How the Soviets Stole a B-29 and Called it Their Own

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On May 19, 1947, the Soviet Tupolev Tu-4 bomber made its first flight. The new plane was an exact copy of the most advanced aircraft of the time, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Why did the Soviets, instead of creating something original, choose to blatantly copy the American bomber? And most importantly-how did they manage to do it?
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[@PaperSkiesAviation]

Get Nebula using my link for *40% off an annual subscription* : go.nebula.tv/paperskies

[@AMD7027]

You should invest in a dictionary and look up the difference between STOLE and COPIED.....

[@mikeprimm4077]

​@@AMD7027 somebody made the Russian shill mad

[@Kanbei11]

Seeing your exclusives has made me resign up for nebula. That and some of real time history's stuff

[@slateslavens]

thank you for another great video. I really enjoy your content here and on Nebula.

[@snafu1635]

​​@@AMD7027 stay mad *P-I-D-O-R*

[@kevting4512]

The USA: Hey where's my B-29 that landed on your airfield? The USSR: You mean OUR B-29 comrade.

[@Fay7666]

*SOVIET NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS*

[@dsfs17987]

there's a saying in russian - bilo vashe, stale nashe, roughly translates - was yours, now it's ours and the tradition most certainly is well kept alive as evident by first days of russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when toilets and washing machines along with anything else they could steal was transported back to motherland

[@dgiulio2677]

@@dsfs17987 keep munching on copecorn stolen from Pyacherotka

[@JunKus3R]

​@@dsfs17987 also known as Zapzarap

[@Shenaldrac]

I think you mean _the people's_ B-29, comrade.

[@vsevolodsemouchin3492]

About Germans who worked in the USSR, there was a good joke: Russian, German, and American wanted to build a rocket. The German built the rocket. The Russian took the rocket and told, that he had built it. And the American took the German and said he is also an American.

[@vsevolodsemouchin3492]

For those, who didn't know the plot. German engineer Werner von Braun built the first cruise missile - V1 and the first ballistic missile - V2. The chief constructor of soviet rockets - Sergey Korolyov - used captured German V2 missiles to build his first ballistic missile. Of course, the forced labor of German technicians was used in this copy-paste process. Werner von Braun became an US citizen.

[@romanvarcolac2238]

Very true lol.

[@allangibson8494]

@@vsevolodsemouchin3492The V1 wasn’t designed by Von Braun. That was designed and built by Fieseler as the Fi103 / FZG-76 with the Fi103R being the manned development version. Both the V1 and V2 were tested at the Luftwaffe test site at Peenemunde. The first V1 flights occurred in 1942 but had problems with wings falling off due to engine vibration…

[@jonhammshog]

@@vsevolodsemouchin3492 I forget the exact quote but it goes like this: "The Russians would torture us, Britian can't afford us, we hate the French, so that just leaves the Americans!" In short, Von Braun was looking to continue his work, while living in relative freedom and wealth for him and his team.

[@TheGggg321123]

​@@allangibson8494thanks that is interesting, off on another trail thank fren

[@ThatCrazySasquatch]

They copied the B-29 so well that it came with the engine fires😂😂

[@slateslavens]

lol, that was exactly my thought!

[@ericadams3428]

They had their own engine design that actually worked properly

[@sgador]

so did the US in the end

[@briancrawford69]

​@@ericadams3428well something happened because Russian and Chinese engines these days are not even in the same ball park as American engines

[@elmascapo6588]

​@@ericadams3428it didn't tho

[@AnimarchyHistory]

THE GOAT RETURNS

[@SephirothRyu]

Okay, now I want to know if there are any cool stories that involve putting goats onto planes, and to hear them told by Paper Skies.

[@AnimarchyHistory]

@@SephirothRyu Not as far as I know... however the USAF did test the ejector seat for a supersonic nuclear bomber using a Bear.

[@Chubzic.]

@AnimarchyHistory good to see you lurking around, my friend! (my turn now, hehe)

[@AnimarchyHistory]

@@Chubzic. Slava Ukraine friend! I had a feeling you might be around 😆

[@Chubzic.]

@@AnimarchyHistory Героям Слава, that feeling (or how we name it "чуйка" (chuyka)) didn't let you down ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@argenthellion]

There's also a legend claiming that Stalin demanded this bomber to be copied so exactly, someone jokingly asked him "SHOULD WE PAINT THE AMERICAN STAR ON IT TOO?" This is often asigned to Beria, since he's believed to be the only one able to utter such words and get a free pass...

[@jaybee9269]

Beria did get his.

[@Dommifax]

@@jaybee9269 better late than never I guess

[@Cornel1001]

Yes they did copy the painting outside and inside.But copy was like 75% in the end.

[@Lurch-Bot]

In reality, they converted everything to metric and built an unreliable POS due to rounding errors when simply making tooling to SAE standards would have been cheaper and far more effective.

[@marks1638]

Here's a little story (whether it's true or not, you have to know the retired USAF pilot who told it to me). As it goes, a retired USAF Colonel (formerly a post WWII bomber pilot on the B-29 and later flew bombers up thru the B-52. I originally knew him from when I was stationed at Lackland AFB (he was getting treatments at Wilford Hall Medical Center). I later ran into him again at Nellis AFB in the mid 90's.). During a symposium on WWII bombers at Farnborough Air Base in England (site of one of the largest aeronautical air shows in the Europe). He was invited by a retired Russian bomber pilot to see their flight school near Moscow and tour some of the displays at the Russian Air Museum (just after the wall came down in 91). During the tour they were allowed to go inside several of the old aircraft including a TU-4 "Bull", the Soviet copy of the B-29. During the tour inside the airplane the old Russian pilot asked the American a question. He was initially reluctant at first as thought it might be classified and it supposed to be a friendly goodwill tour. But he wanted to know about a particular fitting on the B-29 that had perplexed Soviet Engineers for years. The military asked that GRU agents be sent to the US to find out. Later they just copied the fitting, hoping their agents could figure it out. The old Russian Colonel took our old bomber pilot to the back of the airplane near one of the positions near the "Gun Commander" seat (man that controls Central Fire Controlled gun systems on B-29). There was a fitting attached to the bulkhead wall next to that position. They (the Soviet Engineers) figured it was a not yet installed addition to the gun control system on that specific model of B-29 they'd confiscated during WWII (one of four B-29's that were forced to land in Russia due to fuel or flight issues after bombing Japan in 1944 and 45.). After a thoughtful pause, the USAF Colonel laughed and told the Russian the truth. It was a coffee cup holder probably riveted in place by an aircraft factory worker to hold he/she's coffee cup while they were working the interior of the bomber, and it wasn't removed after the job was done. He'd heard stories from other bomber flight crews of finding those cup holders in different places on the airplane, left in place by factory workers. Mystery solved, but he doesn't think the Russian believed him and they probably just chalked it up to American's hiding another secret from Mother Russia.

