Bartini A-57: The Weirdest Plane the Soviets Ever Designed...

[@megaprojects9649]

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[@JR_App13gat3]

Thank you Simon i love all the references 🤣😂❤️☺️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Ace post 👌❤️

[@monkeydank7842]

Please Google „Saenger (spacecraft)“. There was a comparable project before.

[@compuguy123]

In chinese 5-7 is Wu Chi -> The entire plane is A-'Witch'

[@oeliamoya9796]

4:11 to skip ad and go straight to the video

[@HeathenFitness]

Thank you

[@cgarzs]

Sponsorblock is better, no reading comments or manual seeking required.

[@mackzy3964]

Thank you for your service 🫡

[@felixleong61]

Doesn't matter which country or nationality. If you give engineers unlimited funding and a good supply of alcohol or crack, they do amazing and unhinged things like this lmao.

[@Talisguy]

The Cold War got so stupid that it would've been hilarious if the implications weren't so horrifying. Both sides had plans to _nuke the moon._

[@andyf4292]

this explains Scottish inventors,, they have whisky, and are trapped in sheds by the weather

[@Shadowboost]

I love the concept that was a submarine and aircraft

[@hermanjohnson9180]

😂 fair point

[@00110000]

Toilet wine is a hell of a drug

[@munkytaint666]

It looks like it just flew off the set of THUNDERBIRDS, the old British TV show.

[@waynedieckmann9840]

Russian version of team America f yeah

[@george1la]

We lucked out. What if they had listened to him? The man was ahead of his time like Kelly Johnson. I worked on the SR-71 at 19. What a thrill and what security.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

They would have used so much funding that only a handful would have been operational at a given time. Just due trying to keep it running in the ocean! Soviets were weird. I beleive that engine had a life expectancy of 150 hours on land! It was probably too ahead of its time. I really don't know why America stopped making bad ass sea planes when we have two freaken oceans. This is a Soviet Valkryrie sea jet bomber carrier. Love it.

[@r.b.ratieta6111]

I thought the same thing! When I saw the design of the A-57, the decade in which he designed it (1950s), and then the part about how he designed an extremely fuel efficient twin-engine airplane that set a world record for distance in the 1930s, I was like: "This MF was the Slavic/Mediterranean version of Kelly Johnson!" Too bad he was in Soviet Russia, I think Lockheed and the Skunk Works would have immediately snatched him up and let him name his salary.

[@OvisMilitaris]

Bartini A-57 + Lockheed SR-71 = Cobra Night Raven S³P

[@Cloud30000]

They were so worried about defection, that they included a built-in fighter to destroy the bomber at the slightest sign of displeasing Stalin.

[@solarflare623]

“Komrade I don’t know about this. Maybe our detection systems found a bird or something” “Unacceptable! You are traitor to ze Soviet state! *explosion” Komrade fighter pilot would be awarded the hero of the Soviet Union for preventing a nuclear war

[@setahr]

Well, I guess the build in fighter was manned by a political commissar, ready to destroy traitors, spies, xenos and heretics that befell the bomber.

[@shaun469]

Thats stupid.

[@solarflare623]

@@shaun469 and you clearly don’t know when you are presented with an obvious joke

[@shaun469]

@@solarflare623 there's obvious. Then there's stupid.

[@Kaltagstar96]

I love how this looked futuristic for the time and also being sort of futuristic looking even today, tell me that the Bartini wouldn't be a head turner if it was cooked up in 2024? Also I do love the idea that Bartini himself was both raised by a nobleman AND was a communist at the same time.

[@jeffdroog]

@@Kaltagstar96 Your mom is a head Turner.

[@ur_boyfriend8612]

@@jeffdroogis this some kind of new compliment lol

[@WeaponTheory-j5h]

It's not about design, it's about efficiency for the user.

[@VilkataG]

I was surprised that there was no mention that anyone piloting the fighter would had been on a suicide mission, since once launched, it'd never be able to "land" back on the mother ship and would lack the range to return on its own.

