Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (oz14129)

 

Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (oz14129) by Jim Palmer 1997 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. Radio control scale model of the Russian four-engine turboprop strategic bomber. For 2x .40 engines and 4 or 5 channels.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 14/10/2022: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "In the pursuit of something to challenge his modelling skills, Jim Palmer turned his attentions to the Tupolev Tu95/142 Bear and came up with a practical, good flying, impressive model at 84 in span for 2x .40 two strokes. Bears in the Air.

When the design bureau of Andrei N Tupolev further developed the TU-16 'Badger' and re-designated it the TU-95 (code named 'Bear' by the West), they can have had little idea that the aircraft would have such an incredibly long lifetime in service. First taking to the air in 1954, the Bear was delivered into service in 1956 and has remained there as one of Russia's most potent and effective reconnaissance and weapons delivery platforms ever since.

This huge aircraft - spanning 159 feet and with a range of almost 8,000 miles - became probably the best known image of the Cold War and yet it has been rarely modelled, possibly because the concept of two contra-rotating propellers on each of four engines put most people off the idea!

When I first sat down to consider the Bear as a possible modelling project, the parameters were fairly clear cut. I had to take what was a very large aircraft and reduce it to model dimensions such that it would be possible to transport it and it also had to be affordable! When I eventually started drawing the plan up, I already had fairly clear ideas of what it was that would eventually take to the air.

At 84 inch span, the model would be powered by just two .25 size engines, the outer propellers free-wheeling. To keep the performance as good as possible, I would have to build it to a maximum target weight of 8 lb, including engines, retracts and radio.

With that little lot in mind, I got down to some serious drawing.

First Principles: To keep the weight to a minimum, the entire structure is all-built-up apart from the nose block which is made from white foam. The fuselage is built around two crutch pieces onto which the formers slide whilst the wings have two main spars which have proved more than sufficient in practice - after all, this is not an aerobatic machine!

The model is balsa sheeted and then tissue-and-doped for lightness and toughness. The tail surfaces are also built up structures, also to keep weight down.

The model was designed with glider principles in mind - hence the Eppler 205 wing section - and I believe that it could be usefully adapted to the slope if you prefer.

Before starting the build, bear one thing in mind. This is not a beginners' model and does require that you have had some experience of building from plans before. Although the structure is relatively straight forward, there are one or two areas - particularly around the engine nacelles - that require patience and some lateral thinking. Also, the critical dimensions are just that - critical! Do not stray from the incidences shown on the plan, otherwise you may well have problems with elevator authority if the 'sit' of the model in the air is too tail-down and you will find that you will need excessive speed to remain flying.

Finally, the model may be light but it is tough and you are much more likely to damage it from 'hangar-rash' than from anything you can do to it on the flying field!

Fuselage: The basis of the fuselage structure is the Liteply crutch running from F2 all the way back to F6 and then overlapped with a continuation in 3/16 balsa which then runs back to F8 and a further 1/8 crutch is overlapped and runs all the way back to the tail. This is built inverted on a FLAT building hoard and must be accurate since it forms the basis for all further construction. You need two of these - one left and one right hand version.

Once dry, the formers are added with the crutches running in the middle of each former. To a large extent, because of the design method, this is self-jigging but check anyway that everything is truly square. The fuselage is basically a cylinder and only tapers from F7 back towards the tail so it is actually quite easy to put together. Note that F5A and F5B are sloped backwards to allow the wing to be removed..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (oz14129) by Jim Palmer 1997 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz14129)
    Tupolev Tu-95 Bear
    by Jim Palmer
    from Aviation Modeller International
    December 1997 
    84in span
    Scale IC R/C Multi Military Bomber
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 17/09/2022
    Filesize: 667KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: wilbender
    Downloads: 1126

ScaleType:
  • Tupolev_Tu-95 | help
    see Wikipedia | search Outerzone
    ------------
    Test link:
    search RCLibrary 3views (opens in new window)


    ScaleType: This (oz14129) is a scale plan. Where possible we link scale plans to Wikipedia, using a text string called ScaleType.

    If we got this right, you now have a couple of direct links (above) to 1. see the Wikipedia page, and 2. search Oz for more plans of this type. If we didn't, then see below.


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    ScaleType is formed from the last part of the Wikipedia page address, which here is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95
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Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (oz14129) by Jim Palmer 1997 - pic 003.jpg
003.jpg

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User comments

I've saved this plan and article ever since it first came out. Imagine today you could get it more scale with four counterrotating electric motors!
Thomas Solinski - 19/10/2022
Hello I am George from Greece. We know where is the CG in the wing of Tupolev tu 95?
marselos george - 03/10/2024
It's indicated at the rear root of the wing.
Pit - 03/10/2024
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  • Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (oz14129)
  • Plan File Filesize: 667KB Filename: Tupolev_Tu-95_Bear_oz14129.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 1737KB Filename: Tupolev_Tu-95_Bear_oz14129_article.pdf
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Notes

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Scaling

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