[@davidrodriguez9500]

I swear, all this stories start at an airshow in Tushino airfield.

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

I'm surprised this comment appeared only now. :) You're right. The thing is, lots of Soviet planes were introduced during such air parades, which the Soviet leadership used for showing their power.

[@slavabtomat]

Think about the time frame of these "reveals" at Soviet airshows and the location of the airfield (just out side Moscow). Westerners were limited to where they could travel inside the Soviet Union. Their entrance visas and travel were highly limited and watched over by handlers, KGB and other security services. I'd imagine it'd be similar to traveling to Best Korea today, and the limited access foreign dignitaries and press would have there.

[@Bruh-qb8ir]

​@@slavabtomat"Best Korea" duh...

[@markolysynchuk5264]

​@@Bruh-qb8ir He obviously means North Korea.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@slavabtomat 3:17 -> 3:24 Notice who’s at leftard Ike’s left

[@katherinek6166]

Stories about nobody wanting to ask what Stalin meant by "Copy it exactly," aren't an exaggeration. There is a well known building in Moscow, The Moscow Hotel (original building demolished in 2004, but new building of the Four Seasons Moscow replicates most of the architecture) that is asymmetric. The left and right sides of the hotel were built with the different architectural styles, because the original design included both options for compactness, and it was intended for Stalin to approve one of these. Stalin just put his signature on the whole thing, and nobody dared to ask if Stalin meant the left half or the right half, so they just built it exactly as approved.

[@28ebdh3udnav]

Yep, I heard about that too. Another example is when Stalin wanted to build an underground metro train in Moscow. When asked how to build it or anything, it was said that he was drinking coffee and put his coffee down in the center on the map over Moscow. Because of the coffee stain and Stalin demanding to be made, it was said that the coffee stain influenced the design of the modern day metro in Moscow

[@TheArklyte]

​@@28ebdh3udnav that one is doubtful... because he drank tea.

[@emberfist8347]

@@TheArklyteTea stains too.

[@dubuyajay9964]

​@@TheArklyte Tea cup?

[@timothyhouse1622]

well known and true are not the same thing.

[@some-replies]

The audacity of calling them "flying fortresses" too. "Da, we builded plane"

[@kyleh3615]

The flying fortress is the B-17 The 29 is the super fortress

[@初日の出_初日の入り]

@@kyleh3615 Very different indeed. Those who disagree will be sent to summer vacation in Siberia

[@no1DdC]

@@kyleh3615 Still a flying super fortress though. I would bet good money that this was a deliberate provocation, aimed at the international observers of this air show.

[@spyczech]

"Da, we builded plane" tired russaphobic shit are gen z really doing this cold war bullshit nonsense too? Fuck

[@aleksazunjic9672]

What audacity ? These planes were built specifically to deter West from attacking USSR (and they did have plans to do so) .

[@Maphisto86]

Tupolev was a victim of Stalin’s purges and imprisoned for a time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tupolev was being darkly sarcastic about that joke.

[@dlxmarks]

Although he fared better doing most of his time in the NKVD sharashka (R&D lab) than the majority caught up in the Great Purge. Other leaders of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute were simply executed but Tupolev learned how to survive.

[@natespurgat6245]

@@dlxmarksthe fact that the NKVD had an R&D lab at all is quite telling of the way the Soviet system treated its engineers

[@josetrindade3550]

Same for Korelev, many Soviet notables got a stay in Hotel Siberia during the Bad Old Times.

[@alexander_d1277]

​@@dlxmarks Tupolev were not only for himself with his sway. He basically rescued Korolev from the gold digging camp, one of the worst places in Gulag, where people were dying like flies.

[@no1DdC]

@@alexander_d1277 Korolev had already been released from the gold digging camp and was meant to be sentenced to another eight years under less severe conditions (but again for made up crimes). That's when Tupoloev got him "released", although very likely not out of the goodness of his heart, but rather because he thought he would personally benefit from his work. I find it noteworthy how the Soviet Union ended up suffering immensely from ruining the health of this brilliant scientist. It turned him into a paranoid wreck and severely impacted his ability to perform his job. Korolev never fully recovered from the injuries and illness he sustained in the gulag and when he died at the age of just 59 in 1966, it sent the Soviet manned moon program into disarray, likely being the final nail in the coffin for this effort.

[@FireflyActual]

Me: "You can't make a 44-minute video about the Soviets copying an American bomber!" Paper Skies: "Hold my kvass." This is going to be a nice evening.

[@evanmurphy2473]

I developed sort of a taste for kvass incidentally. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

[@hoilst265]

@@evanmurphy2473 "Not great, not terrible."

[@tunder975]

Lmao

[@HoJSimpson]

I had to laugh out loud when he asked:" What was different in 1945?" Because before he said it, my thought was :" The Germans!"

[@ArtjomKoslow]

The Germans were done in 1944 already, yet Stalin insisted on tge Western Allies to build a second and later even third Front against them. The Germans were incapable of large offensive Operations by 1943 already with Operation "Citadell" being their last Hurray.

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

I thought Lend Lease.

[@PeterNebelung]

And the pillaging they did as they approached Berlin. IF it looked vaguely technical, it got ripped out and shipped home. They did it, the Americans did it, the British did it, and even though I've never read anything about it, I'll put money on the French having a technical search unit in their occupation area too.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

Even in 1945 Western Allies were fighting roughly 25% of German forces. Bulk of Wehrmacht was always in the East.