[@rmitchell8439]

It was part boat with a ski so it could land in or near Siberia

[@rossstewart9475]

I was wondering about this, too: It'd be a terrifying and stupendously risky process, but if we can connect a fuel line between a fighter and a tanker mid-flight (first done in the 1920s, standard practice from the 1970s), then *theoretically* - which is all this thing ever was, theory - they could recouple mid-flight. I wonder if this is one of the other reasons why the idea stayed on paper.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

A “bartini” sounds like a martini but they used the entire stock in one massive drink. With an olive.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Big bird , little bird 2:45 - Mid roll ads 4:20 - Chapter 2 - Shaken & stirred 7:00 - Chapter 3 - 1st try ; the A55 9:15 - Chapter 4 - 5 rules for the perfect bomber 12:30 - Chapter 5 - Some impressive specs 15:40 - Chapter 6 - Bartini vs boeing 17:35 - Chapter 7 - A tearful goodbye

[@NeverlandSystemAngel]

I mean the concept is ingenious... even if insane on some level.

[@grahamfahlman]

The plane looks like somthing the "Red skull" would commission.

[@jeffdroog]

@grahamfahlman ...Or people who were real,and actually worse lol What are you? 5?

[@nte1324]

you do so much but video chapters would be amazing for those of us who are more interested in the history or specifications of the aircraft

[@rudolphpyatt4833]

I knew about the Martin P6M Seamaster. It was at least a high subsonic speed flying boat nuclear bomber. Squadrons were actually working up with early models for service when the program was cancelled circa 1960. But this? A cross between the P6M; a Concorde; and an SR-71 (with D21 drone). Astonishing.

[@michaelpipkin9942]

The Russian Aurora meets the XB-70. Why wasn't I able to build this as a kid? Damn it!

[@Royce16727]

This is a perfect example of the dichotomy of human creativity. Beauty and destruction, aesthetics and brute force. As always, cool video! But I don't like the new outro music. I know that it's unlikely you'll go back to the old one, even if it was pretty good, but do you think you guys could pick something else?

[@davidvavra9113]

Blended wing is the correct term

[@medved3027]

VVA-14 is by far the most futuristic one of Bartini's designs. I wish it actually were finished. Looks like spaceship. Back in the 70s when it underwent its flight tests it wasn't really possible to build the avionics for such an unconventional design. But it should be fairly straightforward today. Imagine seeing this fly just above water in 1972 - you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for an UFO.

[@rossstewart9475]

Thank you for sharing this; That thing looks like it came straight out of the Corellian Shipyards, and makes the Ekranoplan the Soviets did finish look decidedly normal by comparison!

[@thelonewolf8050]

I personally think that both the A55 and the A57 planes are both beautiful in their conceptional designs and over design. This coming from someone who looks for beauty in various planes.

[@zxrcanada]

How cute, its like a mother goose carrying a baby goose

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Of death

[@stancil83]

Man, Russians are always never building the coolest things.

[@karlstetter9512]

Bully 🎉

[@shirazzmataz]

They have a problem with over promising and under delivering

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Americans are really only unusual in that we actually build the ridiculous nonsense. I think we absorbed too many Nazis and love of WuWa.

[@homevalueglass3809]

SU-47

[@JayzsMr]

@@shirazzmatazbut I like the crazy ambition

[@michaelhowell2326]

Commence the altered Ludivigo!

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Having lettuce for a brother would be weird.

[@neuropilot7310]

The A-57 looks a lot like a fat version of the XB-70 Valkyrie built by the the US, North American Aviation, who after merging with Rockwell, built the B-1A & B-1B Lancer... now Boeing.

[@entropiated9020]

I thought XB-70 immediately, specifically the tail section.

[@johneagen]

Looks like a Gerry Anderson design.

