Tu 144 is the first passenger supersonic aircraft. Russian aviation

Characteristics

		Tu-144S (“004”)
First flight		June 1, 1971
NATO designation		Charger
Crew, people		3
Dimensions
		Tu-144S (“004”)
Fuselage length (with LDPE), m		65,7
Aircraft height, m		12,85
Fuselage diameter, m		3,3
Wingspan, m		28,8
Wing area, m2		507
385
Wing extension		1,63
Wing sweep along the leading edge	center section	76^o
	consoles	57^o
Masses
		Tu-144S (“004”)
Take-off (maximum), kg		195000
Landing weight (maximum), kg		120000
Empty, kg		91800
15000 (150)
Weight (volume) of fuel, kg (l)		98000 (100000)
Power point
		Tu-144S (“004”)
Engines		4 DTRDF NK-144A
Thrust (on mode), kG	cruising supersonic	5000
	cruising subsonic	3000
	takeoff in afterburner	20000
	transonic afterburner	11800
Thrust-to-weight ratio		0.44
Ratio of mass to afterburner thrust, kg/daN		2,29
Fuel consumption, kg/km		11,2
Specific fuel consumption (on mode), kg/kgf x h	cruising supersonic	1,81
	cruising subsonic	0,92
	takeoff in afterburner	1,65
Flight data
		Tu-144S (“004”)
Maximum flight speed at an altitude of 18 km, km/h (M=)		2500 (2,35)
Cruising speed, km/h (M=)		2200 (2,2)
Approach speed, km/h		290
Landing speed, km/h		270
Practical flight range, km	at supersonic speed (load 15 t)	3080
	at supersonic speed (load 7 t)	3600
	at subsonic speed	4300
Practical ceiling, m		20000
Run, m		1900 (2100)
Mileage, m		1500 (1900)
Required runway length, m		3600

Description

Tu-144 [JPEG 402x152 28]

On December 31, 1968, the experimental Tu-144 aircraft (tail number USSR-68001) made its first flight. Tu-144 managed to take off 3 months before Concorde. But this first SPS in the world faced a difficult fate...

Work on the development of the basic design of the 044 aircraft went in two directions: the creation of a new economical 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 supersonic flight range. The decision of the commission of the USSR Council of Ministers on the Tu-144 version with RD-36-51 was made in 1969. At the same time, at the proposal of the MAP - MGA, a decision is made, before the creation of the RD-36-51 and their installation on the Tu-144, on the construction of six Tu-144 with NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of the serial Tu-144 with NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, significant changes to be made in the aerodynamics of the aircraft, obtaining a Kmax of more than 8 in supersonic cruising mode. This modernization was supposed to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of the first stage in terms of range (4000-4500 km), in the future it was planned transition in series to RD-36-51.

Tu-144 [JPEG 1000x540 90]

Construction of the pre-production modernized Tu-144 (“004”) aircraft began at MMZ “Experience” in 1968. According to calculated data with NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the estimated supersonic range should have been 3275 km, and with NK-144A (Cp = 1.91) it should have exceeded 3500 km. In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft in cruising mode M = 2.2, the wing planform was changed (the sweep of the floating part along the leading edge was reduced to 76°, and the base was increased to 57°), the shape of the wing became closer to “Gothic”. Compared to "044", the wing area has increased, and a more intense conical twist of the wing ends has been 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 loss of quality, taking into account optimization of flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased to accommodate 150 passengers, and the shape of the nose was improved, which also had a positive effect on the aerodynamics of the aircraft. Unlike “044”, each pair of engines in paired 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 area of ​​flow compression, increasing the gap between the lower surface wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of compressing the flow at the entrance to the air intakes on Kmax than was possible to achieve on the “044”. The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes to the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with them retracted inside between air channels engines, switched to an eight-wheeled trolley, and the scheme for retracting 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 extended from the fuselage during takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to ensure the required balancing of the aircraft with the elevons-flaps deflected. Improvements to the design, an increase in the payload and fuel reserves led to an increase in the aircraft’s take-off weight, which exceeded 190 tons (for “044” - 150 tons).

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

The first flight of serial Tu-144 No. 01-2 (tail No. 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, based on the results of tests of the pre-production vehicle, the aerodynamics of the wing were adjusted and its area was once again slightly increased. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. By the time of operational testing of production vehicles, the specific fuel consumption of the NK-144A was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg/kgf/hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and subsequently to 1.57 kg/kgf/hour, while the flight range should was increased to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km, respectively. In reality, they were able to achieve by 1977, during testing and development of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, Average = 1.81 kg/kgf hour in cruising supersonic thrust mode 5000 kgf, Average = 1.65 kg/kgf hour in takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20000 kgf, Av = 0.92 kg/kgf hour in the cruising subsonic mode of thrust 3000 kgf and in the maximum afterburning mode in the transonic mode we received 11800 kgf.

Tu-144 No. 77102 [JPEG 1000x274 26]

On June 3, 1973, the first production vehicle crashed during a demonstration flight in Le Bourget. She performed a demonstration flight following the Concorde. In an effort to “outdo” his competitor, pilot Mikhail Kozlov flew at low speed over the runway, which unexpectedly ended in a sharp dive. As a result of significantly exceeding the permissible overload, the PGO broke off, which crashed into the fuel tank in the wing. The crew led by test pilot M.V. Kozlov was killed (in addition to M.V. Kozlov, co-pilot V.M. Molchanov, Deputy Chief Designer V.N. Benderov, flight engineer A.I. Dralin, navigator G. N. Bazhenov, engineer B.A. Pervukhin). A commission was created to investigate the disaster, in which specialists from the USSR and France took part. Many reasons were given: this was also a provocative maneuver of the French Mirage fighter (the French filmed the flight, trying to prove that the Tu-144 was copied from the Concorde, and its PGO from the experienced Milan S fighter). Based on the results of the investigation, the French noted that there was no failure in the technical part of the aircraft, and the cause of the disaster was: the presence of unfastened crew members in the cockpit, the sudden appearance of the Mirage aircraft in the field of view of the crew of the Tu-144 aircraft, the presence of a movie camera in the hands of flight engineer Benderov, which If it fell, the control wheel could become jammed. Apparently, at that moment, such a conclusion suited everyone. Perhaps E.V. Elyan spoke most succinctly and accurately about the Tu-144 crash at Le Bourget in the 90s: “This disaster is a bitter example of how a confluence of seemingly small, insignificant negligence, in this case on the part of French flight control services, led to tragic consequences."

