The Bomber That Inspired A Generation Of Giant Aircraft | Tupolev ANT-4 [Aircraft Overview #26]

Tupolev is well known for its big aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s, perhaps the most famous being the impressive ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky. Today we are looking at the ANT-4, the first all-metal bomber developed by Tupolev, and the first heavy bomber to be fielded by the Soviet Union.
It led a distinguished life, and gained great fame when it flew from Moscow to New York on an easterly route that covered Russia, the Bering Strait and all of North America. As the TB-1, it formed the foundation for the Soviet Bomber force and heralded the start of a line of impressive aircraft that would establish Tupolev as one of Russia's greatest aircraft manufacturers.
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Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)
Sources:
www.amazon.com/Tupolev-Aircra...
www.amazon.com.au/Tupolev-Man...

[@RexsHangar]

F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible. Feel free to leave you questions below - I may not be able to answer all of them, but I will keep my eyes open :)

[@CODRD]

Can you do a video on the American airship aircraft carriers or the planes from Crimson Skies?

[@mbryson2899]

@@CODRD Crimson Skies was so much fun!

[@Uncle_Torgo]

I like learning about obscure planes . How about following this up with the TB-2? Some other ideas are DB-4, Bréguet XIV, and pretty much any French bomber from the 30s into WWII. You do a great job, thanks for the content.

[@jackietyree6268]

Boulton paul P.31 Bittern is a pretty cool failed design. It was made to attack bombers from underneath in 1927

[@MrExplorerFilms]

A video on the b-17 or b-25 would be awesome. Love your videos

[@Dr_Jebus]

'...explode in a manner not befitting an aircraft'. Please never change, Rex!

[@vaclav_fejt]

On the Drachinifel channel, these are knowns as "drachisms". :D There's nothing like deadpan English humour.

[@anaetachandler8699]

My response when I heard that 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@anaetachandler8699]

When I was a Marine my sense of humor was described as English deadpan (thank you Monty Python Red dwarf black adder ) mixed with American battery acid ie George Carlin Lenny Bruce flip Wilson Goldie Hawn etc.

[@friedwaldderlebendige8494]

i am genuinely confused as to how a channel producing this top-value content is still so small

[@vaclav_fejt]

It's very young, give it a couple of months. Look at Ed's Auto Reviews - I predict similar future!

[@deepwoods_dave7368]

With all the research he does and all those great pictures he deserves ten times the subscribers.

[@colinjohnson5515]

Google just recommended this channel to me and I’ve been gobbling up his videos. 10/10.

[@johngault7329]

I agree. This channel should blow up at any time..

[@rollotomasislawyer3405]

Way to many TicTok big brained people out there!

[@johnladuke6475]

I think that "behaved in a manner unbecoming of an airplane" is a fantastic phrase and should be used more often.

[@Scrap_Lootaz]

No, the carrier aircraft project was canceled for this reason. The project was put into service in the same year 40 and several aircraft conversion kits were mass-produced. And until the end of the year, training and testing were actively carried out in the squadron of Captain Shubinkov. In January, 41 aircraft were converted into ordinary ones, since the necessary aircraft were quite rare. With the advent of the Second World War in the USSR, this idea was returned. And a squadron of 5 carriers under the nickname "Shubinkov's circus" took part in air raids. The bombers were used as combined dive bombers. Two or three I-16s were suspended from the TB-3, and two 250kg bombs were suspended from the I-16. Aircraft carriers flew to the target, and a few tens of kilometers away, fighter-bombers unhooked and delivered a high-precision bombing strike... Other than that, 100% great video.

[@robertdragoff6909]

My guess is that they were taken out of front line service in the early days of WW II because they were slow and obsolete but were well built enough as transport. Amazing that there’s one left in a museum. It was an interesting design.

