• Tu-144S ("004") - Production aircraft from NK-144A.
• Tu-144D ("004D") - Production aircraft with RD-36-51A.
• Tu-144LL - Flying laboratory with NK-32-1.

Tu-144 modifications

• Tu-144 ("044")- prototype (1968)
• Tu-144S ("004")- Production aircraft with NK-144A. (1971)
• Tu-144D ("004D")- Production aircraft with RD-36-51A. (1974)
• Tu-144DA- project with engines "61". (late 70s.)
• Tu-144P- Jammer project. (late 70s.)
• Tu-144PR- project director-scout. (late 70s.)
• Tu-144K
• Tu-144KP- a project of an aviation-missile complex. (late 70s.)
• DP-2- long-range interceptor project. (late 70s.)
• Tu-144LL- Flying laboratory based on Tu-144D with NK-32-1. (1996)

scheme Tu-144

Characteristics

		Tu-144
The first flight		December 31, 1968
Crew, people		4
Dimensions
		Tu-144
Fuselage length, m		59,4
Aircraft height, m		10,5
Wingspan, m		27,65
Wing area, m 2		438
411
Wing extension		1,74
Wing sweep along the leading edge	center section	78^o
	consoles	55^o
Masses
		Tu-144
Takeoff, kg	with 98 passengers	130000
	with 120 passengers	150000
	maximum	180000
Empty, kg		85000
12000 (120)
Fuel weight, kg		approx. 70000 (92000)
Power point
		Tu-144
Engines		4 DTRDF NK-144
Thrust, kgf	maximum	4x 13000
	afterburner	4x 17500
Thrust-to-weight ratio		0.44
Specific fuel consumption in cruising supersonic mode, kg/kgf x h		2,23
flight data
		Tu-144
Maximum flight speed at an altitude of 17 km, km/h (M=)		2430 (2,35)
Cruise speed, km/h (M=)		2300
Approach speed, km/h		290
Landing speed, km/h		270
Practical flight range (supersonic), km		2920
Practical ceiling, m		20000
Mileage, m		1500

Passenger supersonic

Experienced Tu-144 at the LII airfield [JPEG 700x197 22]

Successes in the creation of supersonic combat aircraft in the 1950s, including those of a heavy class, created a favorable environment for studying the possibility of creating a supersonic aircraft. passenger aircraft(THX). In the second half of the 1950s, first experimental and then serial supersonic heavy military aircraft appeared on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and, almost immediately, on their basis, the world's leading aviation firms prepared projects of ATP of various aerodynamic and layout schemes. A detailed analysis and further study of the proposed ATP projects based on the first supersonic bombers showed that the creation of an effective competitive ATP by modifying a military prototype is an extremely difficult task (in contrast to the process of creating the first jet passenger aircraft based on subsonic heavy combat aircraft). The first supersonic combat heavy aircraft, in terms of their design solutions, basically met the requirements of a relatively short-term supersonic flight. For ATP, it was required to ensure a long cruising flight at speeds corresponding to at least M = 2, plus the specifics of the task of transporting passengers required a significant increase in the reliability of all elements of the aircraft structure, subject to more intensive operation, taking into account the increase in the duration of flights in supersonic modes. Gradually, analyzing all possible options for technical solutions, aviation specialists, both in the USSR and in the West came to the firm opinion that the cost-effective SPS must be designed as a fundamentally new type of aircraft.

In the Design Bureau of A.N. Tupolev, the solution of the problem of designing SPS was approached in the early 60s. The first technical proposals of the Design Bureau for the SPS were mainly based on the projects of long-range bombers: primarily on the projects of the Tu-22 family aircraft ("105A" and "106A" - "134"), as well as the project of the strategic strike aircraft "135" - 135P. Later, when work began on the Tu-144, S.M. Yeger proposed a preliminary design of the Tu-144 with NK-144 engines, which, in terms of its layout solutions, repeated the Tu-135P project. In addition to the Design Bureau of A.N. Tupolev, OKB-23 of V.M. Myasishcheva was engaged in preliminary study on the topic of ATP in the USSR. At the end of the 50s, this design bureau prepared proposals for several original SPS projects (M-53, M-55A, M-55B and M-55V).

The beginning of the 60s was marked by the deployment of practical work on the Anglo-French ATP "Concorde" (the beginning of research on the topic in 1955-1956) with a cruising supersonic flight speed of more than M = 2 and a flight range with 120-140 passengers on board 6000-6500 km . At the same time, the main US aviation firms, based on their vision of the future SPS market, began work on designing a much larger SPS than the Concorde, designed to carry 250-300 passengers at a cruising speed of up to M = 3 at a distance of 7000-8000 km (projects Boeing, Lockheed, Douglas).

Creation

An analysis of the conditions for the existence of the future ATP, carried out in the USSR in relation to the level of domestic aircraft manufacturing and its immediate prospects, as well as the economic capabilities of the country and the needs of the Civil Air Fleet, showed that for the USSR the most preferable way is to create a domestic ATP, according to its expected flight performance data, close to English - French Concorde. During the creation of the Soviet SPS, the domestic aviation science and industry faced a number of scientific and technical problems that our neither subsonic passenger nor military supersonic aviation faced. First of all, to ensure the required performance characteristics of the ATP (double flight at a distance of up to 6500 km with 100-120 passengers, in combination with acceptable takeoff and landing data), it was necessary to provide a significant improvement in the aerodynamic perfection of the aircraft during cruising flights at M = 2-2, 2. The aerodynamic quality in these modes had to be increased to 7.5-8.0, which significantly exceeded the values ​​obtained for the aerodynamic schemes of domestic heavy supersonic combat aircraft of that period (the calculated value of Kmax for M = 2 for the Tu-22 was 4.4 ; for M-50 - 5.5; for M-52 - 5.6; for Tu-135 and M-56 - 6.4). It was necessary to solve the issues of stability and controllability of a heavy aircraft during flights in subsonic, transonic and supersonic regions, to develop practical methods for balancing the aircraft in all these modes, taking into account the minimization of aerodynamic losses. A long flight at a speed of M = 2 was associated with research and ensuring the structural strength of airframe units at elevated temperatures (close to 100-120 ° C), it was necessary to create heat-resistant structural materials, lubricants, sealants, and also to develop types of structures capable of operating for a long time in conditions of cyclic aerodynamic heating. Very high demands were placed on the units of the power plant: it was necessary to create powerful and economical engines that operate stably in supersonic flight conditions, solve the problems of regulating air intakes operating in a wide range of altitudes and speeds, ensuring the regulation of the required inlet air flow with the smallest possible aerodynamic losses. It was most rational to carry out a long supersonic cruising flight on high altitudes, respectively, the head and modular design bureaus were tasked with developing principles for creating new air conditioning systems, and then specific units and systems that provide comfortable conditions for passengers and crew at high altitudes (up to 20 km) and during long flights with significant heating of airframe structural elements. It was necessary to create a number of new devices and systems that provide automatic flight control, accurate navigation in conditions of long-term supersonic flight and automatic landing. There was a need to study the environmental features of the operation of the SPS, associated with the release into the atmosphere a large number engine exhaust gases at high altitudes and their effect on the ozone layer, the impact of noise and sonic boom on people, animals and buildings, the impact of long flights at high altitudes on passengers and crew associated with exposure to solar radiation. When creating the SPS, based on the conditions for its painless implementation into the existing transport system, it was necessary to take into account the peculiarities of domestic and international systems when designing the ATP air transportation, existing airports and air traffic control.

All these tasks, with the involvement of Western experience to a certain extent, were studied in detail at TsAGI, at the A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau, and other design bureaus involved in the program for creating the Soviet SPS. The official basis for the start of work on the domestic first-generation SPS (SPS-1), designated Tu-144, was the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 798-271 of July 16, 1963 and the Order of the MAP No. 276 of July 26 of the same year. OKB A.N. Tupolev was asked to design and build an ATP with a cruising flight speed of 2300-2700 km / h, the practical range of supersonic flight with 80-100 passengers was stipulated 4000-4500 km; in the reloading version with additional fuel tanks and with 30-50 passengers - 6000-6500 km. Operation from airfields of the first class with a normal takeoff weight of 120-130 tons. It was supposed in 1966-1967 to build 5 copies of the Tu-144 (2 copies for strength tests). Given the technical complexity of obtaining the maximum flight range of the first domestic ATP, it was decided to work in two stages: at the first stage, the practical flight range achieved was to be 4000-4500 km, at the second stage, the Tu-144 was to reach a range of 6500 km. The engines for the Tu-144, in accordance with the recommendations of CIAM, were given by-pass turbofans with afterburners. OKB N.D. Kuznetsov, on the basis of the gas generator DTRD NK-8, it was undertook to create for the future Soviet ATP DTRDF, designated NK-144, with a take-off thrust of 20,000 kgf and a specific fuel consumption in supersonic cruising mode at the level of 1.35-1.45 kg / kgf hour. It should be noted that the success of the Tu-144 project to a large extent depended on the success of the engine builders. The choice for the Tu-144 DTRDF, operating on afterburner in cruising modes, was by no means disputable, it made it possible for the Tu-144 to get a less stressful engine in terms of temperature (respectively, more reliable and less expensive), as well as a more optimized engine for flying in a wide range of altitudes and speeds than in the case of choosing a single-circuit turbojet engine. Great doubts were caused by the possibility of obtaining moderate fuel consumption in cruising modes on this type of engine and, as a result, ensuring the required flight range. All this was not a big secret either for Tupolev or for MAP.