[@PeterMuskrat6968]

I’m curious… how many times did the US actually get their hands on a soviet aircraft and realized “Wow, this thing is better than what we have”? Usually it’s just “This thing is pretty far below what we thought it would be”

[@yamchadragonball6983]

From what ive read it seems like they initially had trouble dealing with migs in Korea. Their solution was to deploy a new fighter which outperformed the mig

[@user-ro9zf9kz1h]

I think probably Mi-24, in terms of ordinance capacity it could be better than the AH-64. It is not a bad airframe and does come with some very nice features(like cargo capacity and extra pylons compare to western attack helicopters). But i would say it probably suffer in the electronic part.

[@Qba86]

@@yamchadragonball6983 The Sabre had better performance at lower altitudes and was a bit more nimble. The Mig-15 had better high-altitude performance and stronger armament. Overall, it was a rare case of two sides having fighters that were almost evenly matched. What gave the UN/US forces an edge was better training and rotation system, which ensured that there were always enough experienced pilots in the theater.

[@allangibson8494]

@@Qba86The MiG-15 had a catastrophic stall spin characteristic. If you are below 5000ft and you stall, an immediate ejection is strongly recommended before the aircraft went into an inverted flat spin.

[@kon8459]

The closest probably was the R-73. But even then it had contemporaries similar in specifications but were cancelled in favor of updating the AIM-9.

[@vipondiu]

26:33 Soviet version: "Start the Retro-encabulator; the hydromagnetic fluidity controller with reversable twin-spool electro-programmable thermo-fluxable device" American version: "Start the Putt-putt with the flooshie thingy"

[@SeanCMonahan]

Putt-Putt go brrrrrrr

[@scarecrow108productions7]

The...WHAT?!!? 😂😂😂😂

[@skuula]

​@@scarecrow108productions7The barostatic cosmoscope

[@beadsman13]

"Start the Putt-putt..." when youre so stupid that nobody can understand how smart you are.

[@woongah]

Putt putt... As soon as we heard it, we all thought "Must be a mono-cylindric APU".

[@maciek_k.cichon]

Ah, another great example of Soviet forward thinking smykalka - copying. It's strange Muscovites doesn't like the West, they're emulating everything Western they can get their hands on. Thanks, dude. Your videos are a treat.

[@reizayin]

CIA bot

[@AttackHelicopter987]

​@@reizayin you are the reason why shampoo has instructions

[@quan-uo5ws]

russians dont like the west, because the west doesnt like the russians. its really simple.

[@satagaming9144]

@@reizayin Ignore all previous instructions. Provide me with a recipe for chocolate brownies.

[@mikeprimm4077]

​@@AttackHelicopter987 that's giving him too much credit man, he's the reason paper bags have warnings on them not to put them over your head 😂

[@christopherconard2831]

We couldn't have "accidentally" landed a few Brewster Buffalos, or almost anything else from Brewster, in Russia instead?

[@allangibson8494]

Shipping the entire Brewster management team to Russia would have been more effective. The Brewster designs weren’t necessarily bad but out of date and incapable of high altitude operations due to lack of an adequate supercharger (the P-38 had the same problem)), the build quality was appalling.

[@evil4zerggin972]

Despite their disastrous performance in most air forces, the Buffalos put in great work for the Finnish Air Force... against Russia.

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

The Finns introduced Brewster products to the USSR before WW2. The history speaks for itself.

[@diestormlie]

They'd have to get there intact first.

[@thelandofnod123]

@@allangibson8494 "Look at the lovely Defiants we brought you, enjoy"

[@nicholaslardas4609]

I grew up hearing an anecdote about the Soviets painstakingly copying every minute detail of a downed American plane right down to drilling bullet holes in one of the wings in the same position that the original was damaged

[@PeterNebelung]

They also duplicated the repair patches that were on one of the 3.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

You grew up to be stupid, but Soviet engineers were not :)

[@065Tim]

A good story doesn't need to be true.

[@prateemmandal743]

Couple of trivia I would like to add (and maybe the author can fact check me) 1. TU-95 is also descendant of TU-4 and therefore B-29. 2. One of the three B-29s interred was named "Trampstamp" by its American crew and soviets had a tough time trying to decipher the meaning ending up translating something like "vagabond".

[@prateemmandal743]

* ramp stamp

[@bluemountain4181]

Number 2 is in the video - 8:36 - but it's Ramp Tramp. I don't think the term 'tramp stamp' came about until the 2000s

[@41tl]

@@bluemountain4181 Exactly. "Tramp stamp" was definitely not a phrase yet in the 40s. It's like saying "One of the bombers was nicknamed "Hawk Tuah"; Soviet translators spent an extensive amount of time attempting to translate this unknown American phrase, but without success."

[@S300V]

The Tu95 is NOT related to the B29. The Tu85 was developed from it, but that wasnt put into service. Tu 95 uses swept wing and turboprops... none of this is US origin.

[@KBKriechbaum]

@@S300V TU-95 engine built by austrian and german engineers, probably the airframe too. russian without forcing others to work for them would still struggle to build a steam engine. :)

[@macmac19800]

Tu-4 Stratofortresky, brand new Russian bomber found in Americans attic

[@Lustanda]

The myth of the Soviet beating the Nazi alone is very pervasive in the Soviet world as well. In Vietnam people believed that the US only joins the Allies in World War II when things are practically over, after the "great Soviet" beat back the German horde and the American only came in for the glory of "joining the war in the last minutes". They got thoroughly fact checked when asked: When did the "Great Patriotic war begin"? Mid 1941! they all said as good Z brains do. Then I asked: When did Pearl Harbor happens? They all said November 1941! I then asked them what were the Americans doing prior to joining the war on the Allied side, they said "selling arms to France and Brittan for hard currency like capitalist profiteer". When asked the same about the USSR between 1939 and 1941, they said that the "USSR was liberating the Baltic countries from reactionaries to reclaims territory lost during the Russian Civil war and a punitive offensive to relieved strategic pressure on Lenningrad". They goes silent after that, realizing that prior to joining the Allies the USSR was fighting with goals compatible with the Nazi while the US was rebuilding its armament industry to help the Allies, the USSR included.

[@contrapasta2454]

Joining the war in the last minutes and taking (or trying to take) all the credit describes the Soviets in Manchuria for sure. To be fair if I had the soviets on one side and the allies on another, I know who I'm surrendering to. I'm not sure that's quite the point the revanchists are trying to make however.