[@athelwulfgalland]

I second this! I had NO idea it went on to serve in the transport role through the war ... gotta add this one to my model kit build list I guess? lol

[@user-uy8ss3hg6g]

I heard that it could mount two I-16 instead of bombs, and even performed some sucsessfull fuel depo bombing in this configuration. With I-16 being carried deep behind frontlines, launched with light bombs and then reattaching to TB-1 to disengage.

[@sproctor1958]

Wheels, pontoons, skids, rescue, passengers, cargo, warfare, and Flying Aircraft Carriers! What a *versatile* aircraft! Thanks, Rex! Hope you enjoy your vacation!

[@flyingdutchman4794]

Soviet engineers were something else. If they could figure out a way to build something - they'd try it. They had to work around material shortages, many worked in appalling conditions, and they had to deal with capricious oversight, but they came up with amazing aircraft.

[@American97percent]

At that time, there were many ideas in the press and they were tried to be implemented everywhere. Now, maybe the population has become smarter or, on the contrary, has lost the ability to dream. Everything has become simpler, the rich are implementing bold projects, the townsfolk are buying the finished product. Who can be surprised now with a satellite or a submarine in the garage?

[@ChickenLiver911]

@@flyingdutchman4794, imagine what Russian minds could do with western resources. What a ridiculous thing that would be.

[@sophdog1678]

So many crazy and not-so-crazy aircraft were designed between the wars. The test pilots that dared to get these oddballs off the ground were incredibly brave.

[@openseason3013]

Отличное повествование, спасибо за историю. На русском языке сам очень многое посмотрел про историю авиации, но вот чтобы на английском языке про Туполева слушать - это классно! ) I suggest using at least a simple google translator to find more original sources and photos. I'm sure you can find more about Soviet aircraft on the Russian Internet). And also - add video chronicles if possible.

[@yes_head]

It's amazing that one of those things still exists. Its history is probably a good story by itself (for instance, at what point did someone say "I don't care if that's how they did it during the Great Patriotic War, I'm putting a damn cover over the cockpit!")

[@dwightminnich2722]

My love of World War 2 aircraft started almost 60 years ago. Many years of reading led to much traveling as my interest grew to include aircraft of the first World War, and most interestingly the type of aircraft that seem to have been forgotten with time, such as prototypes and low production aircraft that became the more famous aircraft we know today. Your channel has proven to be one of the best resources I have ever found. Thank you for producing this great series.

[@alm5992]

I love the TB series. Simple, yet rugged.

[@JohnDoe-iq5xv]

Thanks Rex, that was one delightful treat. One addendum: there are fantastic pictures and videos of TB-1 used for para troops. I have to say, I do not know where the troops waited while transported (outside/ inside). However, there are no doors, so they had to climb outside and cling to the fuselage and wings last moments before jump. When I saw the footage first time I found it incredible (only in Soviet Russia) ...

[@anzaca1]

They just waited inside. The fuselage was largely open on the inside.

[@jarmokankaanpaa6528]

Are you sure it was a TB-1? I have seen pictures of paratroops jumping from a TB-3, which looks similar but had four engines, was about a third larger in measurements and weighed four times as much as the TB-1 and thus had a lot more inside space as well.

[@dylanmilne6683]

What a pleasant suprise to hear that one survives. Clear to see the lineage of the TB-3 too.

[@petethebastard]

@0:44 two blokes standing up on the fuselage, others running along side says SO much about aviation of the time!!!! [I'll go back to watching.... ]

[@TheKabonkel]

It looks like you're doing all the planes from the several il-2 sturmovik installments and if so that's a big thumbs up!

[@MrJoeltrain]

I appreciate the imperial conversions typed at the top the screen at the beginning. I would really like it if you did same with all kilometer per hour specifications. I can do lengths in my head but speeds are a bit much for my brain. Thank you for a other great video. I thumbs up all I remember hoping your luck with the algo.

[@mongoose4117]

Rex, I'm starting to get excited when theres a new "hangar" video!!👍💪😍💯thanks.

