Tupolev Tu-144 in flight
The Tupolev Tu-144 (NATO codename: "Charger"; nicknamed "Concordski") is a supersonic transport aircraft. It was the first supersonic transport (SST) to enter into passenger service and remains one of only two to ever do that (along with the Anglo-French Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde).
A total of 16 airworthy Tu-144 aircraft were built. The last commercial passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in 1978. Production ceased in 1984.
History[]
Development of the Tu-144 was ordered
in July 1963 - six months after the go ahead for it's Anglo-French rival. As well as close study of various aspects of Concorde - including a number of failed attempts to collect information through espionage[N 1] - the development programme utilised the A-144, a special variant of the MiG-21 fitted with a scaled version of the wing intended for the Tu-144.[1]
Details[]
- Crew: 3
- Capacity: 70-140 passengers
- Length: 65.5 m
- Wingspan: 28.8 m
- Height: 10.5 m
- Powerplant: 4 x Kolesov RD-36-51 afterburning turbojets
- Empty weight: 85,000 kg
- Loaded weight: 120,000 kg
- Max. takeoff weight: 180,000 kg
- Cruise speed: Mach 2.15 (2,285km/h)
- