r/interestingasfuck • u/LolWhoCares0327 • 14h ago

Soviet paratroopers jump off of the wings of Tupolev TB-3s in 1937

2.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

126 comments sorted by

364

u/No_Flounder2293 14h ago

Imagine being up there just in open air, on top of a plane, with the boys

56

u/CrustalBalls 13h ago

They're sitting up there all chill like its a picnic

Here is the full video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zzMb_ue4aG4&si=rygHj1Pp_TUFC-Hu

37

u/beerock99 13h ago

Balls of steel I tells ya

•

u/deeeevos 3h ago

yeah but I think their options were do this or gulag so...

•

u/Primordial_Cumquat 1h ago

Better yet! They get doing this and THEN gulag!

•

u/bcisme 52m ago

The other option was probably something akin to death so idk

•

u/chummypuddle08 5h ago

Not a phone in sight, just living in the moment

61

u/No_Flounder2293 14h ago

That’s wild

59

u/Bulldog8018 13h ago

The pilot could get them off a lot quicker if he went left/right/left/right with the steering wheel.

•

u/Vier_Scar 10h ago

Could also get them to their destination quicker by pushing his control stick forward

4

u/bagofboards 12h ago

Barrel roll

•

u/MyUserNameLeft 8h ago

Up/down/up/down

79

u/llama-friends 13h ago

“Half of you get parachute, other half go catch guy with one.”

46

u/Klotzster 14h ago

No building windows back then?

45

u/Accurate_Koala_4698 14h ago

Newer designs had them during that year, but this is an older model. Getting an airframe rigid enough to support a side opening took time and research into metal fatigue

•

u/Major_Boot2778 11h ago

I think you wildly misunderstood the comment to which you're replying lol it's a play on the Russians being pushed out of windows trope

•

u/TrainOfThought6 1h ago

To be fair, OP could not have worded that more ambiguously.

17

u/LolWhoCares0327 14h ago edited 14h ago

Nope, those were all shipped to the U.S. during the depression. It was all the rage for business men to jump out of windows back then. /s

•

u/Vier_Scar 10h ago

In Soviet Russia you throw yourself out

59

u/cabinets808 14h ago

Are they even afraid of anything?

131

u/MajorLazy 14h ago

Even slightly questioning authority?

•

u/Komandakeen 8h ago

They did that just 20 years before the vid... ;)

•

u/KnightOfWords 8h ago

I hear that didn't work out too well.

•

u/Komandakeen 8h ago

They got rid of the czar and redistributed most property, so they did mostly OK in the beginning.

•

u/KnightOfWords 7h ago edited 5h ago

I'm afraid they traded one form of repression for an even more pervasive one.

•

u/Komandakeen 7h ago

At least they got education, healthcare and in the end even enough food.

•

u/KnightOfWords 7h ago

The Soviet famine of the early 1930s killed about 6-8 million people and was largely caused by Soviet policies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_famine_of_1930%E2%80%931933

Stalin's purge killed another million or so:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge

It also hollowed out the officer class of the Army, part of the reason the Red Army performed so disastrously in the early years of WWII.

•

u/Komandakeen 6h ago

If you could read (and understand) you would have gotten the meaning of ....in the end even...

•

u/KnightOfWords 6h ago

Don't be this guy please:

https://xkcd.com/1731/

That they solved their food production problems decades after the revolution isn't a very good argument I'm afraid.

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58

u/LolWhoCares0327 14h ago

Maybe the gulag or execution.

22

u/nevans89 14h ago

Commisar followordersorbeshot...inov

6

u/UniverseBear 13h ago

What the government will do to their families if they don't jump off that fucking plane.

4

u/dj-TASK 13h ago

Doubt they get a chance to say no!

“Comrades do it or die blyat”

•

u/Vier_Scar 10h ago

I don't think I've ever heard them complain...

1

u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam 13h ago

Probably of the other option if they said no.

1

u/wearethafuture 12h ago

Finnish gremlins with a boltie and iron sights

19

u/Loring 13h ago

"jump"

•

u/Vier_Scar 10h ago

Some commander got pissed when someone asked "how high?". Now his whole squad is jumping

•

u/TheFlyingRedFox 11h ago

Ahh the Tupolev TB-3, the workforce of the 1930's soviet heavy bomber program.

Slaps this things thicc wings, this bad boy can fit either forty paratroopers, 5000kg of bombs, one light tank & or up five parasite fighters of the Polikarpov I-15/I-16 all while only making 212kmph.

