Photo from "Tu-144 in Almaty". Tu-144S - USSR-77106 (transport flights to Alma-Ata, USSR-77109, USSR-77110 (passenger flights)
“Tickets for the Tu-144 cost twenty rubles more than for a regular flight (68 versus 48); according to other sources, tickets cost six rubles more. A regular flight to Moscow cost 62-50, “flight 500” on Wednesdays on Tu -144 - 68-50. One of the lucky ones who flew on the TU-144 recalls that the first passengers at Domodedovo airport were seen off like cosmonauts... On June 1, 1978, just seven months after the start of commercial operation, Aeroflot ceased forever supersonic passenger flights. The immediate reason for this was the crash of a prototype Tu-144D that occurred on May 23, 1978. But, most likely, the Ministry of Civil Aviation did not want to deal with such complex machines anymore and bring them to fruition - there were too many problems... " http://max-sky.livejournal.com/3935.html
Original taken from oboguev in Tu-144, part 2
After project termination
The USSR government decree of July 1, 1983 on the termination of the Tu-144 program also established that the produced Tu-144 aircraft could be used as flying laboratories.
Tu-144s were indeed used in this capacity. Since 1985, the Tu-144D has been used to train pilots of the Soviet space shuttle Buran. In 1986-1988 Tu-144D No. 77114 was used for medical and biological studies of the radiological situation in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Further planned research on this topic was canceled due to lack of funding.
In 1996-1999 Tu-144LL No. 77114 was used as a flying laboratory for experiments conducted by NASA together with Russian and American aviation industries to develop technologies intended for a second-generation supersonic passenger aircraft. (NASA's High Speed Civil Transport program ended in 1999 due to lack of economic prospects for this category of aircraft.)
Due to the unclear condition of the aircraft's engines after it had been in storage for a long time, it was decided to replace them. Since the RD-36-51 engines were no longer produced, NK-321 engines produced for the Tu-160 bomber were installed on board 77114, which also required the installation of larger engine nacelles. The Tu-144LL made a total of 27 flights in 1996-1997.
Immediately after the termination of the Tu-144 program in 1983, Tu-144 No. 77114 (aka aircraft 101 or 08-2) made flights on July 13-20, 1983, in which it set 13 world records registered with the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) . A list of records can be found in the FAI database available online. In short, these records set the maximum altitude reached at 18,200 meters with a set of loads ranging up to 30 tons, and speed when flying in a closed loop up to 2,000 km long. at 2032 km/h at the same load range.
The point about loads is probably not of great significance, because the increase in payload was almost certainly compensated by a decrease in the weight of the refueled fuel, in order to maintain the total take-off weight of the aircraft within the limits provided for by the regular flight regime and technical characteristics. This is indicated not only by the coincidence of ceiling figures for all declared loads, but also by common sense: it would be difficult to imagine an aircraft unexpectedly carrying a load three times greater than it was designed to carry, while simultaneously carrying a maximum fuel load. Further, the closed-loop speed records recorded by the FAI cover a range of loop lengths up to 2000 km, but do not go further: the fact that the USSR did not attempt to provide record records for longer loop lengths indicates that the aircraft was carrying only a partial load of fuel.
However, the figures stated in the recorded records appear to be low, and it seems doubtful that they truly represent the maximum achievable by the aircraft. To put these numbers into perspective, Concorde's ceiling for scheduled commercial flights with a typical trans-Atlantic load of about 10 tons is set at 60,000 feet (18,290 meters), higher than the record set by the Tu-144D, however Concorde can certainly fly higher than the ceiling for commercial flights. if the goal was to set a record. According to sources requiring verification, during a test flight on March 26, 1974, Concorde reached a maximum speed of 2,370 km/h (1,480 mph, Mach 2.23) at an altitude of 63,700 feet (19.4 km), and on subsequent test flights it rose to an altitude of 68,000 feet (20.7 km). It remains unclear why the maximum altitude achievable on the Tu-144D should be less than the height of regular commercial flights of the Concorde, given that the Tupolev Design Bureau claims a higher lift-to-drag ratio of the Tu-144D than the Concorde (8.0). -8.1 versus 7.3-7.7 at speed M 2.x), and the thrust of the RD-36-51 engines installed on the Tu-144D exceeds the thrust of the Olympus 593 Concorde engines.
It should be noted that although Concorde has set more than 170 world records since its first flight in 1969, it apparently has not registered any records in the closed-loop flight category, but it remains unclear why the sustained speed of 2032 km/h (M1. 91) declared as a record for the Tu-144D is lower than even the cruising speed of the Concorde M2.02 up to 2.05 used during commercial flights, not to mention the maximum cruising speed of the M2.2 provided by design, or the maximum speed achieved during test flights (cited unverified source) M2.23.
It should be noted that both the Tu-144 and the Concorde are limited in their maximum speed not by air flow resistance or engine thrust, but by the heating of the airframe in a supersonic flow, and by the limitations of the structural integrity of the airframe built from aluminum alloys, despite the fact that the alloys used in both airplanes are very similar in their characteristics. The Tu-144 prototype (aircraft #68001) may have had a slight advantage in the temperatures it could withstand, because about 15-20% of its elements were made of titanium. Indeed, Tu-144 No. 68001, during one of the test flights on May 15, 1968, briefly reached a speed of 2443 km/h (M2.26). However, the use of titanium was sharply reduced in production Tu-144 aircraft, and Tu-144S/D are made almost entirely of aluminum alloys. Considering that the alloys used in both aircraft are almost identical in characteristics, and that the aerodynamics and thermodynamics of the critical surfaces of both aircraft are very similar, one would expect that the speeds developed by both aircraft with the same level of structural safety would also be the same.
