Why Soviet Pilots Called It “Man-Eater” and “Booze Carrier”: The Tupolev Tu-22 Story

The history of military aviation knows multiple examples of aircrafts that appeared to be a complete failure. But nothing can beat the story of the first Soviet supersonic bomber – the Tupolev Tu-22. The troubles and the controversy of this bomber, that Tupolev himself referred to as “his most unfortunate creation”, could be seen through the variety of nicknames that the plane received during its career. Among the Russian pilots, the Tu-22 was called the “Pricker”, the “Man-eater”, as well as “Error-plane” and “Defectocraft”, but the most famous among all others was the name - “Supersonic Booze Carrier”.