Tu-144 No. 77144 in Le Bourget "75 [JPEG 500x320 21]

It is more likely that the cause of the disaster was the lack of adjustment of the analog control system unit for such a flight mode.

Production of the Tu-144 with NK-144A continued in Voronezh until the beginning of 1977. A large amount of flight testing was carried out on these machines and flights with passengers began. On Tu-144 No. 02-1 (board No. 77103), the first flight was carried out on December 13, 1973, the NPK-144 flight and navigation complex, the power supply system were tested, tests were carried out in aborted take-off modes, and technical flights were made throughout the cities of the USSR.

On the Tu-144 No. 02-2 (tail No. 77144), first flight on June 14, 1974, studies were carried out on aerodynamics, strength, behavior at high angles of attack, the operation of aircraft systems and equipment was checked in emergency flight situations, in 1975 the car flew in Le Bourget.

Tu-144 No. 03-1 (side number 77105) was built in 1973 and immediately converted into Tu-144D with RD-36-51A engines.

Exploitation

Tu-144 No. 04-1 (tail No. 77106), first flight on March 4, 1975, was used to evaluate the efficiency of the air compressor system, and some problems with the fuel system were solved on it. On December 26, 1975, this machine made its first operational flight on the route Moscow - Alma-Ata. By this time, in addition to MAP pilots, MGA pilots had already begun flying the Tu-144. The plane transported cargo and mail along the route; flights took place at altitudes of 18,000 m and at speeds of 2,200 km/h. Currently, Tu-144 No. 04-1 can be seen on display at the Museum in Monino.

Tu-144 No. 04-2 (board No. 77108), first flight on December 12, 1975, development work was carried out on navigation equipment systems, on ABSU-144, on the director approach system, on the autothrottle.

Tu-144 No. 05-1 (tail No. 77107), first flight on August 20, 1975, after factory tests and tests under various programs, was presented in 1977 as a complex object for joint state tests. Based on the results of these tests, it was noted that the flight performance characteristics of the aircraft, with the exception of the practical flight range with a given number of passengers and take-off weight, corresponded to the requirements specified for the Tu-144 (during testing, they obtained a practical supersonic flight range with a take-off weight of 195 tons at commercial load 15 tons 3080 km, with 7 tons - 3600 km It was emphasized that the flight range of 4000-4500 km, with a commercial load of 14-15 tons on the Tu-144 with NK-144A cannot be realized and it was noted that obtaining the required range is possible with engines RD-36-51A.

Tu-144 in Monino [JPEG 390x190 17]

After the end of the joint tests, a decision was made by MAP - MGA to begin passenger transportation on Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144A. Tu-144 No. 05-2 (tail No. 77109), first flight on April 29, 1976, and Tu-144 No. 06-1 (tail No. 77110), first flight on February 14, 1977, were used for regular passenger transportation along the Moscow - Moscow highway. Alma-Ata. The Tu-144 departed on its first passenger flight on November 1, 1977. Flights over a distance of 3260 km at an altitude of 16000-17000 m at a speed of 2000 km/h were carried out once a week, the number of passengers on board did not exceed 80 people. The ticket price was only 30-40% more expensive than on the Il-62. Until the end of regular operation with passengers in May 1978, Aeroflot crews on the Tu-144 performed 55 flights (102 including cargo), carrying 3,284 passengers. The Tu-144 with NK-144A became the first passenger aircraft in the USSR to receive a national airworthiness certificate for the safety of passenger transportation; other Aeroflot aircraft at that time did not have such a certificate (the exception was the Tu-134, which was certified in Poland according to English standards airworthiness).

Design

PGO Tu-144 [JPEG 400x193 15 Kb]

The Tu-144S is a tailless low-wing aircraft. The gothic wing with its tip turned down has a leading edge sweep angle of 76° in the fuselage parts and 57° throughout the rest. In production aircraft, the wing has been significantly modified (in addition to increasing the span and curvature of the profile, an aerodynamic twist is used, and the end parts of the wing are deflected down). The optimal flight shape of the aircraft (wing planform, thickness distribution, deformation of the middle surface, twist) made it possible to achieve the highest aerodynamic quality (8.1 at M = 2) in cruising mode. The aircraft wing (extension 1.63 and taper 7, multi-spar design) consists of the main and detachable parts and has a power-loaded skin in the form of monolithic milled panels. Production aircraft are equipped with retractable takeoff and landing mechanization of the “front wing” type. This multi-slit (TsAGI type) straight wing with a span of about 3 m and a negative transverse V is located in the forward part of the fuselage behind the cockpit. Each of its consoles has a convex-concave profile and is equipped with four permanent slots. The retractable front wing is used only during takeoff and landing.

Tu-144 diagram [JPEG 1000x650 42]

The fuselage has a circular cross-section and has a cockpit nose cone that slopes downward at an angle of 12° during takeoff and 17° during landing. The prototype's cockpit glazing consists of two front windows as well as side windows. The nose cone is equipped with four longitudinal, extended side windows to provide forward visibility during ascent and during cruising flight. The fuselage, which in production aircraft was intended to accommodate 150 passengers in three ventilated cabins, has undergone significant modification. In first class aircraft, the seats are arranged according to a 1 + 2 pattern at a distance of 102 cm, and in a tourist class 2 + 3 at a distance of 87 cm. Due to the increase in the length of the fuselage, additional third entrance doors and 32 (instead of 25) windows on each side are provided. Passenger cabin equipment was supplied from the GDR.

Landing gear retraction diagram [JPEG 400x225 21]

The chassis is three-post. The front pillar has twin wheels. Production aircraft used 8-wheeled bogies that retract into recesses located in the engine nacelles. Each niche is closed with two front and two rear doors. When the landing gear is extended, the doors are open and protrude down beyond the contours of the gondola. When cleaning the main racks, the carts are rotated in the transverse plane by 90°, and the racks themselves are retracted in the direction of flight. The main bogies are equipped with wheels with a diameter of 950 mm and a tire pressure of 13.5 kg/cm2.

Production aircraft are equipped with 4 improved NK-144A engines designed by N. D. Kuznetsov. They are installed in pairs in two gondolas about 23 m long, located under the center section. In production aircraft, the nacelles are located at a considerable distance from the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and represent separate structural units.

State

Tu-144s were built at the Voronezh Aviation Plant almost individually, two aircraft per series. A total of 17 were built, of which the last 6 were Tu-144D. The Voronezh aircraft plant produced 14 flying aircraft (the 15th remained unclaimed). Passenger cabin equipment was supplied from the GDR.