NASA's Tu-144LL page states that the Tu-144D, equipped with Kolesov RD-36-51 engines, could reach a cruising speed of M2.15 at an altitude of 59,000 feet and had an absolute ceiling of 62,000 feet (18,900 meters). After aircraft 77114 was re-equipped with NK-321 engines in 1996, the cruising speed increased to more than M2.3.
Military versions under development
The earliest configurations of the Tu-144 were based on the unbuilt Tu-135 bomber and retained its wings, pre-wings and engine nacelles. In the initial phase of development of a supersonic passenger aircraft, the project was codenamed Tu-135P, before it received the name Tu-144.
Throughout the Tu-144 project, the Tupolev Design Bureau carried out the initial development of a number of military versions of the Tu-144. Neither of these versions were built.
In the early 1970s. The Tupolev Design Bureau was developing the Tu-144R missile carrier, which was supposed to carry up to three solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles. The missiles were to be launched from Soviet airspace, with the aircraft accelerating to maximum speed before releasing the missile. The initial version of the Tu-144R was based on the Tu-144S, but was later redesigned to use the Tu-144D as a basis. Another version of the Tu-144R carried cruise missiles similar to the Kh-55; The afterburner of the engines was powered by liquid hydrogen. The NK-144 engine with cryogenic afterburner has passed bench tests.
At the end of the 1970s. Tupolev began developing the DP-2 long-range heavy interceptor based on the Tu-144D, which was also supposed to accompany bombers on long-distance routes. This project was later developed into the Tu-144PP electronic countermeasures aircraft designed to jam radars and help bombers penetrate enemy air defense systems. In the early 1980s, these functions were complemented by strategic reconnaissance and theater reconnaissance capabilities (Tu-144PR). The gloomier the civilian prospects of the Tu-144 became, the more actively the Tupolev Design Bureau tried to “sell” the aircraft to the military. One of the last attempts to “sell” the Tu-144 to the military was the project of the Tu-144MR long-range reconnaissance aircraft for the Soviet Navy. Such a reconnaissance aircraft was supposed to transmit target designation to ships and submarines of the Navy in ocean and sea theaters of military operations. Another proposed version included strike capabilities (two X-45 air-to-surface cruise missiles) along with reconnaissance functions. .
The military remained impervious to Tupolev's attempts. Vasily Reshetnikov, who was then the commander of Soviet long-range aviation and then deputy commander of the Soviet Air Force, recalls how in 1972 he was painfully impressed by Tupolev’s attempts to sell for military use an aircraft that “in its technical and flight characteristics did not reach the specified levels, sinned at a low level reliability, was uneconomical and difficult to operate."
Reshetnikov continues to recall:
The main supervisor of the construction of a supersonic passenger aircraft, the future Tu-144, which was included in the national economic plan, was the powerful D.F. Ustinov, who perceived this mission as a personal obligation not so much to the country and people, but to “dear Leonid Ilyich,” whose name he literally idolized, sometimes losing the boundaries of decency, and even falling into shamelessness.
But the passenger supersonic aircraft, it seems, did not go well and could, to the horror of its curator, upset Brezhnev’s expectations, after which Dmitry Fedorovich seized on someone’s happy idea of palming off the “unwed Aeroflot bride” to the military. Having found herself rejected in the guise of a bomber, she was offered through the military-industrial complex to Long-Range Aviation as a reconnaissance aircraft or a jammer aircraft, or even both. It was clear to me that these aircraft would not be able to mate with any combat formations of bombers and missile carriers, and I could not imagine them in the form of single “flying Dutchmen” in combat conditions and therefore decisively abandoned them.
The Commander of the Navy Aviation, Alexander Alekseevich Mironenko, with whom we always maintained “family ties,” did the same.
But it was not there! One day D.F. Ustinov persuaded the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy S.G. Gorshkov, and he, without consulting anyone, agreed to adopt the Tu-144 into naval aviation as a long-range naval reconnaissance aircraft. Mironenko rebelled, but the commander-in-chief took the bit between his teeth and the issue was resolved. Having learned about this, I was seriously alarmed: since they took Mironenko, they will impose it on me too. I call Alexander Alekseevich, urging him to take decisive steps, but he already gives no rest to his commander-in-chief. Finally, Ustinov finds out about Mironenko’s rebellion and calls him to his place. The conversation was long and tense, but Alexander Alekseevich still managed to prove to the Minister of Defense that his insistence was unjustified. The Tu-144 never appeared anywhere else.
Some Myths and Misconceptions
The Landing Speed Myth
“The Tu-144 could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while the Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% higher, required a separate landing certificate for each airport.”
This often quoted myth goes back to the statement of Tupolev designer A.L. Pukhov in an interview with Ogonyok magazine:
“The front wing is a unique invention of our craftsmen. I did a lot on this plane, but, unfortunately, I was not involved in this brilliant solution. What's the genius of this thing? In a hundred years of aviation, no one could come up with such a front wing?
