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TU-85 BARGE - Flight Tests

Working drawings for the production of the first aircraft, which took place in the shops of the pilot plant No. 156, as "order 851", were ready in the third quarter of 1949. The experimental aircraft first entered the runway of the airfield in November 1950, and on January 9, 1951 the crew of A.D. Pereleta lifted the aircraft on the first flight, which lasted 31 minutes and passed with the chassis released.

Of the systems of special equipment, the most annoying was the failures of the panoramic radar "Rubidium-M". Based on test results, NII-17 urgently upgraded, increasing the reliability of its elements. The new modernized radar was designated Rubidium-MM, it was later brought to a high level of reliability and successfully operated for many years in various modifications on Tu-16 , Tu-95 , Tu-104, Tu-114, M-4 and etc.

During the factory flight tests, it was decided to show the prototype aircraft "85" at the traditional air parade in Tushino. The airplane was assigned the role of the flagship of the air parade. July 8, 1951 the plane "85", accompanied by MiG-15 fighters flew at low altitude over the Tushino field. The aircraft was piloted by A.D. Perellet, on board the aircraft was the Commander of Aviation MVO V. Stalin.

Flight tests of the aircraft "85/1" were completed on October 20, 1951, 59 flights were completed in total, with a total duration of 142 hours 16 minutes. The tests passed without much trouble. In the future, the first prototype aircraft "85/1" was used to develop special equipment. Three-year work on the creation of the first domestic intercontinental bomber ended with the first success: the aircraft could fly for a range of 12,000 km.

By the end of June 1951 the second aircraft was prepared for flights. The pilot-test pilot VP Marunov, who already had the experience of flying at 85/1 as a co-pilot, the second pilot N. Rybko, the leading engineer on the machine, M.M.Egorov was appointed as the commander of the "backup". The first flight took place on June 28, 1951, the flight lasted 1 hour and its tests continued until mid-November, and then were stopped with the termination of all works on the program. In total, "85/2" performed 25 test flights with a total duration of 55 hours. 14 min. The car and all its systems behaved much better, in comparison with "85/1". Much less was the failure of the power plant and equipment.