Two Tu-144s were transferred to aviation museums - in Monino and to the museum civil aviation in Ulyanovsk. Moreover, the Tu-144S (USSR-77106) arrived in Monino “under its own power”, landing on a dirt airfield!

Release of Tu-144

	Manager No.	Type	Airborne number	Notes
MMZ "Experience"
	Manager No.	Type	Airborne number	Notes
31.12.1968	00-1	Tu-144 (“044”)	USSR-68001	Prototype, at Le Bourget 1971. Decommissioned
1.06.1971	01-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77101	Pre-production aircraft, decommissioned
Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ)
	Manager No.	Type	Airborne number	Notes
20.03.1972	01-2	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77102	The first production aircraft. Crashed June 3, 1973 at Le Bourget, scrapped
13.12.1973	02-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77103	Technical flights
14.06.1974	02-2	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77144 (77104?)	Le Bourget 1975
30.11.1974	03-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77105	Immediately converted into Tu-144D (“004D”), stationed in Ulyanovsk(?)
4.03.1975	04-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77106	Transport flights to Almaty. Now in Monino
12.12.1975	04-2	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77108	Finalization of navigation equipment
20.08.1975	05-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77107	Passed state tests
29.04.1976	05-2	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77109
14.02.1977	06-1	Tu-144S (“004”)	USSR-77110	Passenger flights to Almaty.
27.04.1978	06-2	Tu-144D (“004D”)	USSR-77111	The first production Tu-144D, crashed on May 23, 1978, decommissioned
-	07-1	Tu-144D (“004D”)	USSR-77112	Was in LII until 1995, decommissioned
-	08-1	Tu-144D (“004D”)	USSR-77113	IN LII
-	08-2	Tu-144D (“004D”)	USSR-77114	In LII, converted to LL, board RA-77114
-	09-1	Tu-144D (“004D”)	USSR-77115	At LII, the last flying Tu-144
-	09-2	Tu-144D (“004D”)		The last Tu-144 built. Stayed at VAZ.

See also

• Supersonic passenger aircraft

Links

• Tu-144 OKB im. A.N.TUPOLEVA /Airplanes of Russia and CIS countries /

Sources

• Under the signs “ANT” and “Tu” / V. Rigmant, “Aviation and Cosmonautics” 1/2000 /
• “That Man and the Plane” / L.L. Kerber /
• “Supersonic aircraft” / E. Tsikhosh /
• "Encyclopedia of Arms" / "Cyril and Methodius", 1998 - CD-ROM /
• “Develop the aircraft of the world” / R.I. Vinogradov, A.N. Ponomarev, 1991 /

They say that time heals. Alas, time only erases from memory and destroys. To preserve, and sometimes even return what has been lost, constant hard work is needed. Today's story is about volunteers working at the Air Force Museum in Monino, and about their dream - restoring the original appearance of the Tu-144 aircraft with the number USSR-77106.

2015

Volunteer work at the Air Force Museum began 10 years ago, on June 18, 2005. Then, on the eve of the Flying Legends air show, the museum management allowed volunteers to wash the plane. Almost 50 people gathered, having previously purchased buckets, rags and brushes from a nearby store, were able to wash the fuselage of a thick layer of dirt.

As usual, the holiday died down, and everything would have returned to normal, if not for the understanding of the value of one of the world's largest aviation Museums and a strong desire to prevent a repeat of the fate of Khodynka.
These noble motives united dozens of people: the newly formed organization of volunteer assistants of the Air Force Museum replenished its ranks with specialists with valuable knowledge and selfless aviation enthusiasts who quickly gained experience in the restoration business.

These are completely different people - in age, gender, education, profession. For example, it was thanks to the patience and diligence of the fair sex that it was possible to clean tons of dirt from the interiors of the restored exhibits, reupholster the chairs, pack silica gel, and do much more. In short, there was work for everyone, and there was no shortage of enthusiasm.

As authority accumulated in the eyes of the museum administration, volunteer assistants began to be trusted with more and more responsible procedures and, in the end, were allowed to see the exhibits themselves.


2015

History of the Tu-144 USSR-77106 (No. 04-1) aircraft

Tu-144 No. 04-1 (the first aircraft of the fourth series) was built in Voronezh in 1975. It took off on March 4, the commander of the aircraft was Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Voblikov. The director's landing approach, automatic control system, autothrottle and other units were tested.

1980

In the winter of the same year, without waiting for the end of state tests, operational flights from Moscow to Alma-Ata began. Mixed crews of MGA, MAP and ZhLIiDB of the Tupolev company, airport workers and air traffic control services learned to operate the new generation of airliners, maintain it and put it into operation.

The leader of the program was USSR-77106, which performed its first flight to Alma-Ata on December 26, 1975. Another similar aircraft subsequently came to his aid. They carried mail, cargo, technical personnel, press representatives and employees of numerous related enterprises. Then regular flights began for ordinary passengers, and on 77106 they continued testing to fine-tune the air conditioning systems, fuel system, etc. In total, the aircraft flew 582 hours. He ended his career on February 29, 1980, when G. Voronchenko’s crew drove him to the Air Force Museum in Monino, where he remained forever:

1980

Devastation

Having carried out the first work on the plane on the eve of the air show, enthusiasts did not abandon the “carcass”. Throughout the snowy winter of 2005-2006, the car was cleared of snow. And in the spring we made a difficult but responsible decision - to restore the interior of the cabin and passenger compartment.

Why was the decision difficult? The volunteers saw a spectacle of monstrous devastation. Hunters for non-ferrous metals, and simply vandals, destroyed and stole everything they could. The cabin has lost most of its instruments.

2005

Moreover, almost all the devices were unique and it is not possible to find them now, even on the black market.

The trim was barbarously torn apart in search of what was “needed,” and at first a bunch of wires and plastic hung from the ceiling, making it difficult to even walk through the cabin.

In addition to the man-made disaster, traces of the harmful effects of natural and climatic factors were found everywhere. The glazing has become cloudy over several decades, the foam rubber in the seats has rotted and crumbled. Even worse, pockets of corrosion appeared under the layers of hand-applied paint.

But the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. And thanks to the efforts of volunteers, with the support of industry experts, a number of large companies, and without help from the museum administration, the work began to boil. For a whole year, they raked out garbage from the interior and cabin, washed it, cleared it of snow and restored at least some order. After this, it was time for restoration work.

Documentation

To carry out restoration work professionally, it was necessary to know everything, or almost everything, about the design of the aircraft.
The most valuable technical documentation was found in the museum library. Some of the documents were provided by Aeroflot.