The Concorde's takeoff and landing speed is 15 percent greater than that of the Tu-144. He must have a landing certificate for each airfield. And the Tu-144 landed at eighteen airports in the Soviet Union, we didn’t have these problems. Because of which? Due to the fact that the brilliant Tupolev team invented such “rabbit ears” in the nose: they fit very well in flight and are invisible at supersonic speed. That is, the result was a smooth nose. But upon landing they stick out and stand there. And this wing produces very powerful lift.”
Unfortunately, all parts of this statement are not supported by available aviation documents and known facts, starting with the statement that the Tu-144 has a lower landing speed than the Concorde. A NASA report on test flights carried out on the Tu-144LL, in which the characteristics of the aircraft during landing and its interaction with the ground air cushion were studied, indicates the range of final approach speeds at which tests were carried out from 170 to 181 knots (315- 335 km/h), however it should be borne in mind that these were test flights that investigated precisely the limiting regimes in which the maximum sustained speed was “squeezed out”, regardless of the landing hardness and with the assumption of test risks.
As for regular landings, the FAA circular indicates the approach speed for the Tu-144C at 178 knots (330 km/h), and for the Concorde (BAC/Aerospatiale Concord(e)) at 162 knots (300 km/h). h), obviously based on the characteristics declared by aircraft manufacturers to the aviation regulatory authorities of Western countries, but the question remains open to what extent the Tu-144S remained stable at a given landing speed. In any case, when NASA contracted the Tupolev bureau to conduct research flights on the Tu-144LL, the landing procedure established by the Tupolev Design Bureau for these flights (except for flights in which the ground effect was specifically studied) provided for an approach at a speed of approximately 360 km/h, depending from the weight of the remaining fuel supply.
Brian Calvert, Concorde's technical flight manager and Concorde's first commercial pilot on several inaugural flights, indicates that Concorde's typical approach speed was 155 to 160 knots, i.e. from 287 to 296 km/h.
Thus, if the usual landing speed of the Tu-144 was 330 km/h or more, then the usual landing speed of the Concorde was 290-300 km/h.
Pukhov's claim that Concorde's landing speed was 15% greater than that of the Tu-144 is therefore incorrect; in reality, the opposite picture took place: the landing speed of the Tu-144 was 10-15% higher than that of the Concorde.
For these reasons, it is also not true that the Tu-144 was potentially capable of landing at more airports than Concorde. Reflecting this circumstance, the FAA circular cited above classifies the Concorde as an aircraft that could be certified for airports of category D-III (landing speed from 141 to 165 knots), and the Tupolev Tu-144 only for the much narrower airports of category E-III (166 and more units, mainly military and experimental aircraft fall into this category). It should also be borne in mind that the possibility of landing an aircraft on a runway is determined not only by its length, but also by its smoothness. The Concorde's landing gear had a double hydraulic shock absorber to ensure the softest possible landing on not too smooth runways (and the Concorde landed on many airfields in the world, significantly more than 18). The design features of the Tu-144 chassis are not described in the literature, although Western sources sporadically mention that individual complex blocks of the Concorde chassis were copied over time by the Tu-144.
Concorde's lower landing speed is ensured by Concorde's more developed wing profile than that of the Tu-144. The wing profile of the Tu-144 was rougher and optimized for supersonic flight. The Concorde's wing profile provided higher lift at low speeds without sacrificing supersonic cruise performance - this feature is often mentioned in Western literature and is also recognized by Tupolev's designers (see Bliznyuk, p. 66).
Pukhov’s statement that "the front wing is a unique invention of our (Tupolev) craftsmen". Folding canards appeared in the Tu-144C released in 1972; they were absent in the Tu-144 prototype (aircraft 68001), which also did not have fixed canards. The canards themselves (slats) were used on aircraft decades before the development of the Tu-144. Many supersonic aircraft developed before the Tu-144 had fixed (non-retractable) slats, in particular the B-70 Valkyrie aircraft, which was developed since 1956 and made its first flight in 1964. The Sukhoi Design Bureau T-4 bomber, which copied many of the aerodynamic solutions of the Valkyrie and made its first flight in 1972 (developed from 1962-63), also had slats. The supersonic passenger aircraft Boeing 2707-200 (1968) designed by Boeing also had fixed slats. Slats were present in the designs of Myasishchev's M-53 supersonic passenger aircraft (1958), Myasishchev's M-56 (1957), M-59K (1959) and M-30 (1959) bombers. Fixed slats were also present in the Tupolev projects of the Tu-125 and Tu-135 bombers (1958-mid-60s) and in the Tu-135P project, developed on the basis of the latter, which formed the initial composition during the development of the Tu-144.
Retractable slats first appeared on the Dassault Milan Mirage III (beginning of development in 1968, first flight in 1970) and on the F-14A, designs for which with retractable slats were published in Flight International magazine in January-March 1969, several years later. years before the appearance of retractable slats in the Tu-144S.
Thus, Pukhov’s statement that “the front wing is a unique invention of Tupolev’s craftsmen”, is incorrect.