Even at the stage of designing the Myasishchev supersonic strategic carriers M-50 / M-52 and M-56, as well as the development of the SPS M-53 and M-55 projects, OKB-23 received calculated results indicating that an acceptable supersonic range could be obtained flight on a heavy aircraft is quite realistic, provided that engines with specific fuel consumption within 1.2 kg / kgf hour are used. Such an engine was created in prototypes by the beginning of the 60s in the USSR - it was a single-circuit non-afterburning turbojet engine "16-17" (take-off thrust 18000 kgf, specific fuel consumption in cruising mode 1.15 k / kgf hour), developed in the Design Bureau -16 P.F.Zubtsa. The Anglo-French, choosing the type of engine for their Concorde, went through an intermediate compromise path, choosing for it a single-circuit turbofan Bristol "Olympus" 593 with a small degree of forcing and specific fuel consumption in afterburner 1,327 kg / kgf hour (takeoff thrust in afterburner 17200 kgf) . Unfortunately, work on Myasishchev's projects of heavy supersonic machines was closed, respectively, in the early 60s, the development line of powerful economical non-afterburning single-circuit turbojet engines was temporarily interrupted in the USSR (0KB-16 was transferred to the subject of solid rocket engines), and, as a result, to the beginning of the design Tu-144, OKB A.N. Tupolev had to take a technical risk, relying on the DTRDF NK-144. Soon, in 1964, when the design of the Tu-144 with the NK-144 was in full swing, it was decided to revive work on economical powerful non-afterburning turbojet engines for the ATP: in OKB-36, under the leadership of P.A. Kolesov, the design of a single-circuit turbojet engine RD-36- 51 for the Tu-144 with a maximum takeoff thrust of 20,000 kgf and an expected specific fuel consumption in supersonic cruising flight of 1.23 kg/kgf h long-range supersonic attack aircraft T-4 OKB P.O. Sukhoi).

Andrey Nikolaevich decided to entrust the design of the Tu-144 to Department "K", which had previously dealt with unmanned vehicles and had sufficient experience in the field of mastering long-term flight at speeds exceeding M = 2 (Tu-121 strike unmanned aircraft, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft - serial Tu-123 and experienced Tu-139). Andrey Nikolayevich appointed A.A. Tupolev as the chief designer and head of work on the Tu-144. It was under his leadership, with the involvement of the best forces of domestic aviation science and technology, that the ideology and future appearance of the Tu-144 was born in the K Department. Later, after the death of A.N. Tupolev and the appointment of A.A. Tupolev as the head of the enterprise, the topic of the Tu-144 was led by Yu.N. Popov and B.A. Gantsevsky. Soon, the Tu-144 becomes one of the main and priority topics in the activities of the Design Bureau and the entire MAP for the next 10 years.

The aerodynamic appearance of the Tu-144 was determined mainly by obtaining a long range of flight in supersonic cruising mode, provided that the required stability and controllability characteristics and the specified take-off and landing characteristics were obtained. Based on the promised specific costs of the NK-144, at the initial design stage, the task was to obtain Kmax = 7 in the cruising supersonic flight mode. According to the total economic, technological, weight considerations, the number M of a cruise flight was taken to be 2.2. During the development of the aerodynamic layout of the Tu-144 at the Design Bureau and TsAGI, several dozen options. The "normal" scheme with horizontal tail in the rear fuselage was studied, but it was abandoned, since such tail gave up to 20% in the overall balance of the aircraft's drag. They also abandoned the "duck" scheme, evaluating the problem of the influence of the destabilizer on the main wing. Finally, based on the conditions for obtaining the required aerodynamic quality and obtaining minimal focus differences at subsonic and supersonic speeds, we settled on a low-wing scheme - "tailless" with a composite delta wing of an ogival shape (the wing was formed by two triangular surfaces with a sweep angle along the leading edge of 78 ° - for the front influx parts and 55 ° - for the rear base part), with four DTRDFs located under the wing, with vertical tail located along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and a tricycle retractable landing gear. The design of the airframe mainly used traditional aluminum alloys. The wing was formed from symmetrical profiles and had a complex twist in two directions: in the longitudinal and transverse. This achieved the best flow around the wing surface in supersonic mode, in addition, such a twist contributed to the improvement of longitudinal balancing in this mode. Elevons were placed along the entire trailing edge of the wing, consisting of four sections on each half-wing. The wing structure is multi-spar, with a powerful working skin made of solid plates made of aluminum alloys, the central part of the wing and elevons were made of titanium alloys. The elevon sections were powered by two irreversible boosters. The rudder was also deflected with the help of irreversible boosters and consisted of two independent sections. The aerodynamic shape of the fuselage was chosen from the conditions for obtaining the minimum drag in supersonic mode. In order to achieve this, they even went to some complication of the design of the aircraft. A characteristic feature of the Tu-144 was the descending, well-glazed bow fuselage in front of the cockpit, which provided good review at high takeoff and landing angles of attack inherent in an aircraft with a low aspect ratio wing. The lowering and lifting of the forward fuselage was carried out using a hydraulic actuator. When designing the deviating non-pressurized part and its units, it was possible to maintain the smoothness of the skin at the joints of the movable part with the pressurized cabin and the rest of the fuselage surface.

The shape of the engine nacelles was determined mainly by layout considerations and the conditions for the reliability of the power plant. Four DTRDF NK-144 were placed under the wing close to each other. Each engine had its own air intake, and two adjacent air intakes were combined into a common unit. Underwing air intakes - flat with a horizontal wedge. The flow deceleration at supersonic flight speeds was carried out in three oblique shocks, in a direct closing shock, and in a subsonic diffuser. The operation of each air intake was provided by an automatic control system that changed the position of the wedge panels and the bypass flap depending on the operating mode of the NK-144 engine. The length of the engine nacelles was determined by the size of the engines and the requirements of TsAGI and TsIAM to ensure the necessary length of the air intake channels for the normal operation of the engines. It should be noted that, in contrast to the design of the air intakes and engines of the Concorde, where this process went as a whole, the design of the NK-144 and engine nacelles with air intakes went as two largely independent processes, which led to some extent to oversized engine nacelles and in the future to many mutual inconsistencies in the operation of engines and air intake systems. It was supposed, as on the Concorde, to introduce a landing braking system due to the engine reverse, it was planned to install the reverse on the two extreme engines (the reverse system was not completed, as a result, the experimental and production vehicles were operated with a braking parachute).

Cabin equipment Tu-144 [JPEG 468x300 44]

The main landing gear retracted into the wing, the front landing gear retracted into the front of the fuselage in the space between the two air intake blocks. The small construction height of the wing required a reduction in the size of the wheels; as a result, a twelve-wheeled bogie with relatively small diameter wheels was used in the main landing gear. The main fuel supply was located in the wing caisson tanks. The front caisson tanks of the wing and an additional keel tank served to balance the aircraft. The main work on the choice of the optimal aerodynamic scheme of the Tu-144 in the design bureau was headed by G.A. Cheremukhin, the unit headed by V.M. On the Tu-144, in fact, many fundamental solutions of the remote control system were applied, in particular, the steering units of the drive of the aircraft controls worked out the signals of the system for improving stability and controllability along the longitudinal and track channels. In some modes, this measure made it possible to fly with static instability. The choice of the ideology of the Tu-144 control system is largely the merit of G.F. Naboyshchikov. In creating and bringing this fundamentally new system management, a great contribution was made by L.M. Rodnyansky, who previously worked on control systems at the OKB P.O. Sukhoi and V.M. Myasishchev, and in the early 60s did a lot to fine-tune the very "raw" control system of the Tu-22. The cockpit was designed taking into account the requirements of modern ergonomics, it was carried out for four: the first and second pilots occupied the two front seats, the flight engineer was placed behind them, the fourth place on the first experimental machine was intended for the experimental engineer. In the future, it was supposed to limit the crew to three pilots. The decoration and layout of the Tu-144 passenger compartment corresponded to the world requirements for modern design and comfort; the latest finishing materials were used in their decoration. The flight and navigation equipment of the Tu-144 was equipped with the most advanced systems that domestic avionics could give at that time: a perfect autopilot and on-board electronic computer automatically maintained the course; pilots could see on the screen located on the dashboard, where in this moment the plane is located and how many kilometers are left to the destination; landing approach was carried out automatically at any time of the day with difficult weather conditions etc. - all this was a serious leap forward for our aviation.

The Tu-144 model was first shown in 1965 at the Paris Air Show, where it was announced that the first flight was scheduled for 1968.

The construction of the first experimental aircraft Tu-144 ("044") began in 1965, at the same time a second copy was built for static tests. The experimental "044" was originally designed for 98 passengers, later this figure was increased to 120. Accordingly, the estimated take-off weight increased from 130 tons to 150 tons. The experimental machine was built in Moscow in the workshops of the MMZ "Experience", some of the units were manufactured at its branches. In 1967, the assembly of the main elements of the aircraft was completed. At the end of 1967, the experimental "044" was transported to ZHLI and DB, where throughout 1968 finishing work was carried out and the machine was completed with the missing systems and assemblies.

