9th of April 1960

This was another day where a record got broken, not an altitude record but a speed record. A TU-114 Rossiya four-engine turboprop airliner, serial number 88402, registered CCCP-76459 set a speed record on a 5000 km (3105 miles) closed circuit of more the 857 km/h, which is close to 533 mph. The TU-114 was based on the Tu-95 Bear long-range strategic bomber.

TU-114 Rossiya

The fastest turboprop in the world is based on the TU-114, the Tupolev TU-95 Bear. It was built in various configurations, the fastest of which flew at Mach 0.82 or 925 km/h (575 mph).

The TU-95 has highly swept wings, with a 35-degree angle and a slight negative dihedral. Mounted on those wings are four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines, each producing 12,500 Shaft Horse Power. The engines each spin two four-blade, contra-rotating propellers. Since the prop tips move faster than the speed of sound at maximum power, the combination of the 32 blades creates a noise footprint as impressive as the airplane's speed.