Tupolev ... had radio links out to the various factories, and they would report almost daily on their progress. It was the equivalent of their Manhattan Project -- high priority.

189

It was measured and copied and photographed, and then someone would get the assignment to replicate a part, like an altimeter.

180

The Tu-4 was a big surprise.

175

It's a phenomenal feat of human engineering.

172

They took it apart component by component, panel by panel, almost rivet by rivet.

146

What he wanted to do was close a vulnerability to the West; to have an intercontinental, long-range bomber equal to the B-29, which became even more crucial after 1949 with the first Soviet atomic weapon.

136