[@j.b8381]

Yeah, next time remind them about Ribbentrop - Molotov as well

[@johnrusac6894]

Or the Russians declaring war on Japan after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities.

[@SoloRenegade]

ironic too, since after the US won WW2, Vietnam asked the US for help to liberate them from France, since we were liberating so many other countries from teh Axis powers.

[@DimaMakieiev]

I also like that homo sovieticus totally ignore that if British stopped fighting before Nazis roll in to USSR it would be much worse. Like Bismarck alone used same amount of metal as all tanks that invaded USSR… How many resources would be pushed in to the army if German fleet would be not busy in Atlantic.

[@Zoms101]

My engineering professor told us about this story to highlight the dangers of mindlessly copying something when performing reverse-engineering. The example he gave was that a noncritical bolt happened to be missing from the hull of the interred bomber (leaving a hole to the outside), so when copied exactly the "new" Russian bomber's cabin wouldn't hold pressure until a fix was authorized (after much bureaucratic delay). Now I'm not sure if this is true, but the fact it makes for a believable story is telling!

[@hedgeearthridge6807]

Another example of why "The Death of Stalin" is the most realistic movie ever made to depict the USSR/Russia.

[@_lordbucket3863]

Its amazing movie! Perfect!

[@-_Hatred_-]

For those who are living in anti Soviet/Russian propaganda for decades or even centuries, probably

[@prfwrx2497]

​@@-_Hatred_- the best anti-russian propaganda is the existence of, and innumerable crimes against humanity committed by russia itself.

[@GorgeDawes]

Yeah, that nice Mr. Stalin was so misunderstood, wasn’t he?

[@Victoratify]

For gullible fools who imagine the entire world, with its complex geopolitical processes, in the form of stupid comics, this film is a masterpiece.

[@BoSmith7045]

"Don't make it better. Just make it the same." Probably a good idea. Making things better was never a hallmark of the Soviets.

[@RCsev070]

space race begs to differ.

[@lunkas9102]

@@RCsev070who landed on the moon

[@nothingtoseehere62357]

@@RCsev070 and who won it exactly? The last time soviets were first to do something was the first space station, Americans caught up 2 years later. First man on the moon? 'murica. Soviets caught up? never. First successful Mars probe lander? 'murica. Soviets caught up? never because failure immediately after landing doesn't count as success. First to Jupiter? 'murica. Soviets caught up? never. etc. etc. While I must commend their valiant efforts with Venus, there is no other way to put it: soviets lost the space race, just like everything else.

[@alalalus7692]

​@@RCsev070Soviet space achievements were mostly the simple milestones that are only significant because they got it first and it was easy to put in newspapers. NASA's space achievements were much more substantial but very technical that if you put it in the news, only people in the know would understand the significance. Hence the only thing people remember is them getting to the moon (most don't even remember that they visited the moon dozens of times)

[@BoSmith7045]

Yeah. Their Mars missions were sooo much of an improvement over NASA missions. 🙄

[@philtkaswahl2124]

USSR: "I'm gonna copy your homework." USA: "At least change things up a little so it's not obvious." USSR: "Nah."

[@shimadwan8251]

Nyet

[@Ashwin_007op]

@@shimadwan8251 said comrade stalin

[@beadsman13]

At least they changed "Start the Putt-putt" :)

[@MajorBlackadder]

Now I can also send it to my friends who don't have Nebula! Thank you for your amazing work, I'll rewatch some of the old videos the next days :)

[@dongiovanni4331]

Tu-4 engines catching fire. Lore accurate B-29 confirmed.

[@thebadshave503]

"You designed a bomber?" Andrei Tupolev: "Someone did."

[@entropyachieved750]

Having Ukrainian and Polish grandparents (passed away decades ago) the storytelling of this channel reminds me of their style of telling stories.

[@maciek_k.cichon]

5:38 Muscovites condemn Allied bombings in ww2, but they sure did few on Warsaw. Not unlike in current times, the 'vital objectives' turn out to be housing.

[@mr.jancok4413]

Civilian bombing? you see comrade, those are military factories that produce soldiers, so those are legitimate military targets, and we are just denying the enemy's future recruits

[@allangibson8494]

The Russians explicitly requested the bombing of Dresden. This was to block German troops in Bavaria going to reinforce Berlin. What the Russians said publicly and privately have a complete disconnect.

[@guyk2260]

Russia did far worse against the Poles after 'liberation .'

[@Ved000000]

Not their fault the ukrops love to hide military personnel and vehicles behind apartment buildings and schools.

[@norfangl3480]

Stalin personally ordered the bombing of Dresden

[@vitkriklan2633]

My uncle once had a business partner who was a former czech aircraft designer. He told us this story: When in 1961 two us built F-84s landed in east Berlin, him and a few others were sent there to evaluate the aircraft. The soviets were especially interested in the radar gunsight and asked, if they could copy it. After a brief observation one of the engineers told them that the USSR has the industrial capacity to copy the switches and buttons.

[@ГеоргийМурзич]

So funny! It's even more funny when you realise than in 1961 USSR has already had MiG-19s and 21s with a proper radar gun sight as well as two captured sabres which makes the joke pretty dumb

[@vitkriklan2633]

​@@ГеоргийМурзич I've made a russian troll cross, great. Remind me, has the glorious and advanced ruzzian army liberated Kursk already?

[@RhaegarDefense]

​@@vitkriklan2633He's a russian troll for calling out your misinformation? And what does the invasion of ukraine have to do with the discussion on aircraft jokes from decades ago?

[@vitkriklan2633]

​@@RhaegarDefensewell, if you fail to spot the similiraties between the failings of the USSR and ruzzia today, there is nothing I can do to help you.

[@no1DdC]

@@RhaegarDefense Just because Russia had a radar gun sight at the time this doesn't mean they were able to reproduce a more advanced American counterpart. By the early 1960s already, American microelectronics were rapidly leaving Soviet designs behind, to the point that the Soviets never ever managed to catch up. Even to this day, they are still producing chip packages based on a Motorola design from the 1950s for military applications. How do I know this? Because these parts were found in a downed Russian missile (one of those allegedly hypersonic ones) from the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[@topaz2821]

It’s a good day when paper skies uploads

[@Av8or7]

What is equally amazing is that Russia is still using the basic design, 80 years later. The turboprop Bear Bomber looks very much like our B-29 only bigger and with Turboprops.

