A good Tupelov Tu-22 video

[Neilster]

This is a new YouTube channel and this is the first video I've seen of it but it's very good. The Tu-22 was, especially initially, a dog and very dangerous but the story is its development and use is good and very...Soviet.

The air-conditioning system used a large tank of 40% alcohol/60% water solution, with predicable results. It is Russian, after all [;)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKoHMXg ... PaperSkies

[RangerJoe]

Okay, a crew of only four with no co-pilot? Which one acted as the stewardess?

[Rosseau]

Fascinating video, thanks!

Makes we want to load up Atomic Games' Flight Commander II if I could. But perhaps CMANO would do the trick in accurately simulating the performance of this Soviet bomber.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

it is hard to believe pilots of a mighty superpower would end up stealing "coolant" = vodka for selling in the black market

I can't imagine a western pilot resorting to these kind of petty crime activities

I guess the fall of Berlin's wall was written on the wall

[Rebel Yell]

Vodka causes all kinds of problems.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/08/03/Soviet-crew-trade-tank-for-two-cases-of-vodka/3683491889600/

[Jorge_Stanbury]

true but in my books a pilot should be above these indignities; I mean, they are not conscripts

[RangerJoe]

I think that the vehicle commander really got into trouble - I mean his wedding ring?[X(]

[rommel222]

Greetings Neilster,
Very good and somewhat humorous video history of the Tu-22.
Thanks for posting it.

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

it is hard to believe pilots of a mighty superpower would end up stealing "coolant" = vodka for selling in the black market

I can't imagine a western pilot resorting to these kind of petty crime activities

I guess the fall of Berlin's wall was written on the wall

Communist countries had and still have low official crime rates but that conceals the incredible amount of dodgy stuff going on. Almost everybody was on the make, partly because they could see the system was inherently corrupt.

I was a technician on fighters and our pilots had their ways of getting extra stuff. One example is "training missions" that just happened to be to somewhere one of their mates were getting married that weekend. No doubt they did some training but it's an example of the privilege of rank.

As for us, we were, by any reasonable measure given the incredible responsibility we had, underpaid. I was responsible for about $US 200 million worth of aircraft and I was on average wage. Where does that happen in the civilian world? As a result, some blokes stole everything that wasn't nailed down. I only stole cleaning products, but I was still using them five years later [;)]

[Anonymous]

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