Myasishchev M-50
Myasishchev M-50 on display at Monino Aviation Museum
Role	Strategic bomber
Designed by	Myasishchev
First flight	27 October 1959
Status	Retired
Primary user	USSR
Produced	2
Number built	2

The Myasishchev M-50 (NATO reporting name Bounder) was a Soviet prototype four-engine supersonic bomber which never attained service. Only one prototype was built, which was believed to have first flown in 1957. The M-50 was constructed by the Myasishchev design bureau.

It was a fast jet bomber with four engines: two Dobrynin VD-7 and two VD-7F turbojets. Two engines were located under the wing and two on the tips of its shoulder-mounted, truncated delta wings.

The second M-50 was designated M-52 and carried Zubets 16-17 turbojets, around which the aircraft had been designed. The engine installation was modified, and a second tailplane added to the top of the fin. M-50 participated in a Soviet Aviation Day flyby in 1961. M-52 was completed but was not flight tested.

[edit] Nuclear Bomber hoax

The 1 December 1958 issue of Aviation Week included an article, Soviets Flight Testing Nuclear Bomber, that claimed that the Soviets had made great progress in their own nuclear aircraft program.^[1] This was accompanied by an editorial on the topic as well. The magazine claimed that the aircraft was real beyond a doubt, stating that "A nuclear-powered bomber is being flight tested in the Soviet Union. ... It has been observed both in flight and on the ground by a wide variety of foreign observers from Communist and non-Communist countries." In reality, however, the article was a hoax. The aircraft in the photographs was later revealed to be an M-50 and not a nuclear-powered plane at all.

[edit] Specifications (M-50A)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two
• Length: 57.48 m (188 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 35.10 m (115 ft 2 in)
• Height: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 290.6 m² (3,128 ft²)
• Empty weight: 85,000 kg (187,000 lb)
• Loaded weight: 175,000 kg (386,000 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 200,000 kg (440,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Dobrynin VD-7M afterburning turbojets, 156.9 kN (35,270 lb_f) each, and 2× VD-7B turbojets, 92.12 kN (20,710 lb_f) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,950 km/h (1,210 mph)
• Cruise speed: 1,500 km/h (930 mph)
• Range: 7,400 km (4,600 mi)
• Service ceiling: 16,500 m (54,100 ft)
• Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
• Wing loading: 602 kg/m² (123 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.29

Armament

• 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) of bombs or missiles carried in internal bay

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.aviation.ru/Mya/#50

[edit] See also

Related development

• Myasishchev M-52
  

Comparable aircraft

• B-58 Hustler
  

v • d • e Myasishchev aircraft Civil M-101 · M-112 · M-150 · M-500 Military M-4 (VM-T ) · M-18 · M-40 · M-44 · M-48 · M-50/M-52 · M-53 · M-55 (M-55X) · M-103 Space Buran (cockpit design) · Cosmopolis XXI (C-21)  · VKA-23