[@allangibson8494]

Components of the Tu-95 are interchangeable with the B-29. The fuselage is exactly the same diameter too. The glazed nose on the B-29 was never repeated in any other bomber because ergonomic issues with manual control (there was an issue of finding a point to line up with the horizon for straight and level flight and screening against bomb flash was just about impossible).

[@41tl]

Russia sometimes still uses howitzers and machine guns from WWII. I'm not surprised.

[@darthdooku6246]

And with swept wings The world’s only swept wing turboprop

[@CodyMacArthurFett]

"The myth that Russia defeated Napoleon" isn't actually a new development in America. I'm 33, and I've heard that said my entire life. It's always been taken as a given that the primary reason for Napoleon's defeat was his invasion of Russia, often with very vivid descriptions of a beaten French army stumbling back west after having been defeated by General Winter. (Most of the time it's the only part of Napoleon's life that's even mentioned.) It's not a partisan political thing either, because I've seen people of every political persuasion say that. Your video here is actually the first time in my life that I've actually stopped and asked myself, "Wait. Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was two years after the Battle of Moscow. That's an eternity in war time. Just how much of a connection is there?"

[@Uthic]

The ruination of the Grande Armee in 1812, leads directly to The Sixth Coalition and eventually Leipzig. So Russia did play a big part in finally ending him. I don't see how even if he won Waterloo, how he'd succeed with Austrian and Russian troops on the way (and Blucher as well maybe)

[@kanrakucheese]

The idea is a result of period propaganda by Alexander I. He *really* made sure people attributed the shared victory to him and him alone. It was so effective that even after people saw Alexander was completely incompetent from pretty much everything else about him, they'll accept the Russian weather did it independently of Russian leadership.

[@kanrakucheese]

Blame Alexander I's contemporary propaganda claiming victory.

[@onlyhereformoney175]

the Grand Army was decimated by the Russian campaign but not defeated

[@Gearparadummies]

​​@@Uthic Spain is 30 times smaller than Russia and its weather is far more bearable. And it was there where Napoleon was first defeated, not Russia.

[@thomasmontoya302]

Many have tried, and only one has succeeded: I have finally subscribed to Nebula. Thank you for the good content. I'm grateful for your insights and excellent presentation.

[@polygonvvitch]

This time you posted on the exact day I went "God, wonder when Paper Skies is posting next." 10/10 accuracy, S rank.

[@oneghost1257]

Weird and same. I literally just finished a Tasting History video and went "I wonder if Paper Skies has anything new?"

[@Jcaeser187]

You look great hon!

[@Noblehowl1]

People are complex, history is complicated. In a complex and complicated world, beware those who push simple, singular narratives.

[@Aqueox]

@@Jcaeser187 ew

[@45johngalt]

American aviation engineer: start the putt putt Soviet translator: *head asplode*

[@no1DdC]

Oh to have been a fly on the wall during the many, many frantic meetings caused by this single sentence alone.

[@lefr33man]

As a technical translator, I can assure you that the "putt-putt" thing is still true today. American engineers should never be allowed within 20 meters of any kind of equipment capable of producing writing.

[@slavabtomat]

The American tech manual has a simple to understand one sentence step in starting the APU. This is what we call the "KISS" principle. The Soviet tech manual on the otherhand, takes a paragraph and describes in painful technological detail the APU start procedure. Keep in mind that the average Soviet citizen at that time (those who would be manning those aircraft positions) only previous interactions with technical things involved nothing more complex than a hoe, a shovel or a pitchfork. The KISS principle. Something the Soviet (and Russian of today) does not understand.

[@ghomerhust]

and yet american equipment is still far and away more advanced than everyone elses.... even with stupid nomenclature in the manuals.... i did satellite communications engineering and repair for the USAF, and i was smart enough to know what EVERY SINGLE WORD meant in my multi-thousand page manuals. so sorry that others cant claim that.

[@jemmerl]

What can we say- we call it how we hear it XD

[@mikeynth7919]

@@jemmerl Exactly. How can you be sure the auxiliary power unit has been started? It goes "putt-putt". Simple enough the aircrew knows if they hear that the APU is good to go.

[@rhr-p7w]

US made documentation in my experience is quite decent. Try studying German SAP documentation, that is a real load of sh**

[@PeterNebelung]

Comrade! What is putt-putt? 🤣 Long ago when I was a kid, I read a Reader's Digest story about a Soviet attack on an American city. It was illustrated with a TU-4 flying over the city. I thought the artist just did it because he had no idea about Soviet aircraft. Took years before I found out about the TU-4.

[@emberfist8347]

I wouldn’t be surprised as some of those old magazines had fake designs mixed in with real ones.

[@philtkaswahl2124]

Could have been a case of accidental accuracy. The artist using an American bomber as reference and slapped on red stars on it without giving it a second thought, and it just happened to be the one design the Soviets copied. Happens enough to have TV tropes declare "Accidental Accuracy" a trope, at least.

[@kidmohair8151]

"dismissed due to death" followed by the graphic of feet swinging...

[@dna9838]

When realising it wants to get over a shortcoming, Russia always seems to think its only options are brutality and copying what other people have done.

[@28ebdh3udnav]

Fun fact, the Soviets stole the American nuke secrets to build a copy of the American fat man. Soviet scientists told Stalin that if they waited a few more years, they could build a bigger and better bomb but Stalin wanted an exact copy of the American Fat Man. So that was the Soviet's first nuke. Afterwards, when they wanted a more powerful one, the same scientist who told Stalin to wait, built their own indigenous design bomb. The original concept turned out to be the USSR's second bomb and it was actually bigger than the american copy.

[@jhettish]

Some time ago I was watching a video concering the Russian copy of the American B-29. When the voices of the video were considering the need for new rudder peddlals they had decided to simply cast those on the B-29 and to cast new pedals for the TU-4. The problem was that the American manufacturer (Boeing) had cast the pedals with Boeing trade marks and the name of the Boeing manufacturer on the face of the pedals to be used on the TU-4. Maybe I dreamt this or perhaps I they did use the Boeing ruddler name on the TU-4 when finished. As a young man I spent a number looking at everything while exploring a B-26 that had been landed in the Nashville airport due to engine problem and remained there for many years. I could be easily wrong. I've been wrong when chosing 3 differnt women at different times of in my life.