Letters, communications, contacts

It took almost ten years to clean up what several vandals had done in a matter of days. Of course, if there were at least some financial resources, many works could be carried out on the principle of outsourcing, rather than by a small volunteer team. But for now we can only dream of sufficient funding.

Due to the fact that it was impossible to move forward independently in such a serious and large-scale project as the restoration of a huge jet airliner without professional support and knowledge, a lot of letters were written to organizations directly related to the creation of the Tu-144.

The main partner in Tu-144 77106 was Alexey Nikolaevich Amelyushkin, widely known in narrow circles as the savior and guardian of the last two surviving Tu-144D 77114 and 77115 in Zhukovsky.

Aeroflot provided great assistance. The airline donated a lot of valuable equipment from old decommissioned aircraft to the museum, including much-needed spare parts, interior items for Soviet aircraft, on-board fire extinguishers, tools, etc.

Gangways and stepladders

To carry out even the simplest work on an airplane, you need a set of stepladders. And in order to organize a visit to the salon during the Open Day, real ladders are needed.

The Yakovlev management donated two stepladders to the museum, one of which raised the platform up to 8 meters. Such a stepladder was part of the Tu-144 ground equipment and was intended for access to the upper part of the fuselage. It is from this that you can ensure washing of the “roof” and normal access to the mechanism of the front wings.

Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports provided assistance to the museum by donating two decommissioned, but fully repairable and suitable for further use, self-propelled ramps.

Over the course of several seasons, I built a concrete pocket for the ladder using my own efforts.

Now it is possible to provide “civilized” access to the aircraft cabin.

Chassis

Over the years of exposure, the pressure in the tire tires of the wheels practically disappeared and the plane “sat on the rims.” Rubber for the Tu-144 is unique and has not been produced for a long time, but over time they were able to deliver old used tires removed from the Tu-144LL from Zhukovsky.

To avoid further deformation of the tires, in 2010 the aircraft was installed on special stands.

Under the front support, from under which the concrete slab began to “float” to the side after the rains and threatened to tilt the plane, a large channel was laid, and later, with the help of a tractor, the slab was moved into place.


2012

While the plane is confidently standing in the middle of the slab. It is possible that the procedure will have to be repeated in the future if necessary.

Not immediately, but enthusiasts managed to return to the previously postponed issue of wheel restoration. The wheels were changed at one time, but they are far from new. Magnesium disks are gradually being eaten away by corrosion.

Therefore, the hearths had to be literally cut down with grinders, the flaws had to be puttied, the discs had to be sanded, and then everything had to be primed with mordant and epoxy primers and prepared for painting.

Now the chassis looks like this:


2015

2015

We also painted the stand ourselves.


2015

Landing lights for the front landing gear were provided by Tupolev.

Portholes

Over 30 years of being parked under the scorching sun, the glazing of the interior and nose has completely lost its transparency, become cloudy and yellowed. Each porthole made of the latest E-2 plexiglass at that time, intended for use under conditions of high temperature and high-speed loads, was sanded and then polished. We worked in full chemical protection, since E-2 glass contains fluorine. Of course, it is no longer possible to restore them to their original form, but now at least it has become clear what is happening inside and outside the liner.

Cabin

Hunters for non-ferrous metals in the process of robbery destroyed the central control panel. They were too lazy to unscrew it, so they tore out everything valuable “with meat.” The pilot's seats were also in a pitiful state.

The instruments received from partners made it possible to complete approximately 60% of the looted instrument panels in the cockpit. Some of the old stock was found in Zhukovsky from the Tupolevites, but some had to be bought from hucksters for fabulous money. Despite the donations from visitors, 90% of the funds were still invested from the volunteers' personal money.

Green plugs were installed on the remaining pointers, indicators and remote controls. The spectacle was not particularly optimistic. It turned out something like this.

The bent and dented body of the center console was completely removed, dismantling half the aircraft. Volunteers had to learn the profession of tinsmith and painter.

However, the result was worth it.

The deformed and irreparable handle for opening the window in the cabin was made using a 3D printer.

One day, when we went into the cabin to check the condition, we discovered the consequences of regular filming on board, which was kindly organized by the museum. An unnamed television vandal played pilot. The button on the steering wheel, in the most visible place, was destroyed. Naturally, there is no replacement.
A similar button was found in a radio parts store, and the engraving was done on a CNC milling machine.

They demanded restoration of the pilot's seat. The paint on them was peeling, the leather upholstery was worn out, the soft parts of the pillow were rotten, and the mechanisms were jammed. It took a whole day to dismantle one chair.


2010

The old paint was washed off from the chair frame parts. With incredible efforts, all the numerous components were reassembled, and the public was presented with an impressive structure with leather cushions, folding armrests and embossed covers in the manner of sports cars.


2010

Especially for vandals and looters, I would like to note that all purchased devices do not remain on board. At the end of the holidays, everything valuable is immediately removed and stored under lock and key.

February 2015:


2015

2015

2015

Salons

At the same time, work was underway on the passenger compartments. Since it was impossible to restore the entire huge airliner by volunteers, we decided to concentrate on the first luxury cabin and the second, small tourist class cabin. It was necessary to replace the upholstery, which had been cut by vandals, to repair the curtains on the windows, and to restore the broken remote control for individual passenger service. Something was partially borrowed from the third, largest salon.


2015

2005. For almost 40 years, the foam rubber inside the seats rotted, crumbling onto the floor into sticky crumbs, the upholstery became dirty and sagging, and the folding tables disappeared.


2005

The seat blocks were dismantled one by one and repaired in the hangar, spending almost a fortune in personal funds.

A set of tables for the “luxury” was found at the Tupolev company, but they promised to make new ones from scratch.


2015

The original “anti-makasars” (headrest napkins) were provided by Aeroflot.


2015

Interior lining material suitable for repairing interior panels was found at an automobile plant.

The shabby floors of the passenger cabins were removed with carpet, and excess carpet runners donated by Aeroflot were placed in the aisle between the seats (they are temporarily removed during operation).


2015

Third salon

The third, largest passenger compartment was generally preserved with the exception of details: the foam rubber of the seats was completely rotted, and most of the numbering consoles were broken.

Entire panels were used to complete the first and second salons, and the rest were broken out.

One of the small private companies agreed to machine a mold and stamp a batch of parts to replace those broken at cost; the museum paid the bill.

The saga of adjusting and installing new panels dragged on for three years. It was necessary to cut some holes that could not be cast, separate the parts into left and right sides, putty the sinkers, fit them in place, prime them, paint them and assemble them.

Some of the original flight attendant call buttons were lost; they, along with the remote control covers, had to be replaced with new ones. First, everything was thoroughly degreased, then a thin layer of primer for plastic and three layers of two-component paint with intermediate drying of each layer.