Pukhov’s statement that canards (slats) is also incorrect or inaccurate "create powerful lifting force". In fact, the lifting force of canards compared to a wing is negligible due to their small size, and the absence of vortex lift only enhances this difference. The main purpose of canards during landing is to counteract the nose-down nose-down nosedown of the aircraft when the flaps are extended downwards, which increase the lifting force; those. The canards are not designed to hold the aircraft together as a whole, but to help balance it (it should also be borne in mind that a key element of balancing supersonic aircraft is the transfer of fuel from the front tanks to the rear or vice versa, and the elevons play a corrective role around the balance given by the mass fuel distribution). In fact, canards are more significant when an airplane is taking off than when landing.
The myth of titanium construction
In the same interview, Pukhov makes another incorrect statement:
“The airframe structure is 20% titanium. There is still not a single machine like this in the world, but we did it in the 60s.”
Only the Tu-144 prototype airframe (aircraft No. 68001) had a significant amount of titanium parts (15-20%). In production aircraft Tu-144S and Tu-144D, the use of titanium was very small; the aircraft were made almost entirely of aluminum alloys; Only the leading edges of the wing, elevons, rudder and the bottom of the rear fuselage (heated by the jet stream from the engines located close to the fuselage) were made of titanium and stainless steel. At the same time, there were aircraft in the world made with significant use of titanium: the B-70 was made of titanium back in the 50s, the A-12 and SR-71 in the 60s, the F-14 in the 70s.
The Myth of Engine Positioning
“According to some experts, if the Concorde engines had been placed in the same way as the Tu-144, then the accident on July 25, 2000 would not have happened.”
The Concorde accident on July 25, 2000 was caused by the fact that a titanium part of the thrust reverse flap (installed by the airline on the DC-10 without the approval of the aircraft manufacturer) fell off from a DC-10 aircraft taking off in front of the Concorde. A metal part that fell on the runway cut the landing gear tire of the Concorde taking off after the DC-10, and heavy pieces of rubber hit the Concorde’s wing. The dynamic impact caused the destruction of the gas tank located in the wing - not at the point of impact, but at some distance from it, as well as rupture of electrical wires and sparking. What exactly would have happened in this situation if the Concorde’s chassis had been positioned like the Tu-144’s cannot be said with certainty, of course, but heavy pieces of rubber would have hit the Tu-144 engine nacelle and could have caused destruction to the engine, or the fuel line, or pipes turbine gas outlets, with equally catastrophic consequences. Thus, the claim made by the myth is unfounded.
Following analysis of the Concorde disaster, the lower interior of the Concorde's tanks was reinforced with a Kevlar drainage layer, which prevents such failures without adding significant weight.
In addition, the engine arrangement adopted on the Tu-144 close to the fuselage (and even more so the package arrangement adopted on the 68001 prototype) also has other negative consequences. The close location of the engines increases the likelihood that if one of the engines surges, the propagating shock waves will lead to flow disruption in other engines. It also increases the likelihood that if the engine is destroyed, the structural elements of the airframe and on-board systems will suffer to a greater extent, as happened when the compressor disk was destroyed during the flight of the Tu-144D (aircraft 77113) on August 31, 1980. In addition, placing the engines close to the fuselage increases noise in the passenger cabin. By placing the engines away from the fuselage on the Concorde, the likelihood or effect of these factors is reduced.
The myth of the first in the world or ahead of Concorde
The legend that the Tu-144 was the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft dates back to Soviet propaganda (which, by the way, often made a similar incorrect statement about the primacy of the Tu-104 in jet passenger aviation). When registering a Tu-144 at Domodedovo in 1977-78. There was an announcement: “The world’s first supersonic passenger airliner is boarding,” and then a carpet was laid.
In fact, Concorde began operating scheduled passenger flights on January 21, 1976 and flew for the next 27 years. By March 2, 1999, Concordes had flown more than 920 thousand hours of flight time - more than all other supersonic aircraft in the world combined.
The Tu-144 began operating scheduled passenger flights on November 1, 1977, almost two years later than the Concorde, and after completing 55 passenger flights with a total duration of less than 70 hours, it was withdrawn from service due to catastrophic reliability problems that were never resolved. by the time the project was closed in 1982-83.
Soviet propaganda claims were based on the fact that some intermediate technical milestones, such as the first flight of a prototype, were achieved in the Tu-144 project earlier than in the Concorde project, but these intermediate achievements were carried out in a hurry for propaganda ideological purposes and to the detriment of thoroughness, thoughtfulness and quality of development, culminated in the future not only with the later (compared to Concorde) introduction of the Tu-144 into operation, despite the fact that the aircraft was not even ready for operation, but also with the collapse of the entire Tu-144 project.
Moreover, these intermediate results were achieved at the cost of cutting corners not only on the reliability of the aircraft, but also on its design and flight characteristics. Getting a prototype into the air is a dubious achievement if that prototype is significantly worse than the successful aircraft that takes off three months later. To compare the key properties of the Tu-144 68001 and the Concorde 001, just look at the rough, linear and flat wing of the Tu-144 68001 (compared to the ogive-conical wing of the Concorde 001) and the stacked arrangement of its engines, the poor stability of its wings at low speeds, because of which the plane had to land at speeds that threatened its structural integrity. Released in 1972-73. The Tu-144S was significantly different from the 68001, and a much better designed aircraft, but in terms of its characteristics it still could not compete with the 1969 Concorde - neither in takeoff and landing characteristics, nor in flight range and fuel consumption, nor in the level of comfort for passengers (low noise inside the cabin during flight).