Tests

At the same time, flights of the MiG-21I analogue aircraft (A-144, "21-11"), created on the basis of the MiG-21S fighter, began at the LII airfield. The analogue was created in the Design Bureau of A.I. Mikoyan and had a wing geometrically and aerodynamically similar to the wing of the experimental "044". In total, two 21-11 machines were built, many test pilots flew them, including those who were to test the Tu-144, in particular E.V. Elyan. An analogue aircraft was successfully flown up to a speed of 2500 km/h and the materials of these flights served as the basis for the final adjustment of the Tu-144 wing, and also allowed the test pilots to prepare for the behavior of an aircraft with such a wing.

At the end of 1968, the experimental "044" (tail number 68001) was ready for the first flight. A crew was appointed to the car, consisting of: the commander of the ship - the honored test pilot E.V. Elyan (who later received the Hero of the Soviet Union for the Tu-144); co-pilot - Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov; lead test engineer V.N. Benderov and flight engineer Yu.T. Seliverstov. Taking into account the novelty and unusualness of the new car, the Design Bureau made an extraordinary decision: for the first time, it was decided to install ejection seats for the crew on an experimental passenger car. During the month, there were engine races, runs, final ground checks of systems. From the beginning of the third decade of December 1968, "044" was in pre-launch readiness, the car and crew were completely ready for the first flight, during all these ten days there was no weather over the LII airfield and the experimental Tu-144 remained on the ground. Finally, on the last day of the outgoing 1968, 25 seconds after the moment of launch, "044" for the first time broke away from the runway of the LII airfield and quickly gained altitude. The first flight lasted 37 minutes, in flight the car was accompanied by an analogue aircraft "21-11". According to the crew, the car proved to be obedient and "flying". The first flight was attended by A.N. Tupolev, A.A. Tupolev, many heads of OKB departments.

The first flight of the Tu-144 was an event of world significance and an important moment in the history of domestic and world aviation. For the first time, a supersonic passenger aircraft took to the air, and it was an aircraft built in the USSR; the first Concorde would fly only on March 2, 1969. It has been proven in practice that heavy tailless aircraft have citizenship rights in the USSR (before this flight, everything was limited to a large number of heavy tailless aircraft projects).

The second flight (50 min) took place on January 8, 1969, and six months later, on June 5, 1969, the prototype aircraft exceeded supersonic speed for the first time at an altitude of 11000 m, by May 1970 the car was flying at speeds M = 1.25-1.6 at altitudes up to 15000 m. May 26, 1970 Tu-144 for the first time in history civil aviation reached a speed of 2150 km / h (M = 2) at an altitude of 16300 m. On November 12, 1970, in an hour-long flight, “044” flew for half an hour at a speed exceeding 2000 km / h, at an altitude of 16960 m a maximum speed of 2430 km / h was reached. By the fall of 1970, the prototype had flown 100 hours.

The aircraft was shown publicly for the first time on May 21, 1970 at the Sheremetyevo airport. During the tests, an experimental machine repeatedly flew outside the USSR, in May-June 1971, "044" took part in the salon at Le Bourget, where she first "met" with the Anglo-French Concorde. Her flight to Bulgaria took only 1 hour: taking off in Moscow at 9 am, he landed in Sofia also at 9 am. Cruising speed at an altitude of 16 km was 2300 km / h. This height was gained at a distance of about 350 km in 18 minutes.

Design

The Tu-144 is a tailless low-wing aircraft. An ogival wing with a downwardly deflected toe has a leading edge sweep angle of 78° in the near-fuselage parts and 55° throughout the rest. The aircraft wing (lengthening 1.74 and narrowing 7, multi-spar design) consists of the main and detachable parts and has a caisson structure with a power-loaded skin in the form of milled large-sized waffle-structure panels made of high-strength aluminum alloys.

The aircraft is controlled using four-section elevons (on each console) and a two-section rudder located on the classic vertical tail. The keel of the aircraft, as well as the wing, of a multi-spar design, is made integral with the tail section of the fuselage. The internal volume of the keel is used as a fuel caisson tank.

The circular fuselage has a cockpit nose fairing that deviates downward at an angle of 12° during takeoff and 17° during landing. The cockpit glazing of the prototype consists of two front and side windows. The nose cone is equipped with four longitudinal elongated side windows, providing forward visibility during its rise and in cruise flight. The fuselage of the prototype was designed to accommodate 100-121 passengers.

The fuselage, consisting of stringers, beams and frames fastened to the skin, is structurally divided into 3 parts: nose, center and tail. In the bow there is a cockpit (with a canopy inscribed in the contours of the fuselage) and a deflectable nose cone, made in the form of a multilayer structure made of fiberglass with honeycomb filler. The central part, in which the passenger compartments are located, together with the bow constitutes a single sealed compartment. The edging of the portholes, entrance, service and emergency doors are made of milled panels. The tail part of the fuselage, being a fuel caisson tank, is sealed. Its tip is a brake parachute container.

Chassis - tricycle. The front strut has twin wheels. In prototypes, the main racks were equipped with 12-wheeled bogies (3 axles) retractable in the wing console. Such a scheme for cleaning the landing gear was due to the fact that, unlike the Concorde, the space under the fuselage was occupied by a package of engines. To accommodate the wheels in the wing had to reduce their diameter and increase the number.

The airframe of the aircraft is designed for a resource of 30,000 hours and is made of aluminum and titanium alloys (mainly in the form of monolithic enlarged structures). Titanium alloys are widely used in the construction of air intakes, engine nacelles and wings.

Equipment. The aircraft is equipped with modern electronic equipment that provides automatic control during takeoff, in flight and landing in difficult meteorological conditions. For the first time on a domestic passenger aircraft, flight and navigation equipment was made using digital computing technology. Thanks to this, the aircraft crew consists of only three people: two pilots and a flight engineer (the flight route is also controlled by on-board automation). The aircraft is controlled by an electro-hydraulic system with irreversible hydraulic boosters. In the channels of pitch, heading and roll, automatic loading of the command control levers is used, functioning depending on the angle of their deviation, as well as the speed and altitude of the flight. In the pitch channel, in addition, an automatic balancing system is used.

All main aircraft systems have multiple redundancy, which significantly increases reliability. In general, the Tu-144 was created in accordance with international airworthiness standards for passenger aircraft.

Power point.

The prototype aircraft used a power plant consisting of four NK-144 turbofan engines designed by N.D. Kuznetsova. The engines were installed in a package under the fuselage, which reduced the possible turning moment when some of them failed. The outlet of the nozzles is located in a plane lying approximately on half of the chord of the elevons. Multi-mode bypass engines with afterburner were supposed to make it possible to operate the Tu-144 both on medium (subsonic flight) and long-range (supersonic) routes.

The first prototype aircraft had two external engines equipped with thrust reversers. Due to the large power supply, wing mechanization, braking devices and thrust reverser, the operation of the Tu-144 is possible at all class 1 airfields with concrete runways 3000 m long, designed to receive modern subsonic heavy jet aircraft. However, on the aircraft demonstrated in 1971, the thrust reverser was replaced by a drag parachute. The engines are equipped with individual adjustable rectangular air intakes. The position of the air intakes relative to the fuselage corresponds to the position of the oblique shock waves under the wing when flying at cruising speed.

Fuel is placed in caisson wing tanks (about 70,000 kg in experimental aircraft). The aircraft has balance tanks, which are located in the rear of the fuselage and wing bulges and are designed to change the position of the center of gravity of the aircraft during the transition from subsonic flight speed to supersonic.

The explosion safety of fuel tanks is ensured by double nitriding of the fuel.

State

The 044 was powered by experimental NK-144 engines with a specific fuel consumption in supersonic cruising mode of 2.23 kg / kgf hour, with such specific costs in tests, the Tu-144 managed to reach a supersonic flight range of 2920 km, which was significantly less than the required range . In addition, during the test, they encountered some design flaws: during flights, increased vibration and heating of the rear fuselage from a quad engine package were observed, even titanium structures did not help out. Having completed the test flight program "044" (about 150 flights in total), it remained in one prototype. Nothing more was required of her; she fulfilled her task of proving the technical feasibility of creating a supersonic passenger aircraft in the USSR. It was necessary to move further, improving the design of the aircraft and engines.

"Supersonic aircraft" / E. Tsikhos /

"Encyclopedia of weapons" / "Cyril and Methodius", 1998 - CD-ROM /

"Develop aircraft of the world" / R.I. Vinogradov, A.N. Ponomarev, 1991 /

"Airplanes of the country of the Soviets" / B.L. Simakov, V.B. Shavrov, 1974 /

In the Soviet Union, the design bureau of Academician Andrey Tupolev was engaged in the creation of the Tu-144 supersonic aircraft. At a preliminary meeting of the Design Bureau in January 1963, Tupolev said: “Thinking about the future of air transportation of people from one continent to another, you come to an unambiguous conclusion: supersonic airliners are undoubtedly needed, and I have no doubt that they will come into life ...” He was appointed the lead designer of the project son of the academician - Alexei Tupolev. More than a thousand specialists from other organizations closely cooperated with his design bureau. The creation of the aircraft was preceded by extensive theoretical and experimental work, which included numerous tests in wind tunnels and natural conditions during flights of an analog aircraft.