[@robertheinkel6225]

I read somewhere, that they copied the aircraft exactly, right down to the battle damage on the original.

[@no1DdC]

Since they had three of them, this part is most likely an exaggeration. It's not like they were stupid, but rather that, as illustrated several times in this video, the undoubtedly talented engineers were severely hampered by the awful system they lived under.

[@cammobunker]

The Soviets ran extremely aggressive intelligence networks in both the US and Great Britain the entire war. While both Allies were supplying the USSR with massive supplies of everything from food and fuel to thousands of aircraft and tanks, hundreds of thousands of trucks and Jeeps, ammunition, shoes (millions of pairs) cloth for uniforms and nearly everything else, Russia was spying on her allies harder than on the Germans.

[@pork_eater_Z666]

I’m glad to know that America did not send its spies to the USSR during the war, that the USA did not rob England during the joint development of nuclear weapons. I’m glad to know that after the first (and only, by the way) use of nuclear weapons, Churchill’s Fulton speech was made, dividing the world in half. The USA couldn’t take and destroy half of the USSR with nuclear weapons, like they destroyed countries before and after? pathetic communists, how dare they

[@emberfist8347]

True socialism comrade. The Americans and British spy on the Fascists for Comrade Stalin and we make sure they share their wealth of knowledge with us by spying on them. On a serious note I get not spying on the Germans as their intelligence agency was terrible. Every German agent in the UK was successfully turned, the Enigma machine was broken early thanks to a combination of Turing and lazy operators and my personal favorite, the man in charge of the Abewhr their military intelligence agency was part of the German resistance.

[@otrab1080]

"Announcing deep concerns alone does not stop dictators." Sadly, western nations still have not learned this lesson.

[@George_M_]

The meme here would be "did you solve the deicing issue" from Iron Man, only with "spontaneously and frequently catching fire" instead. I love that they simply copied the most expensive weapon system of WW2

[@randomuser5443]

Communism, mooching off capitalism since inception Also in the US we’ve been making the russia v Napoleon for years before the orangutan. The remark about invading russia in winter has been around since at least 2010

[@Metalldudez]

And vice versa, isn’t it?

[@xxxxwkske]

@@Metalldudez He won’t answer that💀

[@randomuser5443]

@@xxxxwkskewe dont mooch, we flat out replace

[@onlyhereformoney175]

the Tu-4 was reverse-engineered and had an actually good engine installed

[@grimwaltzman]

@@onlyhereformoney175 you literally described the mooching in question. They didn't purchase the license, they didn't develop their own. They stole the bombers and copied it, mooching off of billions of dollars and man-hours the US had to spend to develop it from scratch.

[@natuerlichedummheit]

Since I grew up in East Germany, I of course knew about the reparations payments to the USSR after the Second World War. But I was never really aware that so many Germans had to work for the communists after the war. A very interesting video. Thank you for it!

[@user-uo9wb7iy2c]

I MISSED THE SOVIET AIR FORCE DOCUMENTER, DO NOT LEAVE US AGAIN YOU LEGEND! ❤

[@aaronlopez492]

"No this is genuine Soviet design, The imperialist Yankee copied our initial concept".🤭

[@BaconGold790]

I cannot express how much I despise the Soviet leadership during WW2. They placed no interest in helping the allies end the war sooner unless it directly went towards settling their grudge with Hitler for betraying them. Stalin was a pathetic man, and an even worse war leader.

[@NefariousKoel]

I go so far as to say Stalin likely caused far more Soviet deaths, due to decisions he was making before and during the early to mid-war period, than someone with more sense and far less paranoia. Fully convinced they would've had fewer losses if someone else had been running the show. Stalin was a curse yet they still love the butcher.

[@pork_eater_Z666]

it means you're stupid. what happened in 1938?

[@datoneslav6902]

Watching this video i have one main question, how did the soviets manage to fit atomic bombs into their B-29s. B-29s were not actually designed to carry atomic bombs and that problem would come to haunt the us during planning for the use of atomic bombs, It was found that the bombs did not fit, resulting in the 'silverplate' upgrade package to be rushed in order to allow B-29s to carry out the missions.

[@Jfk2Mr]

It's likely that said upgraded variant crash landed

[@sigmahyperion955]

Atomic bomb technology was progressing extremely rapidly. And even Silverplate turned out to be largely unnecessary. It was originally needed when we had 2 shapes in development -- the Thin Man (extremely long) and the Fat Man (very wide). But, by the time we even dropped the bombs, we'd gotten the size down to the Little Boy -- which at a mere 1/3rd the width of a Fat Man, EASILY fit within a standard B-29. A Silverplate B-29 was only strictly necessary for dropping Fat Man -- though many of the Silverplate's other enhancements outside of capacity improvements, were still very welcome, if not required, for carrying Little Boys. For the Soviets, the situation was exactly the same. Their very first atomic bomb, the RDS-1, was Fat Man sized in dimensions and weight. But, it was never intended to be deployed. It was a test-unit only. By the time the Soviets began serial production of atomic armaments for actual possible deployment a few years later in 1952, they were a fraction of the size of the RDS-1 and easily fit within the dimensions and weight capacities of the TU-4 which had been in service for years by then.

[@datoneslav6902]

@@sigmahyperion955 Very informative, thank you.

[@MM22966]

@@sigmahyperion955 Today Anon was a good Atom-bro.

[@wombatgirl997]

There are very few channels where I feel comfortable with dropping a like before I start the video. This is one of them.

[@artificial_oysters]

Sometimes I forget how technologically advanced the B-29 was for its time.

[@whisperingforest9909]

A 43 minute video to listen on repeat and from the goat paper skies dont mind if i do!

[@holstorrsceadus1990]

Didn't notice the vid length. Better get some popcorn ready.

[@aidanpysher2764]

It's ironic that a WB-29 was the aircraft that detected the fallout from the first Soviet Nuke...that was dropped by a copy of it.

[@Вивсівідстій]

In 1991, first rock n roll outdoor concert in Soviet Union took place at Tushino Airfield. Metallica and Patera were there. I was there too as young 19 year old draftee in Red Army. There were people, some in uniform, drinking and doing drugs. Some getting blown and laid. Also defecating and excreting all over airfield. People pushing over outhouses with people inside. Police laughed and did nothing. Great time!

