Tu 22M Backfire

Hello

Today we have a shot of the Tu-22 Backfire bomber by micromachines, just that the nose was painted black which kind of took away the 'classic' look of the actual Backfires that did not have black noses. Oh well, I am just picky.

The Tu-22M represented a general trend in 1970s aircraft design: the use of swept wings. The variable sweep wing was initially attractive as it provided a blend of short take off and efficient cruising, famous planes including the Tomcat, Tornado, Flogger and the Aardvark. However, it was found that such designs were complex and added too much weight to the aircraft, which saw a stop to its use in military aircraft design, with the last major military swept wing aircraft was the Tu 160 Blackjack.

Man, I grew up reading about these planes, playing them in flight simulators, and reading that they're obsolete is somewhat sobering to me....at least telling me that I am indeed getting old :P

Well, it's about time for me to hand this blog over to my partner in crime...so let's welcome JQ once again!