On December 31, 1968, the experimental supersonic aircraft Tu-144 (tail number USSR-68001) made its first flight. The Tu-144 managed to take off two months earlier than its Anglo-French competitor, the Concorde airliner, which made its first flight on March 2, 1969.
Tu-144 is a supersonic passenger aircraft developed in the 1960s by the design bureau of Andrei Tupolev (now Tupolev OJSC, part of the United Aircraft Corporation).
Research into the development of a supersonic passenger aircraft (SPS) began in the late 1950s in the USA, England and France. In the early 1960s, the first preliminary designs of the SPS already appeared. This was the reason for the development of a similar aircraft in the USSR. On July 16, 1963, a resolution was issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the creation of the A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau SPS Tu-144 with four jet engines and on the construction of a batch of such aircraft.” Alexey Tupolev was appointed lead designer for the aircraft (since 1973 Boris Gantsevsky, since 1979 Valentin Bliznyuk). General management was carried out by Andrey Tupolev. The development of the engine was entrusted to the Nikolai Kuznetsov Design Bureau.
When working on the project, the developers had to face a number of complex technical problems: aerodynamics, kinetic heating, elastic and thermal deformations of the structure, new lubricants and sealing materials, new life support systems for passengers and crew. The development of the design and aerodynamics of the wing required a lot of effort (200 options were studied in the wind tunnel). The use of titanium alloys in construction required the creation of new machines and welding machines. These problems, together with the Andrei Tupolev Design Bureau, were solved by specialists from the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), the Central Institute of Aviation Engine Engineering (CIAM), the Siberian Scientific Research Institute of Aviation (SibNIA) and other organizations. Since 1965, regular consultations have been held with the designers of the French company Aerospatial, which developed the Concorde SPS. During the preparation of working drawings, more than 1,000 specialists were seconded from the design bureau of Oleg Antonov and Sergei Ilyushin. When designing the aircraft, two analogue aircraft of the MiG-21I were used as a working model (now one of them is stored in the Air Force Museum in Monino).
In July 1965, the preliminary design of the Tu-144 was ready. In the same year, a model of an aircraft with a wingspan of about two meters was exhibited at the air show in Le Bourget (France). On June 22, 1966, a full-size mockup of the aircraft was approved. In parallel with the design, the experimental production of the OKB in Zhukovsky was producing two prototypes (flight and for static tests). The Voronezh and Kuibyshev aircraft factories also participated in their production.
On December 31, 1968, the crew led by test pilot Eduard Elyan took it into the air for the first time. On June 5, 1969, the prototype reached the speed of sound, and on June 26, 1970, it doubled it. For testing the Tu-144, Eduard Elyan was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Simultaneously with the flight tests, research was carried out at 80 ground stands, where all the most important design and layout solutions were worked out. With the help of these stands, for the first time in the USSR, a comprehensive system for assessing failures taking into account their consequences was developed. State tests continued until May 15, 1977. On October 29, 1977, the aircraft received an airworthiness certificate (for the first time in the USSR).
The Tu-144 was first shown at an aviation festival at Sheremetyevo Airport on May 21, 1970. In the summer of 1971, trial operation of the prototype began at Aeroflot. Flights were made from Moscow to Prague (Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic), Berlin (GDR, now Germany), Warsaw (Poland), Sofia (Bulgaria). In 1972, the Tu-144 was demonstrated at air shows in Hanover (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary).
The first production Tu-144 was assembled in the spring of 1971 in Zhukovsky. In 1972, production began at the Voronezh Aviation Plant. A total of 16 aircraft were built. Another one remained unfinished. Production aircraft differed from the prototype by having a fuselage length increased by 5.7 meters, a slightly modified wing shape and the presence of retractable front wings. The number of seats for passengers increased from 120 to 140. The first flight of the production aircraft took place on September 20, 1972 on the route Moscow - Tashkent - Moscow. In March 1975, the Moscow-Alma-Ata high-speed airline opened (mail and cargo were transported). On October 20, 1977, the first flight with passengers was carried out.
The Tu-144 is an all-metal low-wing aircraft designed according to the “tailless” design. The aircraft's wing is triangular, of low aspect ratio, and has a variable sweep angle (76° at the root and 57° at the ends of the wing). The wing skin is made of solid aluminum alloy plates. Along the entire trailing edge there are elevons made of titanium alloys. Elevons and rudders are deflected using irreversible boosters (an auxiliary device to increase the force and speed of the main mechanism).
The aircraft has four turbojet bypass engines with an afterburner NK-144A designed by Nikolai Kuznetsov's OKB (on the Tu-144D - non-afterburning RD-36-51A designed by Peter Kolesov's OKB-36), which are located close to each other under the wing. Each engine has its own separate air intake. The air intakes are grouped in pairs.
The main volume of fuel is located in 18 wing tanks. A balancing tank is installed at the rear of the fuselage. Fuel was pumped into it during flight to shift the center of mass during the transition from subsonic to supersonic speed.
The aircraft has a tricycle landing gear with a nose strut. The main supports have a two-axle eight-wheel bogie. All wheels are equipped with brakes. The supports are retracted forward along the flight into niches between the air intake channels.