In total, about fifty panels were made.

They turned out as if they were alive.


2015

The installation of new foam rubber on the seats of the third salon took all of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, and literally a week ago the salon was fully equipped!


2015

All 120 seats restored economy class. Each cover was signed and subsequently the chair stands on its own historical place. Together with the materials and transportation, the restoration of the chairs cost 120 thousand rubles.


2015

One reclining chair was left in its original form so that we could compare what it looked like before the restoration.


2015

Bow

From the very beginning of the restoration there was a desire to bring the aircraft into a more spectacular landing configuration with the nose down and wings extended. After lengthy work on washing, lubricating and resuscitating all devices, it was possible to manually lower the nose of the aircraft using a backup mechanism.

Then the electrical system was debugged, and now the front fenders extend and retract, lock, the limit switches are triggered in a timely manner and the motors are turned off.


2015

The work doesn't stop

From month to month the aircraft is transformed, and the changes are visible everywhere. Only last year the functionality of the air temperature indicator sensors in the cabins was restored. Work has begun on installing a new power distribution board, through which the aircraft will be supplied with electricity.


2015

As was the case in the original, the light control will be carried out from the flight attendants' dashboards. 50% and 100% power modes, as well as emergency light, will be implemented. The latter operated from a 28-volt network and will eventually be restored to its original state, while for now approximately half of the light bulbs have been restored.


2015

Constant care

During heavy snowfalls, the Tu-144 wing, with an area of ​​500 square meters, is covered with a very heavy snow cap. And during a thaw, saturated with water, a huge mass of snow can disrupt the alignment and put the plane on its hind legs. Therefore, in winter it is especially important to regularly clear snow from the aircraft. A team of three volunteers armed with shovels spends most of the daylight hours cleaning the wing.

Another problem is dampness. During the restoration work, when removing the ceiling panels, moisture was discovered under the thermal insulation, and the inside of the fuselage skin was soaked with water. Under these conditions, pockets of corrosion inevitably arise, threatening to destroy the liner.

To get rid of the dampness that appears inside the Tu-144 during periods of thaw, several hundred kilograms of silica gel were purchased, which the volunteers themselves packed into cotton bags, carefully sewn by the girls from old sheets and pillowcases. The bags are evenly distributed in the cabin along luggage racks, seat pockets, cabinets and chests.

But initial measures to dry the plane did not solve the problem. Weekly heating of the interior with an MP-85 engine heater, known as “Gorynych,” failed to remove moisture.
Then, at the end of 2013, a project was launched on boomstarter.ru to purchase a special industrial dehumidifier. and the required amount was collected.
In less than a full day of work, the purchased dehumidifiers collected a liter of water. These two liters could sharpen a plane from the inside.

Show the product face to face

After the flight to Monino in early 1980, for almost 30 years, museum visitors did not have the opportunity to examine the cabin. For the first time, the Tu-144 opened its doors to visitors during the Open Day on May 9, 2009. For both numerous visitors and the volunteers themselves, this day was doubly festive - a victory was won over oblivion and destruction.

The fully equipped cabin greeted visitors with the hum of a fan above the instrument panel, the ticking of an aviation clock and the glow of light bulbs. Guests were able to see the luxury salon and the second salon, where the upholstery of the seats was reupholstered just before the holidays.

There is a desire to create a full-fledged exhibition that would allow one to plunge into the era of large, fast cars and the conquest of “space and spaciousness.” First, we made a poster that attracted the attention of visitors. Almost no one passed by; they looked, read, and were interested.
There are plans to make information boards with the history of the aircraft and the history of the restoration process.

In addition, they are collecting (accepted as a gift or, in extreme cases, purchased at a minimal cost) Aeroflot paraphernalia of the USSR from the Tu-144 era. So, if you have elements of a uniform from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, as well as uniform hats, shoulder straps and insignia, buttons, airline tickets, luggage tags, labels, in-flight utensils, they can be given to volunteers to replenish the exhibition. Lifetime photographs of the Tu-144, especially the USSR-77106, will also be useful.

Not all problems can be washed away

Washing the Tu-144 in its current form is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, dirt is washed away. On the other hand, the condition of the paintwork over the years of being parked in the open air is such that the paint comes off along with the dirt, and in some places traces of corrosion are already visible.

Unfortunately, the paint on the plane has completely lost its structure, and dirt is absorbed into it like a sponge. You have to pick up mops, buckets of water, washing powder, and scrub with pressure by hand.

However, this cannot continue indefinitely - the aircraft needs a full-scale restoration of the paintwork.
The aircraft will need to be scaffolded, the old paint completely sanded, a primer applied, then a fresh primer and paint.>

Taking into account the previously carried out work on the cockpit, interiors, chassis and windows, there is every chance to bring the exhibit to a good world level - no worse than in Sinsheim, Germany. However, if previous work was managed to be financed mainly on our own, now the cost of the issue is minimal 3 million rubles, and then in pre-crisis prices.

Help Wanted!

The only driver of all changes for the better is the participation of caring people. Almost all the work was carried out not only by volunteers, but also, to a large extent, at their own expense. Of course, donations from museum visitors also played an important role.

Of course, I would like the funds to be allocated for the work by the owners of the aircraft - the Air Force, or the administration of the Shchelkovsky district, on whose territory the museum is located. However, so far appeals to officials have not brought any results.

Instead of an afterword

Ten years ago, a group of enthusiasts took on a huge task - preserving for history the unique Tu-144 aircraft, stored in Monino, near Moscow, on the territory of the Central Museum of the Air Force. These were difficult years, but a team of like-minded people was able to overcome all the trials and saved the plane.

Today we need to take the next step: to recreate the original appearance of the car and give all aviation enthusiasts the opportunity to see one of the most beautiful and technically advanced airliners of the 20th century.

Everyone can provide all possible assistance to the cause, either through personal participation or a monetary donation. Even a small translation will help restore lost interior details and prevent the development of corrosion.

In order to make a donation, you can use the method most convenient for you: 77106 in LiveJournal, where the progress of work is described in detail. Also Current state cases can be seen on the forum in the corresponding thread.
There is also a group

A supersonic passenger masterpiece of the Soviet aircraft industry of the late 60s of the twentieth century. Graceful appearance and incredible power. An incredible 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 became part of 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 the rapid development of jet aviation. In addition to military developments, aircraft designers paid attention to passenger aircraft models. By this time, technologies to overcome the sound barrier had been mastered.

