Tupolev Tu-80

The Tupolev Tu-80 was a Soviet prototype for a longer-ranged version of the Tu-4 bomber, itself an unlicensed, reverse-engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Work began in February 1948 on a modernised and enlarged Tu-4 with more fuel-efficient engines, better aerodynamics and extra fuel tanks, aimed at a range of 7,000 to 8,000 km and a bomb load of up to 12,000 kg. The fuselage was lengthened by almost 4 m, the nose was redesigned with an airliner-style stepped windscreen and the wings were enlarged to 173 square metres, with four Shvetsov ASh-73TKFN radial engines. The programme was cancelled in September 1949 in favour of the Tu-85, and the first flight came on 1 December 1949. The sole prototype became a research aircraft testing reversible-pitch propellers and structural deformation in heavy aircraft, and ended its life as a target.