The developers had to rack their brains to find the optimal machine layout. The speed of the designed liner is fundamentally important - 2500 or 3000 km / h. The Americans, having learned that the Concorde is designed for 2500 km / h, said that they would release their passenger Boeing 2707, made of steel and titanium, only six months later. Only these materials withstood the heating of the structure in contact with the air flow at speeds of 3000 km/h and above without destructive consequences. However, solid steel and titanium structures still have to undergo serious technological and operational testing. This will take a long time, and Tupolev decides to build the Tu-144 from duralumin, based on a speed of 2500 km / h. The American Boeing project was subsequently closed altogether.

In June 1965, the model was shown at the annual Paris Air Show. Concorde and Tu-144 turned out to be strikingly similar to each other. Soviet designers said - nothing surprising: the general shape of the aircraft is determined by the laws of aerodynamics and the requirements for a certain type of machine.

But what should be the shape of the aircraft wing? We settled on a thin triangular wing with an outline of the leading edge in the form of the letter "8". The tailless scheme - inevitable with such a design of the carrier plane - made the supersonic liner stable and well controlled in all flight modes. Four engines were located under the fuselage, closer to the axis of the aircraft. Fuel is placed in caisson wing tanks. Balance tanks, located in the rear fuselage and wing bulges, are designed to change the position of the aircraft's center of gravity during the transition from subsonic to supersonic flight speeds. The nose of the plane was made sharp and smooth. But how in this case to provide pilots with a forward view? They found a way out - "bowing nose". The circular section fuselage had a cockpit nose cone deflecting downward at an angle of 12 degrees during takeoff and 17 degrees during landing.

For the first time Tu-144 takes to the skies on the last day of 1968. The machine was driven by test pilot E. Yelyan. As a passenger aircraft TU-144, the world's first overcame the speed of sound in early June 1969, being at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The Tu-144 took the second speed of sound (2M) in the middle of 1970, being at an altitude of 16.3 kilometers. The Tu-144 incorporated many design and technical innovations. Here I would like to note such a decision as the front horizontal tail. When using the PGO, the flight maneuverability was improved and the speed was extinguished when the aircraft was landing. The domestic Tu-144 could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English Concorde, having a high landing speed, could land only at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a tremendous job. Take, for example, full-scale tests of the wing of a new aircraft. They took place on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I aircraft, specially converted for testing the design and equipment of the wing of the future Tu-144.

Work on the development of the basic design of the "044" aircraft went in two directions: the creation of a new economical non-afterburning turbojet engine of the RD-36-51 type and a significant improvement in the aerodynamics and design of the Tu-144. The result of this was to meet the requirements for the range of supersonic flight. The decision of the commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the Tu-144 version with RD-36-51 was adopted in 1969. At the same time, at the suggestion of the MAP - MGA, a decision is made, until the creation of the RD-36-51 and their installation on the Tu-144, to build six Tu-144s with NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial Tu-144s with NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, to make significant changes in the aerodynamics of the aircraft, having received Kmax over 8 in supersonic cruising mode. This modernization was supposed to ensure that the requirements of the first stage in terms of range (4000-4500 km), were later transition in the series to RD-36-51.

Clickable 2000 px

The construction of the pre-production modernized aircraft Tu-144 ("004") began at the MMZ "Experience" in 1968. According to the calculated data with the NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the expected supersonic range should have been 3275 km, and with the NK-144A (Ср=1.91) exceed 3500 km In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft in cruising mode M=2.2, the wing shape was changed in plan (the swept part along the leading edge was reduced to 76 °, and the base was increased to 57 °), the shape of the wing became closer to the "Gothic". Compared to the "044", the wing area increased, a more intense conical twist of the wing tips was introduced. However, the most important innovation in wing aerodynamics was the change in the middle part of the wing, which ensured self-balancing in cruising mode with minimal losses quality, taking into account optimization for flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased, taking into account the accommodation of 150 passengers, the shape of the nose was improved, which also had a positive effect on the aerodynamics of the aircraft.

Unlike the "044", each pair of engines in twin engine nacelles with air intakes was moved apart, freeing the lower part of the fuselage from them, unloading it from increased temperature and vibration loads, while changing the lower surface of the wing in the place of the calculated flow compression area, increasing the gap between the lower surface of the wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of preloading the flow at the inlet to the air intakes at Kmax than it was possible to get on "044". The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes in the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with their cleaning inside between the air channels of the engines, they switched to an eight-wheeled bogie, and the cleaning scheme of the nose landing gear also changed. An important difference between "004" and "044" was the introduction of a front multi-section destabilizer wing retractable in flight, which was extended from the fuselage in takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to provide the required balancing of the aircraft with deflected elevons-flaps. Improvements in the design, an increase in the payload and fuel supply led to an increase in the take-off weight of the aircraft, which exceeded 190 tons (for "044" - 150 tons).

The construction of the pre-production Tu-144 No. 01-1 (tail number 77101) was completed at the beginning of 1971, on June 1, 1971 the aircraft made its first flight. According to the program of factory tests, the machine performed 231 flights, lasting 338 hours, of which 55 hours the aircraft flew at supersonic speed. On this machine, complex issues were worked out - issues of interaction between the power plant and the aircraft in various flight modes. On September 20, 1972, the car made a flight along the Moscow-Tashkent route, while the route was completed in 1 hour 50 minutes, cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km / h. The pre-production machine became the basis for the deployment of mass production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which, by decision of the government, was entrusted with the development of the Tu-144 series.

The first flight of serial Tu-144 No. 01-2 (tail number 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, according to the results of tests of the pre-production machine, the aerodynamics of the wing was corrected and its area was slightly increased again. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. The specific fuel consumption of NK-144A by the time of operational testing of serial machines was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg / kgf hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and later up to 1.57 kg / kgf hour, while the flight range should was to increase to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km respectively. In fact, by 1977, during tests and refinements of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, Cp = 1.81 kg / kgf hour in supersonic cruising mode of thrust 5000 kgf, Cp = 1.65 kg / kgf hour in takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20000 kgf, Cp = 0.92 kg / kgf hour in cruising subsonic thrust mode 3000 kgf and in maximum afterburner mode in transonic mode received 11800 kgf. Tu-144 fragment

In a short period of time, in strict accordance with the program, 395 flights were performed with a total flight time of 739 hours, including more than 430 hours in supersonic modes.

At the second stage of operational testing, in accordance with the joint order of the ministers of the aviation industry and civil aviation dated September 13, 1977 No. 149-223, there was a more active connection of civil aviation facilities and services. A new testing commission was formed, headed by Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation B.D. Rough. By decision of the commission, then confirmed by a joint order of September 30 - October 5, 1977, crews were appointed to conduct operational tests:
First crew: pilots B.F. Kuznetsov (Moscow Transport Administration of the Civil Aviation), S.T. Agapov (ZhLIiDB), navigator S.P. Khramov (MTU GA), flight engineers Yu.N. Avaev (MTU GA), Yu.T. Seliverstov (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer S.P. Avakimov (ZhLIiDB).
The second crew: pilots V.P. Voronin (MGU GA), I.K. Vedernikov (ZhLIiDB), navigator A.A. Senyuk (MTU GA), flight engineers E.A. Trebuntsov (MTU GA) and V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer V.V. Isaev (GosNIIGA).
The third crew: pilots M.S. Kuznetsov (GosNIIGA), G.V. Voronchenko (ZhLIiDB), navigator V.V. Vyazigin (GosNIIGA), flight engineers M.P. Isaev (MTU GA), V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer V.N. Poklad (ZhLIiDB).
The fourth crew: pilots N.I. Yurskov (GosNIIGA), V.A. Sevankaev (ZhLIiDB), navigator Yu.A. Vasiliev (GosNIIGA), flight engineer V.L. Venediktov (GosNIIGA), leading engineer I.S. Mayboroda (GosNIIGA).

Prior to the start of the tests, a lot of work was done to review all the materials received in order to use them “for offsetting” the fulfillment of specific requirements. However, despite this, some civil aviation specialists insisted on the implementation of the Tu-144 Aircraft Operational Test Program, developed at GosNIIGA back in 1975 under the guidance of lead engineer A.M. Teteryukov. This program required, in fact, the repetition of previously completed flights in the amount of 750 flights (1200 flight hours) on the MGA routes.

The total volume of operational flights and tests for both stages will amount to 445 flights with 835 flight hours, of which 475 hours are in supersonic modes. 128 paired flights were performed on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.

The final stage of testing was not strenuous from a technical point of view. Rhythmic work on schedule was provided without serious failures and major defects. The engineering and technical staff "had fun" assessing household equipment, preparing for passenger transportation. The flight attendants involved in the tests and the relevant specialists of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation began to conduct ground training to work out the technology of servicing passengers in flight. The so-called. "jokes" and two technical flights with passengers. The "Raffle" was held on October 16, 1977, with a complete simulation of the ticket check-in, baggage check-in, passenger boarding, real-time flight, passenger disembarkation, and baggage check-in at the destination airport. From the "passengers" (the best employees of the Design Bureau, ZhLIiDB, GosNIIGA and other organizations) there was no end. The diet in the "flight" was highest level As it was approved from the first class menu, everyone enjoyed it very much. The "draw" made it possible to clarify many important elements and details of passenger service. On October 20 and 21, 1977, two technical flights were made along the Moscow-Alma-Ata route with passengers. The first passengers were employees of many organizations that were directly involved in the creation and testing of the Tu-144 aircraft. Today it is even difficult to imagine the atmosphere on board the aircraft: there was a sense of joy and pride, great hope for development against the backdrop of first-class service, to which technical people are absolutely not accustomed. In the first flights, all the heads of leading institutions and organizations were on board the aircraft.