The cockpit is integrated into the contours of the fuselage and does not have the usual protruding canopy. Therefore, the forward unsealed part of the fuselage with the radar and antenna systems tilts down during takeoff and landing, opening the cockpit windshields for visual viewing. To improve takeoff and landing characteristics, a retractable front horizontal tail was used.
To increase the reliability of operation on the aircraft, quadruple redundancy of all major systems was used. An on-board electronic computer was used to control the aircraft. The landing approach could be carried out automatically at any time of the day and in any weather. For the first time in the USSR, the Tu-144 used an automatic system for monitoring the technical condition of on-board systems, which made it possible to reduce the labor intensity of maintenance. Baggage on the plane was placed in containers in the luggage compartments.
Basic technical data of the serial SPS Tu-144D:
The length of the aircraft without PVD is 64.45 m;
Wingspan - 28.8 m;
Aircraft height - 12.5 m;
Wing area with overflow - 506.35 sq. m;
Maximum take-off weight - 207000 kg;
The empty weight of the aircraft for the 150-passenger version is 99,200 kg;
Cruising supersonic flight speed - 2120 km/h;
Practical flight range, with commercial load:
7 tons (70 passengers) - 6200 km;
11-13 tons (110-130 passengers) - 5500-5700 km;
15 tons (150 passengers) - 5330 km.
Crew - 4 people.
The main disadvantages of the Tu-144 aircraft were the high cost of production and operation, increased noise, and it was not economical and consumed a large amount of fuel.
The creation and development of the Tu-144 became the largest and most complex program in the history of Soviet aircraft construction. As a result of long-term work, it was possible to create an aircraft of the highest world class, which in its basic flight performance characteristics is not inferior to the corresponding aircraft created in the West.
However, fate was unfair to the unique car. The first major failure was the crash on June 3, 1973, during a demonstration flight at the Le Bourget air show, in which 14 people were killed - six crew members and eight Frenchmen on the ground - and 25 were injured.
May 23, 1978 - an improved prototype version of the aircraft, the Tu-144D, equipped with improved engines, made an emergency landing near Yegoryevsk near Moscow due to a fire caused by the destruction of one of the fuel lines. Two of the seven crew members on board were killed.
On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot management decided to cancel Tu-144 passenger flights. In addition to the disasters, the fate of the Tu-144 was affected by its commercial unprofitability.
One of the improved Tu-144Ds was used for some time on the Moscow-Khabarovsk line to deliver urgent cargo. In total, the Tu-144 made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, 55 of which were passenger flights.
Until the mid-1990s, Tu-144 aircraft were used for various tests, as well as for research into the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere, solar eclipses, and focused sonic boom. Cosmonauts undergoing training under the Buran program trained on the Tu-144. In July 1983, the Tu-144D set 13 world aviation records.
From 1995 to 1999, one significantly modified Tu-144D (No. 77114) called Tu-144LL was used by the American space agency NASA for research in the field of high-speed commercial flights in order to develop a plan for the creation of a new, modern supersonic passenger aircraft.
The experience gained during the creation of the Tu-144 was used in the development of heavy supersonic aircraft Tu-22M and Tu-160.
At the request of the Ministry of Science and by decision of the MAP, several aircraft were installed as exhibits on the territory of the Air Force Museum in Monino, the Civil Aviation Museum in Ulyanovsk, and aircraft factories in Voronezh, Kazan and Samara. One aircraft was sold to a private technology museum in Sinheim (Germany).
Several aircraft were melted down in the 1990s.
Two aircraft TU-144LL No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, and TU-144D No. 77115 are stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. One of them was exhibited at the MAKS air show, most recently in 2013.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Tu - 144, the world's first supersonic aircraft
TU-144 is the world's first supersonic aircraft to take off. There are only 2 supersonic passenger aircraft in the history of world aviation: TU-144 and Concorde. Both aircraft are currently unused and out of production.
The prototype first flew on December 31, 1968 near Moscow, two months before Concorde's maiden flight. The Tu-144 first broke the sound barrier on June 5, 1969, and on July 15, 1969, became the first commercial vehicle to exceed the Machine 2.
The TU-144 made its first flight on December 31, 1968, 2 months earlier than the first flight of Concorde. On June 5, 1969, the TU-144 broke the sound barrier, and on July 15, 1969, it became the world's first passenger and commercial aircraft to exceed M2 speed.
TU-144 and Concorde are similar in appearance, which has become the subject of speculation and alleged industrial espionage of the USSR. However, there is no confirmation of this. There are also significant differences, the main one being the location of the engines. In the TU-144 they are located in twos with a small distance between the pairs of engines, in the Concorde they are spaced apart - almost in the middle of the wing, there are other design features.
But the beginning of the failures and perhaps the reason for the cessation of the development of the project was the disaster in 1973 at the air show in La Bourget. Video footage of the disaster has been preserved. There are a number of versions, official and unofficial, however, the video shows that the catastrophe was largely due to the human factor. For show, the pilot undertook such a maneuver that the load on the plane became critical and the structure simply could not withstand the overload.
In May 1978, a prototype TU-144D crashed; this aircraft, compared to the initial modification, had a longer flight range, lower fuel consumption and other changes that were made to reduce the cost of operating the aircraft.