[@rh661]

It/They look like a beautiful craft(s). An interesting concept as well.

[@coconutsmarties]

Always love a good Teodarani script

[@DrewAdamick]

Looks like something out of Thunderbirds.

[@JunioR_Gaming]

I got my youtube gaming recap the other day. Congrats to Megaprojects and Warfronts for somehow being in my top 2 gaming channels...🤣

[@Ben_Gunner]

Belenko handing over their beloved secret MIG-25 albeit a little damaged after ending up on a motorway shooting his gun in the air to stop motorists taking pictures in 76 and having to watch Firefox in 82 take the micky when clints told whilst being refueled 'lucky this uses the same missiles as the MIG-25 we took from them a few years back' 😂❤

[@Ob1sdarkside]

Land on icebergs and supplied by submarine. I believe we've seen this movie

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

I enjoy these Cold War megaprojects with their wild designs and crazy plans. Also, what a sad life story. Put in jail for no good reason at all, just an idle suspicion based on his parentage and despite his actions. In that context why not design cutting edge or odd aircraft, it’s not like there’s a lot to do in prison.

[@mariusvanc]

Bartini was hardly the only Soviet weapons designer to get on the bad side of Stalin.

[@jakobraahauge7299]

Over-Kili? but Fili is the handsome one

[@BastiFFM84]

I could not listen to Simon as I tried to figure out whats in that other room he let the door open to…😂

[@CromemcoZ2]

Supersonic designs are tricky to judge until tested in a supersonic wind tunnel, or these days I guess modeled on a supercomputer. But looks to me like the A-57 ignores the "area rule". I expect the Soviets would have been disappointed, like the US was with our F-102 Delta Dagger.

[@Adiscretefirm]

If it weren't for that vampire fighter it would be a really cool looking plane

[@rinzo2009]

Wait a minute, Simon Sensei! Did Uncle Nikita get his hands on the blueprint from the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (G-Force) jet fighter? 😂😂

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

The interior volume of the design, would have made for a very comfortable SST. Far more space then Concorde or Tu-144

[@troiscinq7650]

If he would’ve been working for Lockheed some of his concepts might have actually gotten working prototyped

[@bandk2000]

He could have got a job working for Gerry Anderson in that time period. I'm thinking of Andersons flying aircraft carrier (Skybase 1) that carried the Angels interceptor aircraft! Captain Scarlet for those too young enough to remember.

[@Masterhitman935]

2:09 what is the name of this background track?

[@thedarkknight1971]

A KZbin model aircraft builder - KZbinr: 'Built Fast' - (3D printed) has made a great performing Lockheed 'Darkstar'... I wonder how THIS 'Beast' would fly if someone made a model of one! 🤔😏 😎🇬🇧

[@Kroggnagch]

Ooookay...? I guess I'm watching this video now. All I did was open KZbin, I saw the main/home page it defaults to when opening, and then POOF! I hear Simon explaining SOMEthing, and knowing Simon's history it damn well could've been a video on Egyptian curses or viruses or bridges or types of carnivorous plants or mountains where people and whole climbing expeditions have disappeared without explanation or military weapons and/or projects -- ah, there we are, it's military weapons and projects this time. Which, either way, how did the video just begin all of a sudden? Perhaps, I clicked something without knowing...

[@jamesg1367]

Minor quibble: The NK-10 engines produce 25,000 lbs of thrust, not 25,000 kilos. Change kilos to pounds and your numbers are correct.