Technical flights passed without serious remarks and showed the full readiness of the Tu-144 aircraft and all ground services for regular transportation. On October 25, 1977, the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR B.P. Bugaev and Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR V.A. Kazakov approved the main document: "Act on the results of operational tests of the Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144 engines" with a positive conclusion and conclusions.

On the basis of the presented tables of compliance of the Tu-144 aircraft with the requirements of the Interim Airworthiness Standards for Civil Aircraft of the USSR, the full amount of evidence presented, including acts on state and operational tests, on October 29, 1977, the chairman of the State Aviation Register of the USSR I.K. Mulkidzhanov approved the conclusion and signed the USSR's first airworthiness certificate type No. 03-144 for the Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144A engines.

The road for passenger traffic was open.

The Tu-144 could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while the Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% faster, required a separate landing certificate for each airport. According to some experts, if the Concorde engines were placed in the same way as those of the Tu-144, then the accident on July 25, 2000 would not have occurred.

According to experts, the design of the Tu-144 airframe was perfect, but the flaws concerned engines and various systems.

In June 1973, the 30th International Paris Air Show took place in France. The interest generated by the Soviet liner Tu-144, the world's first supersonic passenger jet, was enormous. On June 2, thousands of visitors to the air show in the suburbs of Paris, Le Bourget, watched the second serial Tu-144 take to the runway. The roar of four engines, a powerful run - and now the car is in the air. The sharp nose of the liner straightened and aimed at the sky. The supersonic Tu, piloted by Captain Kozlov, made its first demonstration flight over Paris: having gained the necessary height, the car went beyond the horizon, then returned and made a circle over the airfield. The flight took place in normal mode, no technical problems were noted.

The next day, the Soviet crew decided to show everything that the new aircraft is capable of.

The sunny morning of June 3 did not seem to portend trouble. At first, everything went according to plan - the audience, raising their heads, applauded in unison. Tu-144, showing the "highest class", went down. At that moment, a French Mirage fighter appeared in the air (as it turned out later, he was filming an air show). A collision seemed inevitable. In order not to crash into the airfield and the spectators, the crew commander decided to climb higher and pulled the steering wheel towards himself. However, the height was already lost, large loads were created on the structure; as a result, the right wing cracked and fell off. The plane started a fire, and a few seconds later the blazing Tu-144 rushed to the ground. A terrible landing occurred on one of the streets of the Parisian suburb of Goosenville. The giant machine, destroying everything in its path, crashed to the ground and exploded. The entire crew - six people - and eight Frenchmen on the ground were killed. Goosenville also suffered - several buildings were destroyed. What led to the tragedy? According to most experts, the cause of the disaster was an attempt by the Tu-144 crew to avoid a collision with the Mirage. When landing, the Tu got into a wake from the French Mirage fighter.

This version is given in Gene Alexander's book "Russian Aircraft since 1944" and in a June 11, 1973 article in Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, written in fresh pursuit. The authors believe that pilot Mikhail Kozlov landed on the wrong runway - either by mistake of the flight director, or by the carelessness of the pilots. The controller noticed the mistake in time and warned the Soviet pilots. But instead of going to the second circle, Kozlov laid a sharp turn - and ended up right in front of the nose of the French Air Force fighter. The co-pilot at that time was filming a story about the crew of the Tu for French television with a movie camera and therefore was not wearing a seat belt. During the maneuver, he fell on the center console, and by the time he returned to his seat, the plane had already lost altitude. Kozlov sharply pulled the steering wheel towards himself - overload: the right wing could not stand it. And here is another explanation for the terrible tragedy. Kozlov was ordered to squeeze the maximum out of the car. Even during takeoff, at low speed, he took almost a vertical angle. For an aircraft with this configuration, this is fraught with huge overloads. As a result, one of the external nodes could not stand it and fell off.

According to A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau employees, the cause of the disaster was the connection of a poorly tuned analog control system unit, which led to a destructive overload.

The spy version belongs to the writer James Ahlberg. In short, it is. The Soviets tried to "furnish" the Concorde. Group N.D. Kuznetsova created good engines, but they could not work at low temperatures, unlike the Concorde ones. Then the Soviet intelligence officers got involved. Penkovsky, through his agent Greville Wine, obtained some of the drawings for the Concorde and sent them to Moscow through an East German trade representative. British counterintelligence thus established the leak, but instead of arresting the spy, they decided to let misinformation into Moscow through his own channels. As a result, the Tu-144 was born, very similar to the Concorde. It is difficult to establish the truth, since the "black boxes" did not clarify anything. One was found in Bourges, at the crash site, however, judging by reports, damaged. The second was never found. There is an opinion that the "black box" Tu-144 has become the subject of contention between the KGB and the GRU.

According to the pilots, emergency situations occurred in almost every flight. May 23, 1978 there was a second crash of the Tu-144. An improved experimental version of the aircraft, Tu-144D (No. 77111), after a fuel fire in the area of ​​​​the engine nacelle of the 3rd power plant due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cockpit and the shutdown of two engines by the crew, committed forced landing on a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city of Yegoryevsk.

After landing, the crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin left the plane through the cockpit window. Engineers V. M. Kulesh, V. A. Isaev, V. N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the plane through the front entrance door. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov were caught in the workplace by structures deformed during landing and died. (The deflected nose cone touched the ground first, worked like a bulldozer knife, gaining ground, and turned under the belly, entering the fuselage.) On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot permanently stopped supersonic passenger flights.

Work on improving the Tu-144 aircraft continued for several more years. Five serial aircraft produced; five more were under construction. A new modification has been developed - Tu-144D (long-range). However, the choice of a new engine (more economical), RD-36-51, required a significant redesign of the aircraft, especially the power plant. Serious design gaps in this area led to a delay in the release of the new liner. Only in November 1974 did the serial Tu-144D (tail number 77105) take to the air, and nine (!) years after its first flight, on November 1, 1977, the Tu-144 received an airworthiness certificate. On the same day, passenger flights were opened. During their short operation, the Tu-144 liners carried 3,194 passengers. On May 31, 1978, flights were stopped: a fire broke out on one of the serial Tu-144Ds, and the plane crashed, crashing during an emergency landing.

The catastrophes in Paris and Yegorievsk led to the fact that the state's interest in the project decreased. From 1977 to 1978, 600 problems were identified. As a result, already in the 80s, it was decided to remove the Tu-144, explaining this by "a bad effect on people's health when crossing the sound barrier." Nevertheless, four of the five Tu-144Ds that were in production were nevertheless completed. Later they were based in Zhukovsky and took to the air as flying laboratories. A total of 16 Tu-144 aircraft were built (including long-range modifications), which made a total of 2556 sorties. By the mid-90s, ten of them had survived: four in museums (Monino, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk); one remained at the plant in Voronezh, where it was built; another was in Zhukovsky along with four Tu-144Ds.

Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for cargo transportation between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the Tu-144 made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, 55 of them were passenger flights (3,194 passengers were carried).

Later, Tu-144s only made test flights and a few flights with the aim of setting world records.

On the Tu-144LL, NK-32 engines were installed due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and test control and recording equipment.
In total, 16 Tu-144 aircraft were built, which made a total of 2,556 sorties and flew 4,110 hours (among them, 432 hours, 77144 flew the most). The construction of four more aircraft was never completed.
What happened to the planes

A total of 16 aircraft were built - boards 68001, 77101, 77102, 77105, 77106, 77107, 77108, 77109, 77110, 77111, 77112, 77113, 77114, 77115, 77116 and 77144.
Those remaining in flying condition do not currently exist. The sides of Tu-144LL No. 77114 and Tu-144D No. 77115 are almost fully equipped with parts and can be restored to flight condition.

TU-144LL No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored in a recoverable state at the airfield in Zhukovsky.
TU-144D No. 77115 is also stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2007, both aircraft were repainted and put on public display at the MAKS-2007 air show.

Aircraft No. 77114 and No. 77115 will most likely be installed as monuments or exhibited at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2004-2005, some deals were made with them to sell them for scrap, but the protests of the aviation community led to their preservation. The danger of selling them for scrap has not been completely eliminated. Questions about whose ownership they will pass are not finally resolved.

Blogger igor113 studied the Tu-144 aircraft in the Ulyanovsk field in detail,

From left to right. Six members of the crew of the aircraft TU-144 No. 77102: Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Test Pilot V.M. Molchanov, Navigator G.N. Bazhenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer Major General V. N. Benderov, lead engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Next, the pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy, followed by Vladimir Lavrov on the left, then the first American cosmonaut to land on the moon, Neil Armstrong, then (standing behind the Nile) - Stepan Gavrilovich Korneev (head of the UVS from the department of external relations Presidium of the Academy of Sciences), in the center Tupolev Andrei Nikolaevich - Soviet aircraft designer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Colonel General, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Labor of the RSFSR, then Alexander Alexandrovich Arkhangelsky, chief designer plant, Soviet aircraft designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR, Hero of Socialist Labor. Tupolev Aleksey Andreyevich (son of A.N. Tupolev), far right, is a Russian aircraft designer, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences since 1984, Hero of Socialist Labor. The picture was taken in 1970. Signatures on the photo of G.T. Beregovoy and Neil Armstrong.

source neferjournal

Concord..

