Tupolev ANT-16

Tupolev ANT-16 (also known as TB-4; _ru. Тяжелый Бомардировщик - "Heavy Bomber") was an experimental heavy bomber aircraft designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Conceptually representing evolution of the TB-3 bomber, 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. The twin 5×1.8×1.8 m (16 ft 5 in × 5 ft 11 in × 5 ft 11 in) bomb bays were the largest in the world at the time and presented many design challenges in order to preserve structural rigidity of the airframe.

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 powerplants was absorbed by the 2-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.

pecifications (ANT-16)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Shavrov 1985cite book|author=Shavrov V.B.|year=1985|title=Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR do 1938 g. (3 izd.)|language=Russian|publisher=Mashinostroenie|id=ISBN 5-217-03112-3]
crew=Twelve
length main=32 m
length alt=104 ft 12 in
span main=54 m
span alt=177 ft 2 in
height main=
height alt=
area main=422 m²
area alt=4542.4 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main=21,400 kg
empty weight alt=47,179 lb
loaded weight main=33,280 kg
loaded weight alt=73,370 lb
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Mikulin AM-34
type of prop=V-12 piston engines
number of props=6
power main=560 kW
power alt=750 hp
max speed main=200 km/h
max speed alt=108 knots, 124 mph
max speed more=
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
cruise speed more=
range main=1,000 km
range alt=540 nm, 621 mi
range more=
ferry range main=
ferry range alt=
ferry range more=
ceiling main=2,750 m
ceiling alt=9,022 ft
celing more=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
climb rate more=
loading main=79 kg/m²
loading alt=16 lb/ft²
power/mass main=101 W/kg
power/mass alt=0.06 hp/lb
more performance=
*Time to altitude: 34 s to 2,000 m (6,560 ft)
armament=
*Up to 10,000 kg (22,046 lb) of bombs - 40× 250 kg (550 lb) or 20× 500 kg (1,100 lb)
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
see also=
related=
*TB-3
*ANT-20
similar aircraft=
lists=

References