Power !

[Larry Wong]

Just add another engine if it won't fly!

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 carry 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.
  

[john e. holliday]

I don't think it was meant to fly.   A rolling fort with all those cannons.

[James Mills]

I think I saw something on either the History channel or PBS once where they showed that plane.  They said the designer was executed for the failure.

James

[Igor Burger]

I think it should be Kalinin K-7, but it had only 6 engines on LE and that extra motor for heaviel load was on on TE of wing between fuselages ... those pictures are fake or what, it never had such guns, it was bomber

[Larry Wong]

I think there is 16 engines 12 tractors and 4 pushers 

[Igor Burger]

 

so those pictures seems to be from digital model used for this video:

[Igor Burger]

and now even clearer 

http://www.flyingmidshipmen.org/k7russianbmbr.html

[Larry Wong]

Igor you got it another scam.

[Howard Rush]

Looks like a Bruce McCall design.

[Douglas Ames]

Not this again... The real K-7 was nothing like the phoney digital art.

[EddyR]

Here is the real plane . The lower picture shows the two motors on top of the body

[Steve Helmick]

EddyR...Your picture is clearly identified as the ANT-20, from an entirely different "design bureau". Also clearly an entirely different design, with little in common except braggadocios size. I believe the ANT-20 was at least built, which I don't think the K-7 can claim. This thing has been going around the 'net for close to 5 years now, and is/was pretty clearly an artist's impression at best.  Steve

[EddyR]

 Steve

[EddyR]

Steve   I new that but the ANT-20 is what the K-7 wanted to be. I took the picture from the 1972 Wings article "Dean of the Red Bombers". There is a picture of the K-7 but it is of very poor quality ,I will scan it and post it here later today. The artist drawing of the K7 are not correct but some of the air shot in the video are correct and some of the ground shots are correct. The ANT is much larger at 206' wp compared to the K7 167' The two planes are very much alike. The designer of the K-7 was put in prison.  I guess they didn't like his plane

[Igor Burger]

no, it is not rock & roll, it is early break dance :-P

[EddyR]

This link to the K-7 is much better than my Wings article picture. The artist picture is pretty much on except for the second row of motors added on the top. I imagine it was in a competition with the ANT-20 for a heavy bomber contract.
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Kalinin-K7.html
 This video has many great shots of the ANT-20 on the ground and in flight.They both flew in 1934. The video shows a formation a of six ANT-20.

[Igor Burger]

K7 (by Kalinin) was built and it flew (unfortunately only one piece as far as I know - and crashed early during tests probably because diffuculties with flattering parts which they could not solve due to lack of knowledde that time), it is not only concept and it was orriginally passenger project with large elliptical wing and cabins for crew and passengers inside the wing and only later equipped with guns, while Ant-20 designed by Tupolev was also passenger airplane but designed from begin to be usefull also as military airplane of usual conception - it is some year younger and they already clearly knew what they really need :- ))

[Doug Burright]

Hey...
 Wasn't this one of the planes from the movie: Sky Captain, and the World of Tomorrow?