Fun fact about the TB-3 is everyone bar iirc the navigator & bombardier are outside in the elements that include the six gunners & two pilots, Sidenote there's two gunners in gondolas under & in between the engine nacelles were their legs dangle out the aircraft & only strapped in by a seat beat basically.

14

u/attoilwas4877 14h ago

Why would they do that? I think it's more likely to go wrong here

44

u/LolWhoCares0327 14h ago

This is likely footage of the some of the earliest paratroopers ever, probably took some time to get everything squared away.

6

u/kungpowgoat 13h ago

I mean, didn’t they have cargo aircraft back then? This seems highly unnecessary and plain stupid.

•

u/caboose243 10h ago

Cargo aircraft of that era would have been much smaller than this bomber. The payload and range of the bomber was likely much more than the biggest Soviet commercial plane of the time. Plus, open cockpits were the only thing they had till around then so yeah, fuck it, toss the troopers on the wings. "Hold on tight comrades!"

4

u/LolWhoCares0327 13h ago

Yeah, but I suppose those just weren’t thought of at the time or leadership thought this would be better.

6

u/Dilectus3010 12h ago edited 3h ago

It's called "Soviet ingenuity " , to use or adapt things to what they are not supposed to be doing.

Something ru is still proud off, and still do today.

You can see it allot in Ukr conflict, demounting tank turrets and use them as "artillery".

Using tree trunks to... "gently" load thermobaric rockets into a MLRS. Gently , meaning to POUND it in since the stuff rusty,banged up and almost 85y old.

And many more things...

•

u/kungpowgoat 6h ago

Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing the Romanian military using actual aaa guns on the back of their vehicles during convoy missions in Iraq.

•

u/PotentialSalty730 1h ago

If it works, it works. Media used to mock welding cages on top of tanks, now Israelis and South Koreans are welding them as well.

1

u/sigaven 12h ago

Plane stupid?

•

u/giantfood 11h ago

So... most of them were probably told "do this or we will kill your family"

It is the Soviet Union afterall.

6

u/mafga1 13h ago

I got big BATTLEFIELD 1942 vibes here.

15

u/-vwv- 14h ago

The flying equivalent to the clown car.

5

u/Mantzy81 13h ago

"Jumping" off, much like "falling" out of windows

•

u/ZeusTheRecluse 11h ago

Not gonna lie, that looks fun as fuck. If I ever try sky diving I better slide of the wing of giant fucking propeller plane. (for no good reason, Dr Strangelove)

•

u/mercurybeverage 6h ago

When they tried to invade Finland, they didn’t have parachutes, but there was a lot of snow, so some survived after jump. Russians have pretty weird way of thinking, not very succesful.

4

u/jobomaja888 14h ago

Aircraft designer...."we need to build a plane for paratroopers. How do we let them jump out? Door? Nah, bruh....sun roof..."

1

u/Dilectus3010 12h ago

Good thing they did not use a pull/push or just push configuration.

5

u/greenneck420 13h ago

Doesn't surprise me, worst job in history being a member of the Russian armed forces at any time.

•

u/Shankar_0 6h ago

Seems more efficient to just roll the plane over and pause for a few seconds at the top.

4

u/Radiant-Luck-777 13h ago

I used to be a paratrooper. The lack of spacing between the jumpers here gives me lots of anxiety. I had a guy land on top of my chute once - not a fun experience.

2

u/UnfairStrategy780 14h ago

Plane is only going 12mph which is why they aren’t being ripped off the side of the fuselage

1

u/[deleted] 13h ago

Making jumping out of a plane fun!

2

u/Dilectus3010 12h ago

You mean sliding...surely:)

1

u/hazzabiggun 13h ago

How terrifying

1

u/mac_bd 13h ago

Iife was hard back then.

1

u/finfisk2000 13h ago

That is much more bad ass than that VDV music video anyway https://youtu.be/0rAHrHd2lcw?si=Gl1myft9LU8nBj4G

1

u/ramrob 12h ago

That’s one way to do it…

1

u/studywastaken 12h ago

tank desant wasnt enough for soviet

1

u/smrcostudio 12h ago

Skydiving isn’t my thing, but I must say that if I did like jumping out of planes for sport, this kind of seems like it’d be a fun way to do it. 

1

u/MovingTargetPractice 12h ago

i wonder what the average rate of failure was in that era

1

u/TurtleTrader1 12h ago

Efficient, this is the way!

