Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft

Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev was born in 1888, in north-west Russia, the sixth child of a family of seven. He was first a teacher of arithmetic and geometry, then entered university in Moscow, from where he was sent down because of student unrest and the complex politics of the day. In 1909 he embarked upon the study of aerodynamics at the Moscow Imperial Technical High School, and from then on his skill as a designer was made apparent to the world. His life was fraught by political intrigue and like many of his fellow countrymen he found himself in and out of prison for much of his life.
But this is also a study of his aircraft designs, his perception and management skills that forged together many of Russia's leading pioneers in aviation. Each of the massive number of design projects and aeroplanes that he and his team created are included in this book, with in-depth accounts of all aspects of their history, from conception to production. Tupolev's first aeroplane, the ANT_ 1, flew in 1923 and this record traces every design that bears his name from then until now, and even looks at projects currently being tested and researched.
Paul Duffy has spent three years researching this historical record of one of Russia's leading aircraft designers and the team that have continued the tradition since Tupolev's death in 1972. Andrei Kandalov is currently advisor to the head of the Tupolev company. His long association with the Tupolev Design Bureau, since 1941, has added greatly to the historical and design aspects of the book. Both authors have encountered great help from many of the leading figures in Russian aviation and gained a mass of information from many quarters to draw together the fascinating and historically important facts, figures and photographs that are included in this volume.



by Paul Duffy and Andrei Kandalov
Airlife 1996 1st edition. 233pp profusely illustrated with b&w photos and 8pp of colour profiles, index. 20x26 fine, in price clipped d/j.






Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.