[sinanju]

Wonder it it’s possible to buy a Bear for posterity.

The Udvar-Hazy annex to the National Air & Space Museum is only about a third full.

Dunno how Pooty is keeping the old birds flying. They are of the same vintage as the B-52. They were turboprops because the soviets couldn’t make or steal a decent jet engine big enough for the job.

It wasn’t until the rollout of the Blackjack that they actually had a decent strategic bomber (just in time for the collapse of the empire).

[A.A. Cunningham]

Dunno how Pooty is keeping the old birds flying. They are of the same vintage as the B-52.

The ones flying now are quite a bit younger. Tupolev restarted the Bear line in '81 building H models. The last B-52 rolled off the line in '62.

They were turboprops because the soviets couldn’t make or steal a decent jet engine big enough for the job.

Not entirely correct. Turboprops do have some advantages over tubojets.