page_title: Tupolev TB-1
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Tupolev TB-1 / Operational history
context_page_description: The Tupolev TB-1 was a Soviet bomber aircraft, an angular monoplane that served as the backbone of the Soviet bomber force for many years, and was the first large all-metal aircraft built in the Soviet Union.
context_section_description: The first production aircraft was completed as an unarmed civil aircraft, named Strana Sovyetov (Land of the Soviets) for a propaganda flight  from Moscow to New York, taking an  eastward course via Siberia, reaching its destination on 3 November 1929, flying 21,242 km (13,194 mi) in 137 flying hours. The TB-1 became the Soviet Air Forces' first standard heavy bomber, also being fitted with floats for use as a torpedo bomber (TB-1P), and for aerial survey operations.
  It was also widely used for experimental purposes, being the first mothership used in the Zveno Parasite aircraft project, carrying two I-4 fighters over the aircraft's wings.
  The TB-1 was replaced as a heavy bomber by the similar, but much larger, four-engined Tupolev TB-3, with many aircraft being converted to civil freighters (designated G-1) for use by Aeroflot and Aviaarktika, Aeroflot's polar division. One Avia Arktika ANT-4, flown by Anatoly Liapidevsky, played a key role in the rescue of the crew of the steamship Chelyuskin, which sank on 12 February 1934 after being trapped in ice near the Bering Strait. Liapidevsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. G-1s continued in use with Avia Arktika until 1948.
caption: Zveno-1: Tupolev TB-1 and two Tupolev I-4
exif: {}