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

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

• reduction of flight time;
• no intermediate landings;
• new level of comfort;
• world prestige.

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

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

The United States also joined the race under the “Supersonic” program, according to which their XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft was supposed to surpass the European model in 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 a resolution was issued by the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers on the creation of the Tu-144 supersonic passenger aircraft at the Tupolev Design Bureau.

According to the assigned task, the aircraft was supposed to transport 100 passengers at a speed of 2,700 km/h over 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 "Yastreb". 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 in mass production. But the design of the passenger model had to start almost from scratch.
The first task arose in choosing the design of the new airliner.

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

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

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

To test various Tu-144 systems, several dozen stands were built. Hundreds of experiments were conducted on them. Tupolev Design Bureau has never had such a number of preliminary studies.

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

First flight

The first experimental machine was assembled in the workshops of the Moscow machine-building plant “Experience,” which was the name of Tupolev’s company at that time. The aircraft was built in broad cooperation. Thousands of enterprises in the country were involved in the work.

Rudders, elevons and the main landing gear were manufactured in Kuibyshev. In Voronezh they made the detachable part of the wing and the nose landing gear. A Mi-10 helicopter crane was used to transport large-sized 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 installation of all parts of the aircraft took place.

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

Final assembly took place on the territory of the Zhukovsky flight test and development base. The work was carried out around the clock on a three-shift schedule; this was required by pressing 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 plane 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 beat 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 design of a tailless supersonic aircraft. The fuselage body is in the form of an elongated semi-monocoque tube with stringers and frames.

The outside of the body 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.

This innovative measure is caused by high temperature loads, reaching +130 degrees Celsius or more at supersonic speeds of 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 cone, which was lowered during takeoff and landing to improve visibility.

Behind the canopy there was a retractable front horizontal tail for efficient takeoff and landing (TOL). The second block is the central part, which housed a passenger compartment that could accommodate 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 braking parachute and the keel of the aircraft.

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

Avionics

The aircraft was equipped with an on-board electronic computer center, which was directly involved in controlling the aircraft. However, its characteristics lagged behind the similar Concorde automatic, 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 included in the design was a PIN - 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 from the Kuibyshev plant - the NK-144A turbojet engine on the first experimental model and the RD-36-51A aircraft engines from the Rybinsk plant 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 operation at supersonic speed without the use of an afterburner.

The engines were placed in pairs to reduce the aggressive impact of the flame on the tail section. The nozzles extended beyond the wing section. 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.

The decision to place the engines under the center section was somewhat controversial. The air intakes were located quite close to the nose landing gear. There was a possibility of increased dust and dirt getting into the engines and, as an option, their failure.

Chassis

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

The front landing gear was 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 aircraft entered supersonic mode, fuel was pumped into the central fuel tank located at the rear of the fuselage.

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

Specifications

As of today, the flights of SPS airliners have taken a pause, which will last for an unknown amount of time. Almost 15 years ago, Concorde's last flight took place on November 26, 2003 between Heathrow and Filton airports in the UK.

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

Speed

The planes of competing countries reached staggering speeds, exceeding twice the speed of sound. The parameters were similar. However, the Soviet Tu-144 airliner surpassed the Concorde in cruising speed, developing 2300 km/h against the European’s 2150 km/h.

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

Interesting fact! Flying at supersonic speed from the UK to the US transported passengers back in time, as Concorde arrived in New York two hours earlier than it departed from London. This result was achieved by quickly overcoming time zones.

Capacity

The Soviet airliner accommodated 150 passengers in a fairly spacious cabin with a five-row arrangement of seats. 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 did not find practical application. However, in defense of the Concorde, it is worth noting that its interior decoration is much more luxurious and ergonomic than the Soviet airliner. This also applies to the cockpit.

Service ceiling

The Tu-144 aircraft could rise 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 production Tu models (004, 144-D, 144-LL, 144-S) surpassed in thrust the Olympus-593 power plant, an international development of the British company RollsRoyce and the French airline SNECMA.

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

It is worth noting that, in contrast to Soviet developments, significant restrictions on fuel consumption, noise levels and environmental friendliness were introduced for foreign engines. This largely determined such a lag in power.

Development time

This advantage is hardly worth taking into account, since it is not entirely evaluative. However, the fact of a shorter program from the start of design to the debut flight remains with the Soviet Union.

Tu-144 was the first to take off and six months later became the first passenger airliner in a world that has managed to overcome the speed of sound. Both competing aircraft had shortcomings that took a long time to correct.

For example, until the mid-1980s, Concorde generated losses that were covered by the governments of Great Britain and France. Only after serious modifications 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
Fuel mass, 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

History of operation 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 plane showed a rather interesting performance: it entered the runway and touched it with its landing gear wheels, the airliner went off like a candle into the sky. The Soviet delegation instructed Soviet pilots on the Tu-144 to repeat the “European” maneuver.

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 with the goal of repeating Concorde’s sharp climb the day before.

After passing over the GDP with the mechanization and landing gear extended, the Tu-144 sharply began to gain altitude, but upon reaching 1200 meters, the plane went into an uncontrolled dive.

The pilots tried to bring the plane out of the dive, but due to the resulting overloads, the hull of the airliner 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 plane crash has not been reliably established. A French Mirage flew near the Tu-144, which took photographs of the Soviet machine. One of the versions has the interpretation that the crew of the airliner was avoiding a collision with a French plane 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 helm. Both sides of the ATP manufacturers decided to agree on the human factor, since technical problems would cast a shadow on the future fate of the project.

Route operation

Europe began operating Concorde on international routes to Rio de Janeiro and Bahrain in 1976. Having visited France on a working visit in the summer of 1977, L.I. Brezhnev was aware of this fact and demanded that USSR Aviation Minister Bugaev begin 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 airliners have just begun to be created.

The first commercial flight on the route Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow, Tupolev Tu-144 made on October 26, 1975. The transported cargo consisted of postal property. Two years later they began Passenger Transportation in the same direction. The ticket price was not much different from the subsonic flight, 62 rubles versus 80 rubles.

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

Seven months later, on June 1, 1978, Aeroflot stopped regular SPS passenger routes, this was due to a new plane crash of an experienced 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 cover even part of Aeroflot's operating costs. Increasing 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.

Over the entire history of commercial operation, the Tu-144 aircraft carried 3,284 passengers, while the Concorde was able to transport 2.5 million people over the entire period of operation. Subsequently, efficient Soviet SPS were used to set world records or for test flights.

American history

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

The Russian government accommodated Western researchers and facilitated the rental of the “Flying Laboratory”.