The TU-144 aircraft was operated on the Moscow - Alma-Ata route; due to the fact that the cost of tickets was 30% higher than for other aircraft, the flight was not busy and was not economically profitable. The aircraft has successfully completed 58 passenger flights throughout its history.
After this, the operation of the aircraft was stopped.
If we compare the TU-144 with the Concorde, then in appearance they are very similar, the differences were that the Concorde was superior to the TU-144 in terms of efficiency, electronics, lower possible landing speed (329 km/h for the TU-144 and 300 km/h hour at Concorde). The superiority of the Tu-144 over the Concorde was expressed in better aerodynamics.
In total, 16 operational aircraft and 1 unfinished aircraft were produced throughout history.
It should be noted that initially the TU-144 used NK-144 turbojet engines; the disadvantage of these engines was that in order to achieve supersonic speed, it was necessary to turn on the afterburner, which naturally led to enormous fuel consumption.
The Tu-144D aircraft already used RD-36-51A engines; these were the world's first gas turbine engines that made it possible to achieve supersonic speeds without the use of afterburner.
The use of this engine reduced fuel consumption by almost 2 times.
Airplane passenger cabin.
The problem with operating the aircraft was constant minor breakdowns, but they required study, that is, time spent on making a decision whether to release the aircraft or not.
A very significant drawback was the enormous noise in the aircraft cabin. The noise came from the engines and the air conditioning system. The fact is that at supersonic speeds the aircraft skin had to be cooled from overheating; the cooling system created significant noise. So in practice, passengers sitting next to each other could hear each other, only if they spoke by shouting; in the rear of the plane the noise was unbearable.
Problems of supersonic passenger aviation.
Why are there currently no supersonic passenger aircraft?
First of all, because of the high cost of operating these types of aircraft. In addition to the fact that at higher, and even more so supersonic, fuel consumption is significantly higher than at subsonic speeds, there are also problems with the aircraft body.
At supersonic speeds, the aircraft body must be constantly cooled to avoid overheating, deformation and destruction. You can, of course, use titanium alloys, but this will automatically increase the cost of the aircraft and the cost of its manufacture. At the moment, at today's fuel prices, commercial operation of supersonic passenger aircraft is simply not effective.
Technical characteristics of the TU-144 aircraft:
Crew: 3 people
Passenger capacity: 120–140 passengers
Length: 65.50 m
Wingspan: 28.80 m
Height: 10.50 m
Wing area: 438.0 m²
Empty weight: 85,000 kg
Takeoff weight: 120,000 kg
Maximum take-off weight: 180,000 kg
Speed: M2.0 (2,142 km/h)
Service ceiling: 18,000 m
Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.44
Post for the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev ">Post for the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev " alt="TU-144. The sad story of an aircraft that was ahead of its time Post for the birthday of the great Russian aircraft designer Tupolev!}">
Today, on the birthday of Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev (1988-1972), the legendary aircraft manufacturer who designed more than 100 aircraft, Babr decided to recall a post about the pinnacle of aircraft engineering thought, about the legend, and, in our opinion, the best passenger aircraft in the history of mankind - Tu- 144 and his tragic fate
Once upon a time, in childhood, many Soviet boys had on a shelf in their room a model of an unusual airplane, bowing its nose like a heron. Unusual contours, huge engines and funny “ears” - everything said that this was not just a plane with the inscription USSR on its triangular wings.
From Mokva to Turkey in 40 minutes!
The plane is interesting because 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 he were flying awayshout something after the plane, 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 nothing prevented you from ending up in America 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: “When we land, put the kettle on the wing and brew some tea.”
Flight routes and projected profitability of flights when fully loaded with passengers.
Just think about it: 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 the incredible level of progress our country has achieved, despite being half in ruins!
Of similar aircraft in the world except Tu-144 there was only the well-known Concorde, so in the history of aviation there were only two supersonic passenger aircraft in the USSR and jointly in 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 off on March 2, 1969.
November 1, 1977- the start of operation of the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 - the first flight No. 499 of this airliner was carried out on the route Domodedovo - Alma-Ata. The ticket cost 83 rubles 70 kopecks (22 rubles more expensive than the Il-62 or Tu-154). For comparison, 83 rubles is more than half the average salary of that time. There was a funny thing: after boarding the passengers and sealing the cabin, the airfield services were unable to clear the ramp - the batteries were dead. The fact is that special high-height escalators were built for the Tu-144, powered by electric batteries. They caused 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 a Tu-144 had a stamp in their passport: “I flew a Tu-144.” And even the tickets for this plane were special, with special markings - the type of aircraft “Tu-144” was indicated in the upper right corner.
Aeroflot pilots Only co-pilots flew on such aircraft; test pilots from the Tupolev design bureau were always appointed commanders of the aircraft. In total, 55 flights were made and 3,194 passengers were transported. The Tu-144 also had 11 first class seats, apparently for very influential passengers.
Unusual nose design The TU-144 was due to its high flight speed and swept-back fuselage: during takeoff and landing, the nose “pecked down” and straightened out during flight. Of course, it would be possible to fly and land with the nose extended, but then the pilots would not be able to see the runway.