Concord accident.

The aircraft is currently out of service due to a crash on July 25, 2000. April 10, 2003 British Airways and Air France announced the decision to cease commercial operation of their Concorde fleet. Latest flights took place on 24 October. The last flight of the Concorde took place on November 26, 2003, the G-BOAF (the last aircraft built) took off from Heathrow, flew over the Bay of Biscay, made a pass over Bristol, and landed at Filton Airport.

Tupolev's supersonic aircraft is often referred to as the "lost generation". Intercontinental flights are recognized as uneconomical: in an hour of flight, the Tu-144 burned eight times more fuel than an ordinary passenger plane. For the same reason, long-distance flights to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok did not justify themselves. It is not advisable to use the supersonic "Tu" as a transport aircraft because of its small carrying capacity. Truth, Passenger Transportation on the Tu-144 nevertheless became a prestigious and profitable business for Aeroflot, although tickets were considered very expensive at that time. Even after the official closure of the project, in August 1984, the head of the Zhukovsky flight test base, Klimov, the head of the design department, Pukhov, and the deputy chief designer, Popov, with the support of supersonic flight enthusiasts, restored and commissioned two Tu-144Ds, and in 1985 obtained permission to carry out flights to set world records. The crews of Aganov and Veremey set more than 18 world records in the class of supersonic aircraft - in terms of speed, rate of climb and range with a load.

On March 16, 1996, a series of Tu-144LL research flights began in Zhukovsky, which marked the beginning of the development of the second generation of supersonic passenger liners.

95-99 years. Tu-144D tail number 77114 was used by the American NASA as a flying laboratory. Received the name Tu-144LL. The main purpose is research and testing of American developments to create our own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger transportation.

Here's a story...

sources
nnm.ru
aminpro.narod.ru
neferjournal.livejournal.com
testpilot.com
igor113.livejournal.com
alexandernaumov.ru
topwar.ru
www.airwar.ru
sergib.agava.ru

Supersonic passenger masterpiece of the Soviet aircraft industry of the late 60s of the twentieth century. Graceful appearance and incredible power. Unthinkable speed, for a civilian model, twice the sound barrier.

Invaluable experience of innovative and aerodynamic technologies of the last century. The tragic fate of the airliner, crew members and innocent people. All of the above went into a dramatic story, the hero of which was a stunningly beautiful aircraft - the Tu-144.

History of creation

The first post-war decade of the 1950s ended with a rapid development jet aviation. In addition to military developments, aircraft designers turned their attention to passenger aircraft models. By this time, technologies to overcome the sound barrier were mastered.

The first manned aircraft to break the speed of sound was the American prototype Bell X-1 in 1947. The production of supersonic F-100 and MiG-19 fighters began almost simultaneously in the USA and the USSR with a difference of one year.

The increased air transportation of passengers around the world raised the question of the possibility of providing air carriers with supersonic aircraft before the designers of the West and Europe. This type of the latest airliners, according to the European leadership of the aviation industry, could provide a number of advantages, including:

• reduction of flight time;
• lack of intermediate landings;
• a new level of comfort;
• world prestige.

The end of the 50s was marked in the international aircraft industry by the beginning of the incredible ambitions of the Supersonic projects. The plane of the future was supposed to carry one hundred passengers at a speed of 2500 km / h. Great Britain began to develop the Bristol-223, and France the Super-Caravelle.

However, the task turned out to be so complicated and expensive that England and France decided to join forces in the joint Concorde project by signing an intergovernmental agreement in 1962.

The United States also entered the race under the Supersonic program, according to which their XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft was supposed to surpass the European model in terms of passenger capacity by 3 times and fly at a speed of 3000 km / h. But the super-ambitious project will be closed in the future.

Soviet designers knew about the secret European project, and even tested the Concorde model in the TsAGI wind tunnel to study the parameters of the wing and fuselage. In addition, mock-ups of the latest supersonic aircraft have been repeatedly exhibited at international air shows.

Khrushchev did not want to give the initiative to the capitalists and in July 1963 the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers issued a decree on the creation of a supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 in the Tupolev Design Bureau.

According to the task, the aircraft had to carry 100 passengers at a speed of 2,700 km/h for a distance of 4,500 km. Subsequently, the range was planned to be increased to 6,500 km.

Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev appointed his son, a successful and ambitious engineer, as the chief designer of the project.

Alexey Tupolev, had experience in creating an unmanned supersonic reconnaissance aircraft Tu-123 "Hawk". The parameters of the military Tu-123 were similar to the new Tu-144 project.

Start of work on the project

The young team led by Alexei Tupolev set to work with enthusiasm. It was necessary to solve a huge number of technical problems in a short time. The design bureau had extensive experience in creating supersonic bombers.

By this time it was already mass-produced. But the design of the passenger model had to start almost from scratch.
The first task arose in choosing the scheme of the new liner.

To lighten the weight, it was decided to remove the tail unit. Next, the issue of the power plant was resolved. Economical engines, as in Europe and the West, did not exist in the Soviet Union.

It was decided that for the first stage of testing in all modes, use a reliable powerful engine developed under the leadership of Nikolai Kuznetsov at the Kuibyshev Motor Plant.

However, Kuznetsov's aircraft engine had a significant drawback. In order for the Tu-144 to be able to fly at supersonic speeds, the power plant had to constantly operate in the extreme afterburner mode.

The limit mode consumed a huge amount of fuel, reducing the flight range. But the designers had to hurry and by any means raise the car into the sky and get ahead of the West.

Several dozen stands were built to test various Tu-144 systems. Hundreds of experiments have been carried out on them. The Tupolev Design Bureau has not yet had such a number of preliminary studies.

One of the main design stages was a full-size mock-up of the aircraft. Breadboarding made it possible to optimally place the equipment, arrange the cabin and passenger compartment.

The first flight

The first experimental machine was assembled in the workshops of the Moscow Engineering Plant "Experience", as Tupolev's company was called at that time. The aircraft was built in a wide cooperation. Thousands of enterprises of the country were involved in the work.

In Kuibyshev, rudders, elevons and the main landing gear were made. In Voronezh, they made a detachable part of the wing and the nose gear. The Mi-10 helicopter crane was used to transport large structures to Moscow.

The main part of the fuselage and the keel were produced at a branch plant in the village of Tomilino near Moscow. Then they were transported to Moscow, where the installation of all parts of the aircraft took place.

At the beginning of 1968, the aircraft was delivered to the city of Zhukovsky. Transporting such a bulky cargo was a difficult task. The Tu-144 was transported between the factory buildings with pinpoint accuracy.

The final assembly took place on the territory of the Zhukovsky flight test and development base. The work went on around the clock on a three-shift schedule, this was required by the tight deadlines.

The territory of the base was regularly visited by high authorities for personal control of the final stage of work. On December 31, 1968, at 13:25, air traffic controllers gave the go-ahead for the first takeoff of the Tu-144. The flight lasted 38 minutes and the aircraft showed excellent results.

In the West, the news of the first flight of the Tu-144 caused a wide resonance. In the Supersonic race, the Soviet aircraft outperformed the Concorde by two months. The press attributed industrial espionage to the Soviets, but few people know about the fact of cooperation between the USSR, France and Great Britain in the development of this type of aircraft.

Design

The Tu-144 is made according to the aerodynamic configuration of a tailless supersonic aircraft. The fuselage body is in the form of an elongated semi-monocoque tube with stringers and frames.

Outside, the case is sheathed with a thin and at the same time very durable material (based on titanium alloys), which was not used in conventional aircraft construction.

Such an innovative measure is caused by high temperature loads, reaching +130 degrees Celsius or more at supersonic Mach 2.

Glider

The fuselage body can be considered in the form of three blocks. The first block consisted of a cockpit and a nose fairing, which was lowered during takeoff and landing to improve visibility.

Behind the canopy there was a retractable front horizontal tail unit for effective takeoff and landing (PGO). The second block is the central part, which housed the salon for passengers, capable of accommodating from 90 to 150 people.

The third block is the rear part of the fuselage, which housed the fuel tank, where fuel was pumped after takeoff to switch to supersonic mode, a block container with a brake parachute and the keel of the aircraft.

The front part of the wing of the airliner had two angles in relation to the fuselage. The line started from the hull at an angle of 76° and reached 57° by the end of the wing. In the design of the wing, an integration scheme of ailerons and an elevator was used, which creates controls - elevons.

Avionics

The aircraft was equipped with an onboard electronic computer center, which was directly involved in the control of the aircraft. However, in terms of its characteristics, it lagged behind the similar automation of the Concorde, but was not as capricious as in the European version.

The plane made an automatic landing, and the time of day did not matter.

Also, a PIN was installed in the design - a projection navigation indicator, which was similar to a modern GPS system. For that time, these were the most advanced scientific and technical developments.

Aircraft engines

The power plant consisted of four aircraft engines of the Kuibyshev plant - TRD NK-144A on the first experimental model and aircraft engines of the Rybinsk plant RD-36-51A on production models.

The latter version was specially developed for the Tu-144, and was the world's first gas turbine aircraft engine for long-term supersonic operation without the use of an afterburner.