[@rossstewart9475]

Where did you find this figure? I'm struggling to find anything regarding the NK-10, but the NK-6 it was based off produced 49,000lb/f of thrust (22,500kg/f), and what little I did find about the NK-10 suggested that it was a similar afterburning two-spool low-bypass engine. With this in mind, 25,000kg/f doesn't sound unrealistic, whilst 25,000lb/f (11,300kg/f) does, and sounds more like the kind of thrust you'd expect without afterburner (The NK-6 produced ~7,500kg/f without afterburner). It would also be less than other smaller, non-afterburner Soviet turbofan engines of the period, like the Soloviev D-30's 14,000kg/f

[@bholdr----0]

@4:20 'Polyglot'... Or, did the vid intend to describe him as a 'Polymath'? (Or was he also a linguist? I wouldn't be surprised, given all of his other capabilities! ...A person who is 'polyglot' speaks/uses many languages) He WAS a polyMATH, either way. What an interesting person! I looked him up and it was worth the effort to do so. I suppose it's a bit unfortunate that such an outstanding polymath(/glot?) perhaps had to dedicate (or was forced to dedicate) his myriad talents to creating doomsday weapons. He strikes me as kind of like a possibly unwilling Soviet version of Ed Teller (that tragic... monster?) Cheers.

[@fredrickbeondo8695]

Am I the only one getting Firefox vibes off this? (The Clint Eastwood movie, not the web browser LOL) 🤔

[@KyuubiChupachaotica]

I just realized that the A-57 modernized, made twice as big and with more engines made to be highly powerful as well could be used as an atmospheric exit vehicle. Don't just put highly powerful engines on it but rocket engines as well. (The engines might need to be tailor made for this craft) So as the jet engines get it up to speed and to the right altitude, activate the rocket engines when it is high enough and pull up and aim towards space. Further design could give it the capability of atmospheric re-entry as well. It means that it could make the perfect cargo delivery design for either space station, or a trip to the moon and back for delivery. Maybe just to be safe, make it 3 to 4 times larger with more engines and rockets to compensate and even further engineering.

[@imaguy123]

One of the coolest planes ever

[@noldo3837]

Paper can bear anything

[@501Mobius]

A55 You know what that looks like. You probably couldn't get a license plate with that on it.

[@Bmx2live2008]

I love these videos but some of the editing is still a mess, the white balance has been off for months and the music regularly interrupts the voiceover. The second point is especially true on the "Warfronts" channel, it feels like they're producing videos so fast that nobody is even checking feedback or watching the videos back post launch

[@fmlghm420]

I think it's kind of odd that for some reason people believe if you harm this civilian population you'll decrease morale, yet in America if you hurt the civilian population you're going to piss off that much more and at the same time give us more reason to knock on the door of whoever thought it was a good idea to mess with us.

[@timsearle5837]

it's a fine line... History tells us that u need to make the civilians unhappy to continue, so they start to resist the steps their govt are taking, but if u go to far, u encourage a screw you attitude. Lots of examples out there. The UK in the Blitz is a good example of failing to cow a population. you're better off interfering with their food supplies.

[@getnohappy]

How many gulags does someone need to be thrown into before they reflect on their choices? 😅

[@Diepotatoes21]

Damn does this look cool

[@randyhavard6084]

And sometimes s*** is referred to as smelling like roses, by the way

[@Teppo_Hacknå]

Stal-7? Don't name your airplanes stall xD

[@nullterm]

Cobra Night Raven in (almost) real life!

[@anthonytippett5997]

That’s the cobra night raven from gi Joe

[@TheJtyork420]

Its even got its own little fighter plane on its back. Lol

[@lllPlatinumlll]

These jokes are gold! 🤣🤣😂😂

[@iNuchalHead]

Are Simon's lapels asymmetrical?

[@WasabiSniffer]

looks like an a-12/valkyrie with a F-104 instead of a D-12 drone

[@hyfy-tr2jy]

This thing looks like an upside down XB-70 Valkyrie

[@TheKalaxis]

Looks a bit like the Normandy from The Mass Effect games

[@DerDane44]

They ran out of regular names and went with Stalin’s favorite alternative to water

[@premeditatedplan5417]

From this day forward I will measure height in Tom Cruise's

[@MimeHTF5]

This looks like something Eugen Sänger would have build

[@dragonsystems5973]

Get it right dude... its Overkillski....

