Look at this thing! I can't imagine it ever getting off the ground! That was really advanced for 1930s, wasn't it! I thought Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" was the biggest thing that ever flew, and it was much later than this. The landing gear amazes me, but so does everything else. Look at the flight deck (the place with all the glass), and those cannons! Imagine the kick when they fired! I know how the guns on a battleship will cause ship to slide sideways when they fire.

 Built in Russia during the 1930s, it flew 11 times before crashing and killing 15 people.


Still, on the attached photos you can see one such plane - a heavy bomber K-7.



The designer, Konstantin Kalinin, wanted to build two more planes but the project was scrapped. Later, Stalin had Kalinin executed. Evidently, it was not good to fail on an expensive project under Stalin.




In the 1930s the Russian army was obsessed by the idea of creating huge planes. At that time they were proposed to have as many propellers as possible to help carrying those huge flying fortresses into the air, jet propulsion has not been implemented yet.


Not many photos were saved from those times because of the high secrecy levels of such projects and because a lot of time has already passed.



It's got propellers on the back of the wings, too. You can count 12 engines facing front. The size would be equivalent to the Empire State Building on its side, with cannons. And you think the 747 was big... not only a bunch of engines but check out the cannons the thing was carrying.
 
 

General characteristics
Crew: minimum 11
Capacity: 120 passengers in civilian configuration
Length: 28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 53 m (173 ft 11 in)
Height: (N/A)
Wing area: 454 m² (4,886.8 ft²)
Empty weight: 24,400 kg (53,793 lb)
Loaded weight: 38,000 kg (83,776 lb)
Powerplant: 7× Mikulin AM-34F V-12 piston engines, 560 kW (750 hp) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 225 km/h (121 knots, 140 mph)
Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,123 ft)
Wing loading: 84 kg/m² (17 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 103 W/kg (0.06 hp/lb)

Leave your comments below...Thanks, Billy