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The Bear is a bit faster than Mach 0.8 (officially Mach 0.82, IIRC), very close to the large jet aircraft of the era. The B-47, B-52, and Boeing 707 were swept at almost exactly the same angle, and were only a few percent faster. The rationale for the swept wing is the same in both cases -- it reduces transonic drag. Modern airliners still tend to have sweep angles bwtween 30 and 35 degrees and speeds around Mach 0.85 -- not very far at all from the Bear. Clearly large contraprops aren't a preferred solution anymore or we'd see other aircraft with them. The closest we see are proposed open-rotor engines, but they aren't gaining ground yet.
The Bear is a bit faster than Mach 0.8 (officially Mach 0.82, IIRC), very close to the large jet aircraft of the era. The B-47, B-52, and Boeing 707 were swept at almost exactly the same angle, and were only a few percent faster. The rationale for the swept wing is the same in both cases -- it reduces transonic drag. Modern airliners still tend to have sweep angles bwtween 30 and 35 degrees and speeds around Mach 0.85 -- not very far at all from the Bear.
Clearly large contraprops aren't a preferred solution anymore or we'd see other aircraft with them. The closest we see are proposed open-rotor engines, but they aren't gaining ground yet.