[@Alberad08]

A fascinating episode of aviation history - thank you for sharing!

[@Belzediel]

There is little room in Tupolev's heart for anyone but Tupolev, as me mate Mark once said.

[@wadejustanamerican1201]

Thank you for another great video. I do like that you add technical aspects, engine types, variable pitch propellers, etc cetera.

[@ColumbiaB]

It’s fascinating to see a U.S. flag at the nose of the plane, in the shot at 7:30! The flag presumably was an accessory related to the 1929 flight to New York. That journey was quite remarkable simply as a feat of long-distance aviation at such an early point in the history of powered flight, but all the more so in view of the political situation, in that the U.S. and the Soviet Union would not reëstablish diplomatic relations until 1933. I’m curious about where that image was shot. In Moscow, prior to the start of the trip? Or, in New York, where displaying the flag would have been a courtesy to the hosts? I was thinking it was more likely in Moscow, since it looks like the plane is still being assembled. But perhaps the image shows it in a hangar in New York, undergoing maintenance.

[@charlesbarbour2331]

Your videos are as prolific as they are terrific! I also really enjoy learning about the less well known subjects that you tackle. Thanks very much for all your efforts.

[@duncangrainge]

Excellent as usual. Thanks.

[@RetroGamesCollector]

Fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

[@Chipicui]

If I could only take one youtube channel to a desert island (strange idea i admit), it would be yours. Many many many thanks for the incredible quality of your historic documentaries!!!

[@michelbrianddecrevecoeur8708]

Thanks a lot, this was hugely entertaining and informative - History like this is easily forgotten or at least not known outside a secterian few (like you) - Really enjoyed it.

[@constantinosschinas4503]

You have wonderful content. Very simply made, yet engaging. Keep on, thanks for sharing.

[@sophrapsune]

Some amazing aviation stories in there! Thanks.

[@benwilson6145]

Very interesting, thank you

[@Scrat335]

First class!!! Great work.

[@strakhovandrri]

For those who want to Google in Runet, there are names of this aircraft: ТБ-1 АНТ-4 Oh, also: URSS was written as it was USSR's name in French, diplomacy language of the time.

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Thank you, interesting and well done.

[@sinephase]

Dude designed that in record time in the early 20s and was still ahead of the rest of the world by the end of the decade? pretty impressive! :O

[@GrindThunderer]

IKR!! Such a nice aircraft

[@clydecessna737]

A survivor! Fantastic.

[@johnwatson4080]

Great review Rex. Thanks.

[@nicholasbell9017]

Thanks for this fascinating story. The way this very unusual aeroplane was conceived and the many adaptations, it's serviceability, long range, are amazing . Thanks so much for these videos. Nick

[@arbjful]

Wow what an amazing documentary and an equally amazing aircraft.

[@cornkobmansanto17]

I really really love your channel and glad that I stumbled upon it. It would get a Dann “Best Stumbled Upon Channel Of The Year” from me.

[@SirThanxalott]

I just learnt something new today. Thank you,Rex.

[@burningb2439]

As a Float plane it looked great and an Original still exists today ! , great vid as always keep digging them up Rex.

[@bigimskiweisenheimer8325]

I'm a a sucker for open cockpit bombers with the gunners all over wide open and mechanics on the wings engines in flight!

[@jasonz7788]

Great work Sir thank you

[@deltavee2]

USSR proving ugly can have a beauty of its own. A most impressive aircraft. Thanks, Rex. I've enjoyed every one of your videos that I have seen.

[@SanovichSit]

Did you live in USSR, or hear about it only?

[@patjohnson3100]

Fascinating history of an aircraft that is little known in the west. Thank you Glad that one survives.

[@Cnupoc]

Hugo to Tupolev: oi mate!? Everyone else to Hugo: oi what, mate?!

[@anjetabreymann7179]

Best presentations on KZbin!