This aircraft has been converted from a Tu-144D into a research aircraft since 1995. The 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 supersonic passenger aircraft project since 1967, 17 aircraft were built, including the first “zero” aircraft and the last plane, which did not find an “owner” and stood for a long time on the territory of the plant, and then was disposed of.

Two airliners (aircraft No. 77102 and aircraft No. 77111) were lost in plane crashes in 1973 and 1978. Modifications of manufactured aircraft:

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

Some of the aircraft are currently in storage, eight aircraft have been scrapped. Three Tu-144s can take off after repairs.

Tu-144 in the culture of the USSR and Russia

The plane was very much loved by the citizens of the Soviet Union as a powerful and beautiful airliner. His image has been applied to USSR postal blocks since 1969. Subsequently, the image of the Tu-144 was captured on a postage stamp of Kazakhstan by 2002, since this year marked exactly 25 years of passenger flights Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow. The Russian Mint 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 ATP in Delhi and San Francisco, although in reality the Tu-144 did not go on international routes.

The plane was also featured in Soviet films: “A Drop in the Ocean”, “The Tale of the Human Heart”, “Ilf and Petrov Rode on a Tram”, “Poem about Wings” and “Responsible for Everything”.

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

Control of the digital model accurately replicates the instrument panel and real actions: switching toggle switches, following the flight plan, controlling the pre-stage, nose cone and switching to supersonic.

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

Video

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 similar aircraft and 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 about the construction of a batch of such aircraft." Alexey Tupolev was appointed as the lead designer for the aircraft (from 1973 Boris Gantsevsky, from 1979 - Valentin Bliznyuk). The 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. First flight 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, in its main flight performance 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, Tu-144D, equipped with improved engines, flew forced 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 to conduct various tests, as well as to study 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 into 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

Exactly 35 years ago, the aircraft that became the pride of our aviation industry, the Tu-144, was taken out of constant service. The world's first (there were only two of them, together with Concorde) supersonic passenger aircraft. Another battle between the USSR and the capitalist world has sunk.

It seems that the battle was completely lost. During its operation, the Tu-144 made 102 commercial flights, of which 55 were passenger flights. In total, the Tu-144 transported 3,284 passengers, which is on a civil aviation scale, on a USSR scale, on a global scale, in general, nothing. For comparison: the main competitor of the Tu-144, Concorde, transported more than 2.5 million people during its operation.

But every story has nuances. It's worth talking about them.

The end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s of the last century were marked by an unprecedented flowering of air traffic and civil aviation throughout the world. At the same time, the idea of ​​using supersonic machines for long-distance flights arose in Europe and the USSR. In the first case, high speeds were needed in order to reduce the time of crossing the Atlantic between Europe and the United States; in the second, the decisive role was played by the vast expanses of the Soviet country, which it was also desirable to overcome as quickly as possible.

As a result, Europe and the USSR almost simultaneously began to develop unique supersonic airliners, conceptually similar, but structurally noticeably different from each other: Concorde and Tu-144.

Experts to this day argue about whether there was any “borrowing” of ideas, technologies and design solutions when creating these two unique aircraft. The French at one time tried very furiously to prove that the Tu-144 was “ripped off” from the Concorde, but all attempts ended in nothing. The cars were really different.

Of course, aircraft developers, as they say, looked towards competitors, but primarily proceeded from their own technical and technological capabilities. And in the USSR, unlike the French, who created Concorde from scratch, there was something to rely on.

It is generally accepted that all promising models of Soviet (and Russian) civilian equipment, from trucks to supersonic aircraft, are based on successful or failed military models. And the Tu-144 is no exception here.

Creation of supersonic passenger plane was a “multi-pass” process, the design bureaus of Tupolev, Sukhoi and Myasishchev, who at that time already had not only theoretical developments in the field of creating large supersonic aircraft, presented their developments here. And in the Tu-144, if desired, one could find separate components and circuits from the M-50, T-4 and Tu-135.

Most of all, of course, the Tu-144 took from the unrealized project of the Tu-135 bomber and its passenger version, the Tu-135P. But there was no actually flying military analogue of the Tu-144.

One way or another, in the 1950s, supersonic aircraft, including heavy ones. Therefore, there were not too many exceptional ideas in the project. The Tu-144 absorbed quite a lot of what was invented by the military. And we knew how to invent and build military aircraft. Fact.

Takeoff of the first Tu-144 from the VASO airfield.

Wings appeared only on the third specimen. There were none on the first two samples

The main problem for aircraft manufacturers was that at supersonic speed there would be extreme heating of the surface. And this problem needs to be solved not in relation to a small plane or bomber with a small crew, but to a huge one passenger airliner. Which should not only fly at high speed over long distances, but also provide the necessary comfort for passengers.

Crew workplaces.

Since I live in the city where all Tu-144s were born, it was almost not difficult to find the person who took part in its assembly and flight. I was able to talk with Irina Fedorovna Vyakhireva, who in those years worked at VASO as an electrical engineer. And she participated in test flights several times, monitoring tens of kilometers of wiring and hundreds of aircraft servos. Including when flying at supersonic speed.

So, according to Irina Fedorovna’s recollections, the noise during the flight was simply terrible, especially in the tail section. We had to yell in each other’s ears, without exaggeration. The noise from the engines in the rear of the aircraft in the middle was compensated by the howl of the motors of the body cooling system. And these problems were solved, starting from the first flight of the Tu-144, and we can say that they were eventually solved.

Passenger cabin 2nd class

Passenger cabin 1st class

Kitchen block

There were also more serious issues of controllability over the entire speed range, as well as balancing of the airliner. This is how the front wings appeared on the Tu-144, which were used in takeoff and landing modes. A deflectable nose cone was implemented, which improved visibility from the cockpit during takeoff and landing. Many new developments have been applied to automated control systems that provide automation of basic procedures. In any case, the Tu-144 became for the USSR outstanding achievement in terms of technology, materials, avionics, control systems.

It’s a pity, but the Tu-144 was not destined to become a real conqueror of distances. The reason for this was the eternal headache of our aircraft industry: the engine.

The first version of the Tu-144 with NK-144A engines did not satisfy Aeroflot at all in terms of flight range - it could be operated on lines up to 4000 km long.

Therefore, the Tu-144 was used only on one regular line: Moscow-Alma-Ata. But even here the plane only had enough fuel “from threshold to threshold.” The trouble was that if the Almaty airport for some reason could not accept the plane, the only alternate airfield capable of receiving the Tu-144 was Tashkent. In the event of a closure due to weather conditions, there was simply nowhere to land the plane with passengers. It is not surprising that the pilots themselves compared flying on the Tu-144 to “kissing a tiger.” And every Tu-144 flight to Alma-Ata and back turned into one continuous stress for the crews, dispatch services and aviation officials.