“The shapes of the supersonic passenger airliner Tu-144 are elegant and swift... The spacious cabins of the aircraft, the color scheme of which can be made taking into account the traditions of individual airlines, can comfortably accommodate 120 passengers... Short travel time, high regularity of flights, excellent comfort for passengers, flexibility and efficiency in using the aircraft - all this opens it up for its operation on many airlines.”
Number of serial production units built Tu-144 (16 units) and Concorde (20 units) were approximately the same, but unlike the Tushka, 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, for whom the formula “time is money” is the main credo of existence, could and can afford such expensive flights. There are such people in the West, and for them, flying on Concorde 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 for Aeroflot, flying half empty.
Therefore, the creation program The Tu-144 can to a large extent be attributed to the country's prestige program, which is not met by the real economic needs of the domestic aviation services market.
At the time of preparing this post, Babr involuntarily drew an analogy between the TU-144 project and the BAM. Bothprojects - unimaginable in their scale and ambition, at the peak of humanIn reality, practically no one needed the opportunities.
Currently, none of the 144 are in operation. Some of them, after several flights, were scrapped, while others are museum exhibits. For example, the Civil Aviation Museum in Ulyanovsk has preserved one of the Tu-144s in very good condition. For a small fee, you will be shown around 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, huge ambitions and the colossal work of its creators.
The supersonic aircraft TU-144 appeared in 1960. It was developed in the “holy of holies” of the USSR aircraft industry - the Tupolev design bureau. An analogue of such technical excellence - Concorde - of French-English production - the only one in the world at that time that could compete with the TU-144. In the end, that’s what happened. Concorde and Tu-144 entered into a rivalry. The Tu-144 made its first flight on December 31, 1968. The tests were conducted by test pilot of the Experienced Design Bureau of A.N. Tupolev Eduard Elyan. We were ahead in the above-mentioned “competition” - this happened two months before Concorde. The Tu-144 is also the first passenger airliner in history to break the sound barrier, this happened in 1969, at an altitude of 11,000 meters. The aircraft combined a huge number of advanced developments and design solutions. For example, the front horizontal tail (FH) was retractable for the duration of the flight, which made it possible to significantly increase maneuverability and reduce speed during landing. The Tu-144 could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while the Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% higher, required a separate landing certificate for each airport. A tremendous amount of work was done during the design. On June 3, 1973, Tu-144 No. 77102 crashed. It crashed during a demonstration flight at the Le Bourget air show. During the maneuver: a Soviet plane crashes onto a school building in the town of Goussenville located next to the airfield, killing eight people and the crew led by Mikhail Kozlov. According to the version that appeared after the crash, the cause of the disaster is considered to be too sharp a maneuver that the crew had to make in order to avoid a collision with the unexpectedly appeared French Mirage, whose pilot’s task was to photograph the Soviet Tu-144 in flight. There was a violation of the control system, or the maneuver that the crew attempted to perform was inadmissible for the aircraft airframe structures. The true causes of the disaster were kept secret. The commission specifically noted that no design flaws in the aircraft that could have caused the accident were identified. After the secrecy was lifted in the late 90s, some versions were voiced from the Russian side: according to the former deputy head of the Tupolev Design Bureau’s testing base, Edgar Krupyansky, a block of experimental automatic equipment was installed on that ill-fated board, which could have unexpectedly worked. A more prosaic reason was also expressed - they said that French journalists gave one of the Soviet crew members a movie camera, and while performing a complex figure, it slipped out of his hands and began to fly around the cockpit, depriving the pilots of the ability to control. However, the Tu-144 began to make regular flights. The first operational flight was made on December 26, 1975 on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route, where the plane transported mail and parcels, and on November 1, 1977, passenger transportation began on the same route. The flights were carried out by only two aircraft - No. 77109 and No. 77110. Aeroflot pilots flew as co-pilots, while the crew commanders were always test pilots from the Tupolev Design Bureau. A ticket for this plane cost 68 rubles, while a ticket to Alma-Ata for a regular subsonic plane cost 48 rubles. But the airliner, designed for ultra-long-distance flights, did not find its place on domestic routes, turning out to be unprofitable. Due to the high price of tickets, almost one and a half times higher than usual, the load on boards was very low, which led to the abandonment of operation on Aeroflot passenger lines. And just seven months after the start of commercial operation, the TU-144 stopped supersonic passenger flights forever. 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, of which 55 were passenger flights, carrying 3,194 passengers. Subsequently, the Tu-144 made only test flights and flights with the aim of setting world records. On May 23, 1978, the second crash of the Tu-144 prototype occurred. During a test flight of a modernized version of the aircraft, Tu-144D (No. 77111), a fire occurred. The crew made an emergency landing near the city of Yegoryevsk. After landing, only part of the crew was saved. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov were trapped in the workplace and died. Concordes were operated by British Airways and Air France for 27 years. On July 25, 2000, one plane was lost in a crash while taking off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 113 people, including 100 passengers and 9 crew members on board. This disaster, as well as the contraction of the air transportation market after September 11, 2001, were the main reasons for the cessation of Concorde service on commercial airlines. According to some experts, if the Concorde engines had been placed in the same way as the Tu-144, then the disaster on July 25, 2000 might not have happened. The Tu-144 engines are located closer to the fuselage and a burst landing gear tire could not damage them. In fact, none of these two supersonic giants “won.”