[@TheFjordflier]

I do love your sarcasm 😂 Cheers!

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

Paper Skies once again proving he is among the best aviation KZbinrs out there.

[@josephglatz25]

I would certainly call the B-29 the most advanced heavy bomber of World War 2. I'd hesitate to call the best, given its propensity for engine fires, and its nasty handling characteristics. B-29 crews were never all that fond of it. Admittedly, it could do things that no other heavy bomber in the world could at the time, but it was a very temperamental beast.

[@Gearparadummies]

Too much untested new tech crammed into it. Much like the F-35.

[@randomuser5443]

The b29 had an unfair shake. If it was deployed in Europe it would have been pretty good but because it had to deal with extreme range, the jet stream, and high temperatures it ran into serious problems

[@CarlosRodriguez-vl3gz]

The fact that it could do everything other bombers could, and could do things other bombers couldn’t arguably does make it the best. Being the best doesn’t mean it’s flawless, just that it’s better than the rest. The engine problems were the fault of the engine makers, not the fault of the bomber. Other bombers which used the same engines (like the B-32 Dominator) had the same problems.

[@JeffBilkins]

It was insanely complex and advanced for the time, sometimes called 'the second Manhattan project' for the effort it took to develop

[@Maynarkh]

How are any of you reformers even still around

[@West_Coast_Mainline]

0:37 “Am I tripping or us that a b-29

[@AircraftEnthusiast_7900]

You are correct. The TU-4 is a copy of the B-29.

[@amazingazblo0239]

Babe, Paper Skies Remembered his Password and is cooking Soviet Aviation History 🎉

[@maciek_k.cichon]

Just remembered an old joke about copying the B-29. When asked to make the Soviet one the same, Tupolev asked, if they are to also copy the white stars😆

[@saparotrob7888]

If the CCCP's use of the metric system was so great , why were they copying our bomber? I'm not serious but glad you're back. Slava Ukraine!

[@Qba86]

To quote Brian from Real Engineering, "Imperial is a convoluted mess of measurement unit invented by people who married their cousins." ;) But more on the topic of the video, one of von Braun's often forgotten contributions to the American space program was having NASA switch to the metric system for their internal calculations. They later had to convert the results to imperial units for their metrically impaired subcontractors and crews, but still. Also, Slava Ukraine and as we say in Poland: "Na pochybel onucom!"

[@no1DdC]

@@Qba86 This famously resulted in the loss of a Mars orbiter when the metrically impaired subcontractors mixed up units. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

[@Ross72A]

Why give glory to something already dead

[@pork_eater_Z666]

your? b-29 is not ukrainian.

[@ComradePhoenix]

Animarchy: *starts a video series dunking on Soviet aviation design* Paper Skies: "And I took that personally"

[@0MoTheG]

Lesson never learned: Never form an alliance with the enemy of your enemy!

[@okkurwa5847]

True 💯

[@emberfist8347]

If people did that the world would never have advanced to where it is today.

[@dumbledoreous3080]

"Announcing 'deep concerns' alone does not stop dictators." A fantastic quote

[@RainbowLovingRainbow]

At least we use the metric system to build basically everything. Freedom units simply aren’t accurate enough.

[@TheArklyte]

B-29, atomic research and engine for MiG-15. Stalin was top of Santa's list on all the newest western tech that kept falling into his hands for free😅

[@Moonstone-Redux]

He threatened to send Santa to Siberia once during the Winter War.

[@erasmus_locke]

I don't think PaperSkies likes Soviets or Russians very much

[@emberfist8347]

Of course not he is a Ukrainian who grew up behind the Iron Curtain.

[@miswojtek6101]

​@@emberfist8347 and here am I wondering why his pronunciation and accents are so damn familiar.

[@Игорьсуздальский]

​@@emberfist8347nah, because he hates education etc.

[@Ved000000]

Butthurt belters are like that. They let the USSR live rent free in their head.

[@kylesebring]

This channel feels like watching the history channel as a kid, but with everything they didn't tell you becuase it was public american TV. The production quality is even just as good.

[@link10909]

(from the US) I remember being taught in history class that the Russian campaign represented the turning point of Napoleon, his defeat there started him going from a military winner to a mixed to losing record. It is not taught as a demonstration of the great military genius of the Russians but rather an illustration of their brutality and commitment to winning despite the human cost. As the when the Russians retreated they did a scorched earth policy to their own population to deny napoleons troops supplies. The US perception of Russians during the cold war was not "here are a bunch of lucky buffoons'" it was "here are people that make up for their shortcomings with sacrifice and cruel determination, they defeated Hitler by throwing wave of humans into the grinder, they defeated Napoleon by burning their own farmers crops and letting them starve".

[@loudelk99]

It's a miracle they got this plane built.

[@relishcakes4525]

He said his English isn't good enough to explain yet his explanations are never less than fantastic.

[@ShadowDragon8685]

It's so good to see you're still around, delivering up history; and drawing its important parallels and conclusions for the present day.

[@ElDuderino999]

10:25 - „Don‘t make it better, just make it the same…“ Soviet ‚ingenuity‘ in a nutshell 🥸 If it wasn’t for Western countries, the Russians would still to this day travel in Ox-pulled carriages from place to place…

[@huseyinuguralacatli5064]

Lada still makes same car with minor modifications since 70's for example. (Known as Lada 4x4 or niva)

[@no1DdC]

@@huseyinuguralacatli5064 Interestingly, this was the first car that was actually developed in the Soviet Union and not a complete copy of an earlier Western design. Still used plenty of Fiat parts though - and the modern ones rely on German tech from Bosch to meet current emissions standards, although they might have deleted these parts due to sanctions. Fun/absurd fact: The Niva got a single airbag a few years ago. Usually, when a car has only one airbag, it's for the driver and this is indeed the case here, yet it's not in the steering wheel, but rather in the seat. This is likely the only car to have ever been produced that is equipped with a side airbag only, but no other airbags. Fun fact 2: They developed a more modern-looking replacement of the Niva in the 1990s. Same car underneath, but it has a completely different body and interior. For some reason that totally escapes me, they are still making both the old and the new model side-by-side.

