35 engines of 933 kW (1,250 hp) was not implemented.[1] A second prototype was under construction, but was never finished[2] (construction stopped 2 July 1933); some of its parts were used in the ANT-20.

Specifications (ANT-16)

Data from The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995 [3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 12
  • Length: 32 m (105 ft 0 in)
  • Wingspan: 54 m (177 ft 2 in)
  • Height: 17.3 m (56 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 422 m2 (4,540 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 21,400 kg (47,179 lb)
  • Gross weight: 33,280 kg (73,370 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 4,950 kg (10,913 lb) (~7,000 L (1,800 US gal; 1,500 imp gal) at 0.7 s.g.)
  • Powerplant: 6 × Mikulin AM-34 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines, 560 kW (750 hp) each
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 200 km/h (120 mph, 110 kn) at sea level
188 km/h (117 mph; 102 kn) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft)
  • Cruise speed: 159 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn)
  • Landing speed: 105 km/h (65 mph; 57 kn)
  • Range: 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)
  • Combat range: 940 km (580 mi, 510 nmi) with 8,000 kg (17,637 lb) bomb-load
2,000 km (1,200 mi; 1,100 nmi) with 2,000 kg (4,409 lb) bomb-load
  • Service ceiling: 2,750 m (9,020 ft)
  • Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 12 minutes 24 seconds
2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 34 minutes
  • Wing loading: 79 kg/m2 (16 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.101 kW/kg (0.061 hp/lb)
  • Take-off run: 800 m (2,600 ft) in 36 seconds
  • Landing run: 400 m (1,300 ft)

Armament

See also

Related development

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tupolev ANT-16.
  1. 1 2 3 Shavrov V.B. (1985). Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR do 1938 g. (3 izd.) (in Russian). Mashinostroenie. ISBN 5-217-03112-3.
  2. ↑ "The Tupolev Giants". AirVectors. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Gunston, Bill (1995). The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995. London: Osprey. pp. 393–394. ISBN 9781841760964.
  4. ↑ "Tupolev ANT-16 / TB-4 - bomber".
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