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Description
Alternate History

The bent fuselage of the Snud U-14 stood for many years as a Soviet military secret; only after the last example of this little-known type had safely crashed was it revealed. During the design stage in 1938, a blueprint had been wrinkled accidentally and because nobody would own up to responsibility-since damaging state property carried the death penalty-the mistake went unchecked and into production. As a work-horse transport aircraft, this behemoth of the blue, with its four Kapodny-Gific engines, each producing 400 hp, and its vast cargo capacity, "had everything." Unusual features were tiny cockpits on each wing, where an engineer sat supervising the engines, and solid pig-iron wheels. These last ingeniously skirted the Russian rubber shortage, but caused another problem; reports claim the locomotive-style wheels so badly chewed up even paved- landing strips that bringing a Snud to earth meant maximum risk to plane, crew and all nearby buildings and collective farms. Obliquely, this may explain the Soviet insistence that a Snud had set a world record for nonstop flight ia 1941 --staying aloft over 64 hours while traveling nearly 3500 miles and averaging over 54 mph-and also why the pilot and navigator were transported to Siberia immediately after landing and receiving the Order of Heavy Industry.

Idea is Not Mine.
Art is Not Mine.

Link: www.deansgarage.com/2011/bixby…

Description
Alternate History

The bent fuselage of the Snud U-14 stood for many years as a Soviet military secret; only after the last example of this little-known type had safely crashed was it revealed. During the design stage in 1938, a blueprint had been wrinkled accidentally and because nobody would own up to responsibility-since damaging state property carried the death penalty-the mistake went unchecked and into production. As a work-horse transport aircraft, this behemoth of the blue, with its four Kapodny-Gific engines, each producing 400 hp, and its vast cargo capacity, "had everything." Unusual features were tiny cockpits on each wing, where an engineer sat supervising the engines, and solid pig-iron wheels. These last ingeniously skirted the Russian rubber shortage, but caused another problem; reports claim the locomotive-style wheels so badly chewed up even paved- landing strips that bringing a Snud to earth meant maximum risk to plane, crew and all nearby buildings and collective farms. Obliquely, this may explain the Soviet insistence that a Snud had set a world record for nonstop flight ia 1941 --staying aloft over 64 hours while traveling nearly 3500 miles and averaging over 54 mph-and also why the pilot and navigator were transported to Siberia immediately after landing and receiving the Order of Heavy Industry.

Idea is Not Mine.
Art is Not Mine.

Link: www.deansgarage.com/2011/bixby…