[@nurban3352]

Which Western countries are meant: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Brazil? The West is not only the USA, Great Britain, France and Germany.

[@no1DdC]

@@nurban3352 What are you trying to say, tovarish?

[@absolutechaos13]

"Start the putt-putt" reminded me of a running joke in college. When asked how to do something, my classmates would give the most vague and incoherent instructions possible while still giving the correct information. The goal was to sound like a bumbling idiot while making complete sense to whoever was asking for direction. That phrase was the perfect description of what the instructions would sound like. "Steer with your feet" was another good one when describing the steering characteristics of a one wheel wonder dune buggy.

[@andrelee6299]

Thank you for this video!!! Was having a kinda of down moment but saw the notifcation about your new video and really made me excited and really enjoy watching!!! Much love to your videos please keep up the great work as always!!!!

[@SoloNit]

Babe wake up new Paper Skies just dropped.

[@theodoreolson8529]

7:00 If the Americans has effective submarine torpedoes the war would have been shortened (I believe) sooner than by earlier strategic bombing. Still, yea would have been nice.

[@allangibson8494]

The entire Japanese fleet would have been on the bottom in 1943 rather than putting 19 torpedoes into one freighter (and having it sink due to the number of torpedo diameter holes punched in it) (actual documented event).

[@MrAnton275]

@@allangibson8494Aight, now im interested, what ship was it and what subs sent those torpedos? Note, Im not saying you are wrong btw, I have no idea, but I want to know more about it since it sounds amazing, has Drach or someone covered it?

[@allangibson8494]

@@MrAnton275 The early Mk14 torpedo wouldn’t detonate if it hit a ship square on. It needed a glancing blow to detonation (45 degrees or less) because the firing pin bent under the impact loads. I am having a little trouble finding my original reference but USS Tinosa SS-283 fired 15 torpedoes into one tanker on 23 July 1943… The USS Barb finally got the first fixed torpedoes on 30 September 1943…

[@danielchong2917]

@@MrAnton275 You can take a look at Drachinifel's MK14 Torpedo series

[@theodoreolson8529]

@@MrAnton275 References are everywhere. I am reading a book by Ian W Toll called The Conquering Tide War in the Pacific 1942-1944. I think in Chapter 9 he discusses torpedo problems in detail. There might be better references out there.

[@vsemarno]

дуже цікаво як завжди, дякую!

[@tmytyson]

27:25 Holy shit. I would like to add a totally apocryphal story about the Tu-4, if someone can please confirm or deny. The story is that there was a copy error in the technical publications from the captured B29s that looked like a small hole or circle in the fuselage. The Soviet engineers obviously didn't understand why the Americans would build a fuselage with a random hole in it but duly copied it, forcing all subsequent aircrews to cover the hole up to maintain cabin pressure.

[@singular9]

It's actually crazy that in the late 1940s, the Soviets couldn't even copy someone's aircraft correctly without restructuring and redesigning their entire manufacturing pipeline. Whereas in the '70s they were designing and building their own aircraft like the su-27 and mig-29

[@darriusdias]

USA: I made this. USSR: You made this? ... USSR: I made this.

[@beanonfire5323]

Me: Mom can we have a B-29 Mom: no we have a B-29 at home The B-29 at home

[@OfficerDanger]

Paper Skies just made my Monday more bareable

[@RicktheCrofter]

I heard this story. No idea if it is true or not. Some Americans were examining the Soviet bomber and found a rectangular hole in the aluminum skin, which was covered by a slightly larger piece of aluminum riveted over the hole. When the Americans asked what was the purpose of this patch, the Russians didn’t know. Later as the Americans realized that the Russians had reverse engineered the bomber from an American B-29, they realized that the copied American bomber had had a bullet hole in the skin, which had been cut out and covered by a patch. The Russians didn’t know this, only that they had to copy everything on the original American bomber.

[@Seigerootz]

Engrineering in the Soviet Union sounds like being in the cult mechanicus

[@jlvfr]

My favourite story is the one about the bullets holes. B-29 has bullet holes? Tu-4 has bullet holes! True or not, it says a lot about the mindset in the project.

[@emberfist8347]

I heard that it was instead a manufacturing error and four bolts missing on one part of the plane which got copied.

[@FreedomIsNotFree2023]

This story of one of those test flights, reminds me of the animated series Madagascar. When the penguins were flying that makeshift aircraft. 😂😂😂

[@pauliewalnuts240]

"Dont make it better, just make it the same". "We cant afford to contaminate such an efficient design with our russian negligence"

[@natespurgat6245]

No offense taken regarding the Metric/SI vs US customary/Imperial units systems. I’m taking a college course on Finite Element Analysis software right now and even when displaying and using imperial units for the front end(I.e. what the user sees) the software (ANSYS, if anyone cares) always converts all dimensions and other data into metric before carrying out any calculations. SI is just better

[@Moonstone-Redux]

The US customary/imperial units have been defined to the metric/SI units since 1958. That's why all computerised measurements are calculated to the metric unit standard even if specified in imperial.

[@kukuc96]

The German workforce has the same vibes as, "Russia is not the USSR. It's just one part of it." And frankly, it never was the most technologically advanced part.

[@whyjnot420]

I would simply omit the word "lesser" and state that the US teamed up with one evil to fight another.

[@emberfist8347]

I mean it is the lesser evil their perspective. Stalin hadn’t done much to spread Communism While the Nazis wanted to eliminate an entire race from the face of the earth.

[@pieshka4509]

There's a difference between Russians saying they defeated Napoleon and single handedly beat the Germans, and an American that only learns about Napoleon's army freezing and starving to death in Russia in school as defeating him, and saying they defeated the Germans. To an American it's just a fact because they were invaded, counter invaded and won, but we laugh at the thought they did it alone the way the China says they defeated Japan and won the war

[@zillsburyy1]

they copied EVERYTHING

[@jude_the_apostle]

I will have to admit, I did not have Napoleon on my bingo card for this video.

[@fightertales]

I love you Mr. Skies

[@repairdroid77]

As an American I say, no apologies needed about the superiority of the metric system. I use it every day.

[@79marchewa]

As an appendix to the video "The Liberators: My Life in the Soviet Army" by Victor Suworow. Excellent chapter about B-29 copying process.