Petlyakov Pe-8

what is it?

The Petlyakov Pe-8 (Russian: Петляков Пе-8) was a Soviet heavy bomber designed before World War II, and the only four-engine bomber the USSR built during the war. Produced in limited numbers, it was used to bomb Berlin in August 1941. It was also used for so-called "morale raids" designed to raise the spirit of the Soviet people by exposing Axis vulnerabilities.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 39.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 443 km/htop speed
• range 3,700 kmwithout refuelling
• size 35 tmax take-off weight
• built 93made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 90 years ago, in 1936.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 39.1 m: about 9 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,700 km: 21× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1936-12-27

introduced

1940

retired

1954

status

retired

number built

93

role

heavy bomber

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Kazan Aircraft Production Association

engines

4× Mikulin AM-35A

crew

11

length

23.2 m

wingspan

39.1 m

height

6.2 m

max take-off weight

35 t

top speed

443 km/h

range

3,700 km

ceiling

9,300 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.