It was measured and copied and photographed, and then someone would get the assignment to replicate a part, like an altimeter. |
It's a phenomenal feat of human engineering. |
The Tu-4 was a big surprise |
They took it apart component by component, panel by panel, almost rivet by rivet, |
Tupolev ... had radio links out to the various factories, and they would report almost daily on their progress. It was the equivalent of their Manhattan Project -- high priority. |
We wondered how did they do this, how did they manage it, how did they get the material and the human resources ... the discipline? |
What he wanted to do was close a vulnerability to the West; to have an intercontinental, long-range bomber equal to the B-29, which became even more crucial after 1949 with the first Soviet atomic weapon, |
What he wanted to do was close a vulnerability to the West; to have an intercontinental, long-range bomber equal to the B-29, which became even more crucial after 1949 with the first Soviet atomic weapon. |