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Subj:.....Kalinin
K-7 Russian Bomber (S640b)
From: lubin100 on 4/13/2009
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinin_K-7
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Kalinin K-7 was a
heavy experimental aircraft designed and
tested in the Soviet
Union in the early 1930s. K-7 was of
unusual configuration
with twin booms and large underwing
pods housing fixed
landing gear and machine gun turrets.
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Designed by World
War I aviator Konstantin Kalinin with a
wingspan greater
than a B-52's and a much greater wing area,
the K-7 was one of
the biggest aircraft built before the jet age.
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Not
many photos were saved from that time, because of the high
secrecy
levels of such projects. The weaponry carried by this
behemoth
is shown in the next two photos.
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The
airframe was welded from KhMA chrome-molybdenum steel. The
original
design called for six engines in the wing leading edge
but
when the projected loaded weight was exceeded, two more
engines
were added to the trailing edges of each wing, one
right
and one left of the central passenger pod.
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K-7
first flew on 11 August 1933. Then on 21 November 1933 the
aircraft
crashed due to structural failure of one of the tail
booms,
killing 14 people aboard and one on the ground. Although
two
more prototypes were ordered in 1933, the project was canceled
in
1935 before they could be completed.
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