[@jamesstuart3346]

Antonov and Tupolev deserve more respectsky

[@e.d.4824]

Great video on a great amazing plane! Bravo

[@silverpairaducks]

Great stuff!

[@chickenmann9934]

This is quite a treat! I was wondering if you had a video on the tb-3, my favorite aircraft.

[@charlesseymour1482]

Fascinating

[@Inpreesme]

Thank you

[@tiss0006]

I would love if you could cover the B-17 Reed Project! They did some crazy modifications to the B-17 for that one. Another suggestion would be the YB-40, or the attempt to turn the B-17 into a long range escort gunship. Keep up the good work!

[@julius5895]

Ur videos are so good!!

[@chkoha6462]

Stumbled across your channel thank to the YT algorithm...stayed and subscribed. Greetings from Germany

[@PaddyPatrone]

Great videos

[@Dr.K.Wette_BE]

Very interesting ! Soviet helicopters could also make a good subject.

[@evandenis5488]

Ooh, that tease of the Ilya Muromets... I'd love a video on that.

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

Such a cool plane.

[@terrified057t4]

can't wait for TB-3 and the later Tupolevs :D

[@pavelavietor1]

hello great presentation, saludos

[@richardkmoch2208]

9:24 Ayoo, Czech newspaper, always happy to see my language in the wild haha

[@jackaustin3576]

I like the documentaries....The ANT 4 looks like our Boeing B9....

[@mycroft1905]

Excellent. TFP

[@bergssprangare]

Impressive

[@lafeelabriel]

Would be a considerable understatement to call it a remarkable aircraft. Just as it would be a even bigger understatement to call Andrey Tupolev a remarkable aircraft designer.

[@donlawrence1428]

that is one hell of a plane!

[@hertzair1186]

0:45 this photo always amazed me

[@Rincypoopoo]

What a fine aircraft. i would like to see more inter war British bombers, like the Overstrand.

[@user-br8wf4ms9c]

First men on tha space of avionic :))) Juriy Gagarin 🤘

[@5peciesunkn0wn]

So this is where the most majestic Warthunder flying billboard comes from! The grandfather of the TB-3.

[@johngault7329]

Over half of the world's countries couldn't design and build something like this today.. not on their own. For the time, this is rocket science..

[@HotelPapa100]

Something for the list: French ram jet prototypes Leduc 0.10, 0.11 0.22 and Nord 1500 Griffon.

[@Coffee_Charly]

Could you explain why some bi planes had smaller top wings then the bottom. Also saw in the prototype that the ailerons extended past the main wing, why is this? There actually alot of odd things I noticed from these old planes that no longer exist. Love to see a video explaining it all

[@rudywoodcraft9553]

Wonderful videos thanks. Have you considered also posting on Rumble?

[@treuenbrietzen]

Maybe the horten ho 229 or gotha 229 would be interesting too but anyway this vid is very informative, just go on^^

[@scottmcintosh4397]

🛩️ Martin Mars & Martin Mariner maritime patrol bombers. 🛩️ Consolidated PB-2Y Coronado. 🛩️ Consolidated PB-4Y-2 Privateer. 🛸 Klingon D5 Battlecruiser. ~~Live Long & Prosper 🖖🏻👽✨ 🌌🔭 ✈️ An EAA Certified flying replica of a fully functional, full-sized ANT-4 would be amazing 📜✍🏼

[@itsjohndell]

Most interesting and informative video, Rex. Cheers! Why did designers world wide retain open cockpits for so long? This has always vexed me. Enclosed cockpits produced less inherent drag.

[@mpetersen6]

Especially in Russian aircraft.

[@samuelstai]

My historical understanding is pilots demanded open cockpits, so they could feel the airflow on their faces and sense crosswinds or flow disruptions just prior to stall, until cockpit instrumentation grew capable enough and speeds grew too great for comfort. It's also why pilots continued to fly with canopies open after canopies became common, in addition to relieving the heat from the canopy greenhouse effect.