[@Joe_1sr9]

It’s looks like a Thunderbirds design

[@christopherhanton6611]

WOW WHAT A STRANGE BOMBER INDEED

[@zenmaster24]

looks alot like the lockheed blackbird

[@ethanlee9441]

At least it's aerodynamic

[@appa609]

Supersonic boat? Huh.

[@Nilguiri]

8:50 Process ease? Presumably, you mean processes.

[@Joseafrica]

It was Bartini all along...

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Or was it really Nicholas?

[@Idahoguy10157]

The A-57 is beautiful and powerful. Superior to the B-47. Except the B-47 was actively used by the USAF.

[@setahr]

After your intro, I thought you were referring to the US. Ah, by bad!

[@Dene181]

pretty based looking thing, cool!

[@EZ-D-FIANT]

Is Simons mum the actual "Whistlers mum" (which I only know from the bean film 👌)?

[@calvinlweir2795]

Could the A-57 be a passenger plan ?

[@billpeterson178]

Would not want to be the pilot in that suckerfish plane in the back.

[@MightyMurloc]

Awwww, Russian Nesting Jets

[@jacobwilliams676]

Increase the “aerodynamicity”

[@BowzerNYC]

Soviets not Soviet's in title

[@davidgermain]

If this guy had been operation papercliped out of Russia. team up with scunk works/nasa would have been epic.

[@catboxvideo]

Duck and cover

[@igors_lv]

12000 km is space. You mean 12 km up in the air 😂

[@Bob_Smith19]

Range, not flight ceiling.

[@thedigitalrealm7155]

All I saw was 'Soviet' and 'Wierd design' and I clicked.

[@RussianThunderrr]

-- Cool video, but how come instead of "fighter/interceptor" A-57 carries Myasishchev's M-50 strategic bomber?

[@RussianThunderrr]

-- I'm sorry it was my first reaction... I did not see whole video, at least until 14 minutes into it... Yes, those things called "paradise aircraft" and that concept of "airborne aircraft carrier" was wildly popular during 1930s in USSR.

[@RussianThunderrr]

-- Really cool video!

[@jeffevarts8757]

Typo in title?!? Simon, wake up.

[@Hillbilly001]

What? Where? Are you sure you're not awake?

[@CdrChaos]

@@Hillbilly001 Can confirm, much like the graphite outside of the reactor, he didn’t see it because it’s not there.

[@Hillbilly001]

@CdrChaos Thought so. Or I thought I was going bonkers because I didn't see anything amiss. Cheers

[@CdrChaos]

@@Hillbilly001 You’re welcome, comrade.

[@pauls4002]

Soviets

[@JustJezBeingJez]

So did the jet fighter pilot just have to sit in there in case he was needed?

[@bluewhaleking6227]

Apostrophes are not for plurals!!

[@andyf4292]

a-55 looks like an sr 71... did they sell the plans of that to the US as well as the yak141?

[@SimpleThingsOnly]

Bartini´s designs alongside his formulas are the backbone of the other design: the Concorde. While the world was shouting Concordski, there was a red alarm in USSR as they figured out that someone stole the design formulas of the delta-ogival wing.

[@usonumabeach300]

B52s were already in service, as were the hustlers

[@findingandvalue]

@megaprojects: What is upwith your picture quality? Normally you are razor sharp. Now you look like it is recorded with a 720P camera. All other channels look normal.

[@thedonof1]

Who says born out of wedlock anymore?

[@TalsetFireSeed]

His entire life and work wasted on people who never appreciated him, never trusted him, and never respected him. He wasted away behind bars incessantly working his whole life trying to get their approval.

[@tonydews1730]

The world be a poorer place without people who can, and do, think up this shit. 😅

[@goodson77784]

Overkill like the typhoon class.

[@kineuhansen8629]

look like something we see in mcu

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Honestly looks a bit like the D-21/M-21 in the piggyback configuration.