The placement of the engines was done in pairs to reduce the aggressive effect of the flame on the tail section. The nozzles went beyond the cut of the wing. Each aircraft engine had an individual air intake.

Additionally, an auxiliary aircraft engine was installed, which could be started in flight or used during diagnostics of systems in the parking lot or air conditioning, supplying the aircraft with electricity.

Somewhat controversial was the decision to place the engines under the center section. The air intakes were quite close to the nose landing gear. It was possible to increase the throwing of dust and dirt into the engines and, as an option, their failure.

Chassis

In the design of the Tu-144 aircraft, a tricycle chassis with a nose strut was used. The main supports had eight wheels with brake drums and were retracted into the wheel arch between the air intakes by means of hydraulic cylinders.

The front landing gear is equipped with two wheels, a steering rod and was retracted into an unpressurized niche of the fuselage along the axis of the aircraft using hydraulic cylinders.

Fuel system

Fuel tanks (18 pcs) were located in the wings. Before the transition of the aircraft to supersonic mode, the fuel was pumped into the central expendable fuel tank located in the rear of the fuselage.

It should be noted that the fuel system was equipped with duplicated security and fire extinguishing systems, at a level superior to passenger aircraft of that time.

Specifications

To date, SPS airliner operations have taken a pause that will last an unknown amount of time. Almost 15 years ago, the last Concorde flight took place on November 26, 2003 between Heathrow and Filton airports in the UK.

The European "Supersonic" served 24 years longer than the only competitor Tu-144. However, the Soviet aircraft had a number of advantages over its European counterpart.

Speed

The planes of competing countries developed a staggering speed, exceeding the speed of sound twice. The settings were similar. However, the Soviet liner Tu-144 surpassed the Concorde in cruising speed, developing 2300 km / h against 2150 km / h of the European.

Cruise speed is the basic speed of the aircraft, at which the ratio of fuel consumption and distance traveled over a period of time is optimal.

Interesting fact! The supersonic flight from the UK to the US moved passengers back in time, as the Concorde arrived in New York two hours before it departed from London. This result was achieved by quickly overcoming time zones.

Capacity

The Soviet liner accommodated 150 passengers in a fairly spacious cabin with a five-row seating arrangement. The European model could accommodate about 100 air passengers, the cabin was narrower and the seats were placed in four rows.

The foreign liner had a modification capable of accommodating more than 140 people, but this model was not found practical application. However, in defense of the Concorde, it is worth noting that the interior trim is much more luxurious and ergonomic than the Soviet liner. This also applies to the cockpit.

practical ceiling

The Tu-144 aircraft could climb to a maximum altitude of 20,000 m, while the Concorde reached a maximum altitude of 18,300 m.

Engines

All power plants on the experimental and serial Tu models (004, 144-D, 144-LL, 144-C) outperformed the Olympus-593 power plant of the international development of the British company Rolls-Royce and the French airline SNECMA in thrust.

The thrust of the foreign aircraft engine was 170.0 kN, against the weakest Soviet aircraft engine NK-144 with an indicator of 171.6 kN and the most powerful aircraft engine NK-32-1 with an indicator of 245.0 kN.

It is worth noting that, unlike Soviet developments, significant restrictions were introduced for foreign engines in terms of fuel consumption, noise conditions and environmental friendliness. This largely led to such a lag in power.

Development time

This advantage is hardly worth considering, since it is not entirely estimated. However, the fact of a shorter program from the beginning of design to the debut flight remains with the Soviet Union.

The Tu-144 was the first to take to the air and six months later became the first passenger airliner in the world to break the speed of sound. Both competing aircraft had shortcomings that were subject to elimination for a long time in operation.

For example, "Concorde" until the mid-1980s brought losses covered by the governments of Great Britain and France. Only after serious improvements did Supersonic reach a profitable level.

Parameters/models	Tu-144S	Concord
Length, m	65,70	61,66
Height, m	12,50	12,20
Wingspan, m	28,80	25,60
Wing area, m/sq	507	358,6
Maximum weight, kg	195 000	185 000
15 000	13 400
Mass of fuel, kg	95 000	95 700
Maximum speed, km/h	2500	2300
cruising supersonic speed, km/h	2200	2150
Maximum flight range with load, km	3080	6470
Landing speed, km/h	270	295
Fuel consumption, kg/h	26 000	20 500
Crew, people	4	3

Operation history and inglorious end

Four years after the first flight of the Soviet SPS, the Tu-144 was presented at the international air show in Le Bourget. The first day of flights of the Soviet aircraft was successful.

However, a competitor, the Concorde airliner, was present at the air show, during the demonstration the aircraft showed a rather interesting number, entering the runway and hitting it with the wheels of the landing gear, the liner went into the sky with a candle. The Soviet delegation instructed the Soviet pilots to repeat the maneuver of the "European" on the Tu-144.

The management's decision confused the crew, but the order was not discussed. The next day, June 3, 1973, after working out the main program, the Tu-144 aircraft entered the third circle in order to repeat the sharp climb of the Concorde the day before.

After passing over the GDP with the mechanization and landing gear released, the Tu-144 abruptly began to climb, but upon reaching 1200 meters, the aircraft went into an uncontrolled dive.

The pilots tried to take the plane out of the dive, but from the received overloads, the hull of the liner collapsed in the air and fell on nearby residential buildings. The tragedy killed the entire crew of six people and eight residents of the town of Goussainville.

The cause of the crash has not been reliably established. The French Mirage flew near the Tu-144, which took photographs of the Soviet car. One of the versions has the interpretation that the crew of the liner avoided a collision with a French aircraft and lost control.

The second version was associated with a crew member who was filming at the request of French television reporters and during a sharp maneuver dropped the camera, which blocked the control of the steering wheel. Both sides of the ATP manufacturers decided to converge on the human factor, since technical problems would cast a shadow on the future fate of the project.

Route operation

Europe began operating the Concorde on international flights to Rio de Janeiro and Bahrain in 1976. Having been on a working visit to France in the summer of 1977, L.I. Brezhnev was aware of this fact and demanded that the Minister of Aviation of the USSR Bugaev start operating the Tu-144 on passenger lines.

But there were no supersonic aircraft capable of covering a distance of 5-6 thousand kilometers without intermediate landings. Modified Tu-144D long-range aviation airliners have just begun to be created.

The first commercial flight on the route Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow, Tupolev Tu-144 made October 26, 1975. The transported cargo consisted of postal property. Two years later, passenger traffic began in the same direction. The ticket price did not differ much from the subsonic flight, 62 rubles against 80 rubles.

This flight operated once a week on Thursdays. There were plenty of passengers who wanted to get on it. But they were unaware that each flight was accompanied by a terrible stress for both the pilots (since there was no fuel supply to go to the alternate airfield) and for the controllers, who continuously monitored the weather conditions.

Seven months later, on June 1, 1978, Aeroflot terminated regular SPS passenger routes, this was due to a new plane crash of an experimental Tu-144D, which occurred on May 23, 1978, which claimed the lives of two crew members.

In addition, the commercial factor played a negative role. Tickets were inexpensive and could not even cover part of Aeroflot's operating costs. An increase in the cost of a ticket for a supersonic flight was not considered, since the standard of living of socialist citizens could not be compared with the well-being of residents of capitalist countries.

Modified versions of the Tu-144D, capable of covering a distance of 5,000 km, also led to the unprofitability of using the Soviet SPS. However, the construction of new aircraft continued until the mid-1980s.

In the entire history of commercial operation, the Tu-144 aircraft carried 3284 passengers, while the Concorde was able to transport 2.5 million people over the entire period of operation. In the future, operable Soviet SPS were used to set world records or for test flights.

American history

In 1996, representatives of the NASA agency asked the Russian government to provide them with a modified Tu-144LL with laboratory equipment for research in the development of high-speed passenger aircraft.

The Russian government went to meet Western researchers and contributed to the lease of the "Flying Laboratory".

This board has been converted from a Tu-144D into a research aircraft since 1995. Russian airliner served the Americans with dignity from 1996 to 1999.

Modifications and surviving examples

Over the 17 years of the existence of the Soviet project of a supersonic passenger aircraft, since 1967, 17 aircraft have been built, including the first “null” aircraft and the last board, which did not find its “owner” and stood for a long time on the territory of the plant, and then was disposed of.

Two liners (board No. 77102 and board No. 77111) were lost in air crashes in 1973 and 1978. Aircraft modifications:

• Tu-144 (044) - the pioneer of the project, built in 1968,
• Tu-144 (004) - pre-production board with the power plant NK-144, 1968,
• Tu-144 (004D) - pre-production board with the power plant RD-36-51A, manufactured in 1974,
• Tu-144 YES - a long-range aircraft with a power plant "61",
• Tu-144 K - board of the air missile system,
• Tu-144 KP - the board of the long-range aviation missile complex,
• Tu-144 LL - a flying laboratory with a power plant NK-32-1, manufactured in 1996,
• Tu-144 P - jammer board,
• Tu-144 PR - reconnaissance jammer board,
• Tu-144 C - a serial board with the power plant NK-144A, manufactured in 1971,
• Tu144-DP2 is a long-range aircraft interceptor.

Part of the aircraft is currently in storage, eight aircraft have been scrapped. Three Tu-144s can take to the air after repairs.

