Tupolev ANT - 3 Tupolev acquired much experience in building his first two aircraft , which he put into the next one , the ANT - 3 . By this time , Soviet Air Force leaders were convinced that metal was a highly usable substance in the building of airplanes . So , Tupolev guided AGOS - TsAGI in creating the first Soviet all - metal aircraft . The ANT - 3 was Tupolev ’ s first practical plane . Construction and Development . On August 1 , 1924 , design work started for the ANT - 3 . The following July , the prototype was finished and came out of the AGOS factory . It was a sesquiplane , where the lower wing is somewhat shorter than the upper one . Its first flight was on August 6 , conducted by V . N . Fillipov , who tested planes for TsAGI until the upcoming October . The Air Force ordered several ANT - 3s after they were pleased with the results of tests led by Mikhail Gromov . However , they could not have as many as they wanted due to a shortage of metal . Nonetheless , the Soviets used it for propaganda . Because these ANT - 3s were for military usage , they were designated R - 3 , the R standing for " Razvedchik " ( " Reconnaissance " ) . Production . The ANT - 3 was produced between 1926 and 1929 at Gos Avia Zavod , or GAZ . The factory was later called Krasnyi Oktiabr , and after that , Factory No . 22 . There were presumably 102 made in total . Design . The ANT - 3 could hold two people : a pilot and a gunner . The latter was in a different cockpit aft of the pilot . The wings had a support bar and cross bracing wires . As with the ANT - 2 , the outer covering was made from duralumin , and the fuselage had a triangular cross - section . The ANT - 3 was powered by one engine , and there were several engines it could use . The prototype used a 298 kW ( 400 hp ) Liberty , and the second one was powered by a 336 kW ( 450 hp ) Napier Lion . Production aircraft first used the 336 kW ( 450 hp ) Lorraine - Dietrich ( 79 used ) ; one used a 373 kW ( 500 hp ) BMW V - 1 , and 21 aircraft used the 336 kW ( 450 hp ) Mikulin M - 5 . Tupolev proposed an upgraded version , which he called the R - 4 , to the Soviet Air Force . It would have had a range of about 966 km ( 600 mi ) , and would be powered by a 373 kW ( 500 hp ) Mikulin engine . One was built , but it had a Lorraine - Dietrich engine . It was delivered to Aeroflot ’ s Yakutsk division . The aircraft was designated the PS - 3 and was used as a mail plane until about 1930 . Usage . The R - 3 was used by the military for reconnaissance . Also , it traveled around Europe in the summer of 1926 , piloted by Michel Arroshar . He started in Paris and finished his journey in Moscow . Afterwards , TsAGI had Mikhail Gromov , assisted by mechanic Yevgeny Radzevich , visit important European capitals in an ANT - 3 . He started his expedition from Moscow at 3 a . m . on August 30 , and headed west . After about 120 km ( 75 mi ) were covered , an expansion tank with water for the Napier Lion engine experienced three fatigue cracks . Water sprayed around the cockpit . Fortunately for him , Gromov did the sensible thing and returned home . Newspapers stated that he and Radzevich turned back due to poor weather . The incident caused Tupolev to recommend that the tank have a convex base , which was adopted . Gromov resumed his expedition . Yet another problem arose . The ANT - 3 landed at present day Kaliningrad , by which point the radiator was leaking . Gromov toughed it out , continuing on to Berlin . There , the mechanics were not able to fix the radiator . Moving on , he went to Paris , where a mechanic found that some putty sealant had come off . To solve the problem , he took another aircraft ’ s radiator , and adapted it to fit in the ANT - 3 . When the mechanic was finished with the problem , Gromov flew off to Rome . While rolling out , a black cat walked in front of the plane . According to Russian superstition , a black cat is bad luck , but Gromov chose to believe the English version of the story , where the black cat is actually considered lucky . Weather was bad during take - off , but it had cleared by the time he was over Lyons , which permitted Gromov to go over the Alps en route to Turin , and onto Geneva and afterwards , Rome . The refueling took longer than expected , and the twilight was nearing . When the refueling was done , Gromov and Radzevich flew north to Vienna . The sun started to set by the time they were 119 km ( 74 mi ) away from their destination . ( It was dark just 19 km / 12 mi . ) Gromov decided to do the brave thing and land in Vienna , where campfires were lit around the airport . The take - off was scheduled for the following morning , where VIPs such as the Soviet Ambassador to Austria , were supposed to attend the departure . However , they did not arrive on time , and Gromov , anxious to make good time , flew on to Prague . The weather was too poor for them to be able to land in Prague , causing the pilot to decide to continue to Warsaw . There , staff at the Soviet Embassy handed them flowers , which were requested to be dropped over Soviet territory . This act was duly noted , regardless of the superstition of ill fortune . He then flew back to where the journey started : Moscow . Mikhail Gromov and Yevgeny Radzevich flew 7 , 170 km ( 4 , 443 mi ) in 34 hours and 15 minutes over the duration of their voyage . In 1927 , the British minister at the foreign office , Austin Chamberlain , brother of British Prime Minister Neville , severed diplomatic ties with the USSR . In response , the next journey by an ANT - 3 was a flight from Moscow to Tokyo and back to Moscow , which took place between August 20 and September 1 , 1927 , and the plane was titled “ Our Reply . ” The flight was titled “ The Great Eastern Overflight , ” and was piloted by Semion Shestakov . The ANT - 3 used was powered by a Mikulin M - 5 . The expedition covered about 22 , 140 km ( 13 , 500 mi ) in 153 flying hours ( today , it would take 18 hours ) , by going from Moscow - Sarapul - Omsk - Novosibirsk - Krasnoyarsk - Irkutsk - Chita - Blagovenshensk - Nanian - Yokohama - Tokyo , and then return . Though not the most direct possible , there were good propaganda opportunities .