kscarbel2 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Mack Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 and then China took it up a notch.... added turboprops and AEW/AWACS BC Mack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kscarbel2 Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 BC, I've been thru that aircraft in the picture and determined the engines were Russian. I then read that Stalin gave China (only) ten Tu-4s in 1953. China had no aviation industry that could have handled such a retrofit. It seems the ten were retrofitted, with Soviet assistance, with Ivchenko AI-20K turboprop engines in 1966 (an olive branch after the big falling out?). I read China retired their TU-4s in 1988. The AI-20K also powered the Antonov 10 and 12 and Ilyushin-18. China built a copy of the engine. the WJ6, but I didn't enter service until the 1970s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Mack Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 KS... I have no doubt you are correct... I've seen other pics of radial engined Chinese TU-4's and I think there are still 2 or 3 in museums... my brain seemed to recollect that they were retrofitted using Russian parts and knowledge but the work done in China... I think they did the same when they licence built AN-12's as the Shanxxi Y-8 Chinese aviation was always a copy of another manufacturers product, by licence or reverse engineering or simply stealing technology... they bought a fleet of Hawker Siddeley Tridents from Britain in the late 60's but never copied them, they were nicknamed "the gripper" for sticking to runways... maybe that's why..!!! LOL BC Mack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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