Tu-144 in the culture of the USSR and Russia

The plane was very fond of the citizens of the Soviet Union, as a powerful and beautiful airliner. His image has been applied to the postal blocks of the USSR since 1969. Subsequently, the image of the Tu-144 was captured on a postage stamp of Kazakhstan by 2002, since this year exactly 25 years of passenger flights Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow were celebrated. The Mint of Russia issued a commemorative coin "Tu-144" with a face value of 1 silver ruble.

The cinema could not ignore such a beautiful appearance of the Tu-144 and it can be seen in the film "Mimino", where the main character managed to make flights to the SPS in Delhi and San Francisco, although in reality the Tu-144 did not go on international lines.

Also, the plane was filmed in Soviet films: “A Drop in the Sea”, “The Tale of the Human Heart”, “Ilf and Petrov Were Riding a Tram”, “A Poem about Wings” and “Responsible for Everything”.

Computer game developers also could not resist using the Soviet SPS model, and presented it in the Microsoft FlightSimulator 9 flight simulator. The scheme of the Tu-144D aircraft (tail number 77115) was taken as the basis.

The control of the digital model accurately repeats the instrument panel and real actions: switching toggle switches, observing the flight plan, controlling the PGO, nose cone and switching to supersonic.

For connoisseurs of the Iron Curtain period, there is an opportunity to watch documentaries about the Tu-144 aircraft. At the moment, films are widely represented on the YouTube video hosting.

Video

Post on the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev "> Post on the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev" alt="(!LANG:TU-144. The sad story of an aircraft that was ahead of its time Post to the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev!}">

Today, on the birthday of Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev (1988-1972), the legendary aircraft manufacturer who designed more than 100 aircraft, Babr decided to recall the post about the pinnacle of aircraft engineering thought, about the legend, and, in our opinion, the best passenger aircraft in the history of mankind - the Tu- 144 and his tragic fate

Once upon a time, in childhood, many Soviet boys on a shelf in their room had a model of an unusual aircraft that bowed its nose like a heron. Unusual contours, huge engines and funny "ears" - everything said that this was not just a plane with the inscription of the USSR on its triangular wings.

From Mokva to Turkey in 40 minutes!

The plane is interesting that it was the only supersonic passenger aircraft in the USSR.

For those who are not strong in physics, he flew 2 times faster than the speed of sound. Those. if flyingto shout something after the plane, then the plane will fly away faster than the sound reaches it. At two times.

From Moscow to Turkey the plane flew in 40 minutes at a speed of 2200km / h, and in America nothing prevented us from being in 3.5 hours after takeoff.

After flying on such a huge speed, the wings and skin of the "Carcass" heated up to 150 degrees.The pilots even joked: "Let's land, put the kettle on the wing - we'll make some tea."

Flight routes and predicted profitability of flights at full passenger load.

It's worth just thinking: work on the creation of the Tu-144 began in the mid-50s of the 20th century, just 10 years after the end of the War! Just imagine what an incredible level of progress our country has gained, despite the fact that it was half in ruins!

Of similar aircraft in the world, except for the Tu-144 there was only the well-known Concorde, so in total in the history of aviation there were only two supersonic passenger aircraft from the USSR and jointly from England and France.

It is worth noting that our Tu-144 was the first to be put into operation, namely on December 31, 1968. The first Concorde took to the air on March 2, 1969.

November 1, 1977- the beginning of operation of the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 - the first flight No. 499 this airliner performed on the route Domodedovo - Alma-Ata. The ticket cost 83 rubles 70 kopecks (22 rubles more than the Il-62 or Tu-154). For comparison, 83 rubles is more than half of the average salary of that time. Not without a curiosity: after boarding passengers and sealing the cabin, the airfield services could not drive away the ladder - the batteries were dead. The fact is that special ladders-escalators were built for the Tu-144 high altitude working on electric batteries. They became the cause of the incident, as a result of which the departure of the supersonic Tu-144 was delayed for half an hour.

For the first time in history domestic civil aviation, food on board the Tu-144 was served in individual packaging on trays served on the ground. Everyone who flew the Tu-144 was stamped in their passport: “flyed the Tu-144”. And even the tickets for this plane were special, with special markings - in the upper right corner the type of aircraft "Tu-144" was indicated.

Aeroflot pilots flew on such aircraft only as co-pilots, test pilots of the Tupolev design bureau were always appointed as commanders of the aircraft. A total of 55 flights were made and 3194 passengers were transported. The Tu-144 also provided 11 first-class seats, apparently for very influential passengers.

Unusual nose design The TU-144 was due to the high flight speed and sweep of the fuselage: during takeoff and landing, the nose "pecked down" and straightened during the flight. Of course, it would be possible to fly and land with a "stretched nose", but then the pilots would not be able to see the runway.

“The forms of the Tu-144 supersonic passenger liner are graceful and impetuous… In the spacious cabins of the liner, the color scheme of which can be made taking into account the traditions of individual airlines, 120 passengers are freely accommodated… Short travel time, high flight regularity, excellent passenger comfort, flexibility and efficiency in the use of the aircraft - all this opens up for its operation on many airlines”

Number of built serial Tu-144 (16 pieces) and "Concords" (20 pieces) were approximately the same, but unlike the "Carcass", the French aircraft were in active operation until the 90s, although it was unprofitable - it received money from the state.

London ticket price- New York in 1986 was 2745 USD. Only very wealthy and busy people could and can afford such expensive flights, for whom the formula "time is money" is the main creed of existence. There are such people in the West, and for them flying Concordes is a natural saving of time and money. In the USSR, there were no rich business people for whom time would turn into money. So, the service market that was supposed to satisfy the Tu-144 simply did not exist in the USSR. The plane obviously had to become largely unprofitable in Aeroflot, flying half empty.

Therefore, the creation program Tu-144 to a large extent can be attributed to the country's prestige program, which is not provided with the real economic needs of the domestic aviation services market.

At the time of preparing this post, Babr involuntarily passed the analogy of the TU-144 project with BAM. Bothof the project - unthinkable in their scale and ambition, located at the peak of humanOpportunities in reality turned out to be practically not needed by anyone.

Now none of the 144 is in operation. Some of them, after several flights, were scrapped, while others are exhibits of museums. For example, the Aviation Museum of Civil Aviation in Ulyanovsk has kept one of the Tu-144s in very good condition. For a small fee, you will be shown through the cabin and even allowed into the cockpit of the legendary aircraft, which made only 8 flights. Being inside, an unusual feeling arises - a feeling of touching something grandiose, to huge ambitions and to the colossal work of its creators.

Tu-144 - the beginning of the creation of supersonic passenger liners. The flights of military strategic aircraft aroused the interest of aviation designers, primarily due to their speed, range and high payload.

The development of passenger supersonic ships began simultaneously in several highly developed countries. For Russia, this was the first post-war decade.

The history of the creation of a supersonic passenger liner

The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR laid the foundation for the creation of a new generation passenger aircraft.

It was supposed to design an aircraft with a passenger capacity of up to 150 people, a flight speed of at least 2,500 km per hour, a flight range, with an overload tolerance, of 6,500 kilometers. The design and development of the superplane was entrusted to the design department of Tupolev A.N.

Aleksey Andreevich, the son of A.N. Tupolev, was appointed head of the department responsible for the creation of a supersonic liner. The following specialists were included in this department:

• constructors;
• technologists, whose duties included preparing materials for the aircraft;
• strength engineers responsible for strength, stiffness and service life.

Tupolev Jr. was faced with the creation of the aircraft of the future, the role of which was determined not simply in technological superiority over the West, but rather its political confrontation. Under the leadership of Yuri Popov, appointed by Tupolev Jr. Lead Designer, the team of the design department Tupolev A.N. completes work on the creation of a superplane.

Air supersonic liner took to the sky in last days 1968, ahead of the Western-style flight by two months. Two months later, a passenger plane of English and French designers "Concorde" was launched.

There were only two passenger supersonic aircraft in the world: TU=144 and Concorde. The crew of the supersonic passenger ship consisted of Aeroflot pilots, who were co-pilots, test pilots of the Tupolev design department were appointed commanders.

The design of the superplane Tu-144

The high speed of the aircraft invested some features in its design:

• the aircraft is made according to the “tailless” low-wing scheme, which corresponds to the aerodynamic scheme, where only planes built into the trailing edge of the wing are excluded;
• ailerons, aerodynamic controls of the aircraft, are a structure of four sections occupying the trailing edge of the aircraft wing consoles, ensure its reliable control;
• the fuselage is made with a downward deflecting cabin fairing, longitudinal side windows. This design provides full visibility in front of the vessel at the time of its takeoff, climb and flight at a constant speed;
• the forward part of the fuselage is equipped as a cockpit;
• in the central part there is a passenger compartment, which has a sealed structure together with the cockpit; the tail section of the fuselage, arranged as a caisson tank for fuel, has a hermetic structure; at the end of this compartment there is a container for a brake element (parachute);
• three-post chassis with front strut wheels with a twin wheel design.

In the Soviet Union, the Tu-144 was the only supersonic passenger vehicle, the speed of which was twice the speed of sound. The plane covered the distance from Moscow to the Turkish capital in 40 minutes. At present, the operation of the supersonic apparatus has been discontinued.

Some structures were cut and scrapped. The surviving copies are the property of the Aviation Museums. The creation of a supersonic air passenger structure can be considered a prestige program that does not have the economic need to use this level of aviation services.