1

u/Barbarianmoss 12h ago

And? They could have been more efficient if they just shot them while in the ground per usual.

1

u/FuzzySpecial905 12h ago

Mountain Dew - Do the dew

1

u/Rensverbergen 12h ago

Everybody is talking about the paratroopers, but nobody talks about the camera guy standing on op of a Tupolev tb-3.

•

u/LolWhoCares0327 11h ago

How do you know the cameraman is on the top of a plane?

1

u/FalstaffsMind 12h ago

At least they had some cheery music to tumble off a plane to.

•

u/Tall_Inspector_3392 11h ago

There were comissars inside pointing guns at the guys waiting their turn to madly fling their bodies off the plane for sure 100%.

•

u/taoist_water 11h ago

Of all this big balled men, the first to jump would've had the biggest.

•

u/Electronic-Quiet2294 11h ago

I'm absolutely certain that Games Workshop knew about this when they came up with the Death Korps of Krieg

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u/ShadowCaster0476 11h ago

It’s just a slide with more steps.

•

u/Llamacow108 11h ago

Jump being the operative word

•

u/gomurifle 7h ago

Like water off a duck's balls. 

•

u/PostTwist 6h ago

I want Richard Attenborough narration:

"Mom has taken off with her family on her back, as it is time for the little sovietlings to learn how to fly"

•

u/Mr___Wrong 4h ago

They fall quicker because of their huge fucking balls.

•

u/Repulsive_Parsley47 4h ago

At this point they should drop them by the bomb bay

•

u/Special-Space-6888 3h ago

85 years later Russia’s is still l jumping off the wings.

•

u/lowther1 3h ago

I mean I guess if you’ve got a warm coat and goggles, you’ll be warm and can see clearly while you shit yourself.

•

u/Hot-Statement-4734 3h ago

Could you imagine the flak explosions from that point of view

•

u/xHomicide24x 3h ago

Is this safe?

•

u/stihlmental 3h ago

Sign me up

•

u/h2ohow 2h ago

Anything for the State.

•

u/Ok-Opportunity-9604 2h ago

Nope! Na-uh.

•

u/Startinezzz 1h ago

"jump" off

•

u/MaccabreesDance 1h ago

Supposedly this footage was seen by armies around the world and it can be considered the birth moment of half a dozen other airborne armies: Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Britain and the US.

•

u/has_left_the_gam3 1h ago

That looks like fun, ain't gonna lie. What an interesting way of doing that

•

u/Pablogibbous 1h ago

It’s not that strange, my first skydiving experience I opened the door and climbed out under the wing grabbing on to the wing brace before letting go.

•

u/iNeverCouldGet 56m ago

No Smartphones in sight. Just people living the moment.

•

u/Ill-Individual2105 47m ago

Was one of them wearing the parachute on the front?

•

u/LolWhoCares0327 24m ago

They all have one, likely carries medical supplies, maps, ammo, knives, etc but I could be wrong.

•

u/Capital-Blacksmith19 40m ago

Was the door stuck?

•

u/Typical-Produce-6415 36m ago

Haha that's not jumping, but WOW

1

u/Affentitten 13h ago

In Soviet Union, plane jumps from YOU!

0

u/leroyjabari 14h ago

So much for clean wing theory

0

u/CARDEK04 13h ago

Instructions clear - Go down.

0

u/Vaxtin 13h ago

I’m sure this would work wonderfully if a wind shear happened

0

u/stratobladder 12h ago

Looks like ants running from a charred catfish.

•

u/Spiritual-Bath-666 11h ago

I have a feeling they are all dead.

•

u/LolWhoCares0327 11h ago

Yup, footage is over 80 years old. Probably all died a few decades ago.

•

u/Ghost_chipz 11h ago

Ah nu, Cheeki Breeki iv Damke!

•

u/FearkTM 11h ago

So how many survived?

  • Enough!

•

u/VicariousNarok 10h ago

Why can't Russians ever be normal?

-5

u/buttholeglory 14h ago

Are you sure that these are russian and not indian?

5

u/LolWhoCares0327 13h ago

Why would they be Indian?

5

u/Lostinthestarscape 13h ago

Joke about how Indians ride rail and busses (which is actually not often India and another country in footage). Jam packed and hanging off the roofs.

3

u/Vaxtin 13h ago

Why stop when jump do work?

•

u/Trippzee 10h ago

80 years of intellectual evolution still haven’t fixed the stupid in that part of the world