Well, it is PARTIALLY true. According to NATO pilots, they can hear the rumble of the 8 contrarotating propellers while they’re still some 3 miles away from the BEARs. However, they’re picked up on their radars way before that. On the other hand, when the fighter pilots fly right BEHIND or UNDER a Bear, the noise can be clearly heard despite their helmets, the cockpit canopy, and the noise of their own engines. They say it feels like being in front of a disco loudspeaker at full blast, the reverberations can be felt in their chests. For more info on the TU-95 Bear, visit www.bearflighttoliberty.com
I went to bearflighttoliberty.com. Learned a great deal not only about the Tu-95 but what life was like for Bear crewmembers. Geez, creature comforts was the bottom of the list of their priorities.
Have always wondered why the Soviets/Russians made the Bear the mainstay of their fleet instead of a jet bomber.
Of course, they now have the B-1 lookalike.
I remember when Aeroflot began flights to New York. There was the Il-62 and earlier the Tu-114 (wonder what riding in that must have been like for the passengers? I remember inside a TWA Super Constellation you could not hear yourself talk.)