Its slim and elongated fuselage, and a huge delta wing made the Myasischev M-50 bomber appear like an oversized fighter aircraft, if not from a sciencefiction movie. The most unusual solution was the installation of the outer engines in wingtip pods. While never put into production, the M-50 was still used to confuse Western intelligence: and unsurprisingly, the prototype received several different bort numbers. At the Tushino Air Show on 9 July 1961, it wore the bort ‘blue 12’, but later on this was repainted into ‘blue 023’ (outlined in black). In fact, wowing spectators at that air show was about the most this aircraft has ever achieved: ultimately, it proved to be another of the Soviet unfulfilled hopes. Beyond that it actually flew, the only other satisfaction for its designer was that it was foremost the insufficient performance of the available engines – rather than any kind of design-flaws – that ended its career before it even began. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)