In a previous article, "Anno v. Heimburg" said:
Paul Tomblin wrote:
I read a long time ago that this plane was turbofan-powered because
kerosene was a lot easier to come by in Poland than avgas.

Wouldn't a conventional turboprop design also have fit that bill? I
heard/read somewhere that it's because when the Poles wanted to design a
new agricultural plane, they ran afoul of the Soviet insistence on using a
jet engine in a new plane (the logic being "new plane design" = "jet
engine", not fitness for the particular purpose).

That would only make sense if you had some evidence that the Soviets were
averse to propellor planes during that period. But their front-line
strategic bomber was a turboprop, and so were some of their airliners.


--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
"Orcs killed: none. Disappointing. Stubble update: I look rugged and
manly. Yes! Keep wanting to drop-kick Gimli. Holding myself back. Still
not King." - the very secret diary of Aragorn son of Arathron