The T-144 received its first strike on June 3, 1973, at the Le Bourget air show. A very strange and tragic flight, never fully investigated.

After performing a demonstration flight at low altitude and low speed, with the landing gear and front wing extended, the Tu-144 comes in for landing.

What happens next does not fit into the canons of common sense: some two hundred meters above the ground, the strained howl of boosted engines is heard, and the plane soars up like a candle, retracting the landing gear and front wings as it goes. When the altitude reaches about 1200 meters, it goes into horizontal flight for a split second and... falls into a sharp dive. Four seconds later, at an altitude of 750 meters, the Tu-144 tries to exit the dive and even release the front wings.

As it turns out later, the overload has currently reached a value of 4-4.5 units. The attempt to level the car continued for another four seconds. At the 5th second after the start of recovery from a dive at an altitude of 280 meters at a speed of 780 km/h, the left front wing cannot withstand the load. A structure of substantial size separates from the fuselage and hits the main wing, piercing the fuel tank. The mortally wounded car spins to the left, colossal overloads begin to tear the plane apart right in the air.

The flaming debris crashed into the nearby village of Goussainville, completely destroying five buildings and killing eight people. Another 25 people on the ground were seriously injured.

The crew of the aircraft, consisting of Mikhail Kozlov (commander), Valery Molchanov (2nd pilot), Vladimir Benderov (test manager), Anatoly Dralin (flight engineer), Georgy Bazhenov (navigator), Boris Pervukhin (lead test engineer) were completely killed.

The investigation, conducted by a joint Soviet-French commission, lasted more than a year, but the exact cause of the disaster could not be determined. The commission found that all aircraft systems were operating normally. The only cause of the disaster, according to the commission members, could have been the crew’s attempt to divert the plane from an alleged collision with the French Mirage III R reconnaissance aircraft, from which photography and filming of the Tu-144 flight was carried out.

The trajectories of the Tu-144 and Mirage did not intersect. The planes were moving in the same direction and at different altitudes. However, according to the commission’s conclusions, the Soviet crew, not being able to visually assess the direction of the Mirage’s flight, could have undertaken a sharp evasive maneuver. At the same time, the test director standing in the cockpit of the Tu-144 with a movie camera, without being fastened, could fall and block the pilot’s actions.

A “sharp maneuver” performed by a 200-ton vehicle... Hmmm...

However, work on the Tu-144 continued. A new modification of the engine made it possible to increase the flight range of the airliner. The Tu-144D was almost ready for operation on long-haul lines.

However, on May 23, 1978, a new Tu-144D crash occurred. And not a prototype, but an aircraft intended for transfer to the Moscow-Khabarovsk line. During the flight, due to the destruction of the fuel line, fuel ignited in the area of ​​the 3rd engine. The crew was forced to make an emergency landing on a field near Yegoryevsk near Moscow. A fire started. The crew commander, co-pilot and navigator left the plane through the cockpit window. The two engineers on board escaped through the front exit door. Two of their colleagues were less fortunate - being trapped in their seats when the plane crashed, they were unable to get out of the plane and died in the fire.

On July 31, 1980, during the next test flight of an aircraft with tail number 77113 in supersonic mode at an altitude of 16,000 meters, one of the engines was destroyed. With great difficulty, the crew managed to bring the car out of the dive and land it.

The country's leadership really wanted to start commercial operation of the Tu-144D, since the prestige of the USSR as an advanced aviation power was at stake. Especially in light of the fact that Concorde is firmly established on flights across the Atlantic.

The last attempt to put the Tu-144D on line was made at the end of 1981. The plane was supposed to begin flights on the Moscow-Krasnoyarsk route. But... Another destruction of the engines during ground tests, and regular flights had to be postponed. Forever.

And after Brezhnev’s death, the attitude towards the Tu-144 changed dramatically. Aeroflot tried with all its might to get rid of the plane, from which it had nothing but a headache. As a result, the Tu-144D was removed from passenger flights with an official conclusion about “a bad effect on people’s health when crossing the sound barrier.”

And yet the Tu-144 was not completely lost. 4 out of 5 aircraft located on the VASO stocks in Voronezh were completed. The further fate of these aircraft is peculiar, and will allow me to put a rather optimistic point at the end.

The base of the Tu-144 was the airfield in Zhukovsky, where the planes were not only based, but even flew periodically. Tu-144D was used to deliver urgent cargo and correspondence, and also as flying laboratories.

The joint program between Roscosmos and NASA involved a modified Tu-144D with tail number 77114 called Tu-144LL (Flying Laboratory). The main goal of the research was to develop a plan for creating a supersonic passenger aircraft of the 21st century. When NASA “had enough of playing”, the research was curtailed in 1999.

Today, all remaining Tu-144s (8 units) are in storage or as museum exhibits. Only examples in Zhukovsky Tu-144D No. 77115, which is exhibited at MAKS, and Tu-144LL No. 77114 can be brought to flight condition.

It would seem that everything, the story is over. And it ended not in favor of the Tu-144, which lost the battle with the Concorde, which flew longer and further, and carried a significant number of passengers. Yes, commercially Concorde won.

However, work to improve the Tu-144, and, in particular, the Tu-144K and Tu-144KP projects, made it possible to achieve what we have today.

The same 1981 became the milestone. The year when the unrisen star Tu-144 was setting. But it was this year, on December 18, that the “70-01” model made its first flight. Test pilot Boris Veremey flew the first example of what would become the White Swan, the Tu-160.

There is something in common, isn't there?

The basis for the Tu-160 was the Tu-144 and the work carried out throughout the history of this aircraft.

Yes, the Tu-144 was an innovative aircraft. Engine engineers were not prepared for its appearance, and there were many difficulties with the ground infrastructure. But the Concorde, which won the Tu-144 commercial competition, is now consigned to history, and it is unlikely that it will have any continuation. But the Tu-160, which has absorbed much from the Tu-144, still carries out its service to protect our peace and security. And it still has no analogues.

And for some reason, the developers and creators of Concorde did not even try to repeat what the Tupolev team did, moving from the Tu-144KP to the Tu-160. Is it not necessary because it will not bring benefits? Maybe.

In any case, the question of whether or not we have lost the battle for supersonic flight for large aircraft is not as clear-cut as it seems at first glance. A glance at the figures of passengers transported and money earned.

But really, who won? Large planes, capable of flying at supersonic speeds, now remain only in Russia...