[@pietroriva9383]

Before ww2 few aircraft had radios and with a open cockpit was perfect to communicate with hand signals. This lasted a lot especially in fighters like the Italian MC 200 or the fiat G 50 that had open cockpit for this reason.

[@SportyMabamba]

Even once sliding canopies became a thing (Hawker Hurricane had one at the outset of WW2), many pilots preferred to fly with the cockpit open for various reasons. One commonly cited by the pilots themselves was ease of escape in case of damage or Forced landing. Being trapped in your burning aircraft by a warped canopy latch is the stuff of nightmares 😫

[@dwightbrown2808]

Maybe extreme air racing plans from the twenties and thirties and how they lead to advanced fighter planes?

[@rgerber]

a wingspan of 29 meters. Just imagine that Howard Hughes Hercules H-4 had a wingspan of 98 meters and a Antanov 225 has just a wingspan of 89 meters. Thats insane

[@mantonwalkinshaw676]

The fact that the idea of parasite fighters loaded onto the wings was well recieved is baffling to me imagine being there in person and being like this is a good idea boys strap them on lets goooooooooo

[@johnladuke6475]

I think it sounds good on paper, if you imagine it being a little less crazy looking. I've seen concept pictures for other parasite fighters that were *below* the wings like a bomb, and both above and below the fuselage. Also much smaller relative to the mothership. But you're 100% right about the look of this thing... I feel like it should have ragitme piano and cut to the plane with a gazillion wings and then that guy with the parachute-suit.

[@laughingsnake1989]

Flying this thing in warthunder is like flying. A barn door

[@TallDude73]

The newspaper around 9:30 is in Czech, so printed in the then-Czechoslovakia.

[@loddude5706]

"No such thing as a cold cockpit, just bad clothing." What was the crews' calorie burn per hour, just to remain mobile!? : )

[@zxbzxbzxb1]

If the crews came from Northern Russia/Siberia they were probably stripping off because it felt so warm 🤭

[@johnladuke6475]

More vodka, Ivan. Engine is freezing, and I am thirsty.

[@KommandantGSR]

when paper like planes end up inspiring people to build giant ass aircraft

[@defaultdriftco00]

This plane looks like a boat with wings!

[@mpetersen6]

In addition to some monster aircraft the Soviets also developed some monster aviation engines. The IAM M-44 @ 134 liters

[@chadakoin1]

So the "parasite fighters" would land on the ANT 4's wings in flight after swatting their opponents? With the ANT 4's propellers whirring merrily just ahead to remind them not to overshoot the landing.....Perhaps purging that idea had some merit.

[@blacklion79]

We need video about ANT-20

[@petesheppard1709]

When was the cockpit enclosed?

[@JF-yp4nu]

the picture at 9:31 is from czechoslovak newspaper

[@franek_izerski]

Those color pictures at the end almost hurt my eyes.

[@Sturminfantrist]

Exellent channel , good work but around 5:40 , its not the BMW "Vee one" its the BMW VI ( roman numerals) = BMW six or 6

[@Jeanpierregilbert666]

The TB-3 is the best bomber in Il-2 1946 no questions asked.

[@zebop917]

0:40 I’ve seen that picture of the large biplane many times before and my thought is always the same. Is that guy on the ground running faster or slower than the aircraft? The plane must we quite slow so those other two guys can walk along the top of the fuselage.

[@strakhovandrri]

This is S-22 and the speed must be lower than ~70 km/h

[@just_one_opinion]

Text was in Czech @ 9:25

[@kyle857]

For a brick, it flew pretty good.

[@bradleyjanes2949]

The fuselage looks upside-down 👌

[@drstevenrey]

It's no Sophia Loren, but I think it's not exactly ugly. Yeah, straight simple flat sided, but the basic lines are pleasing to the eye.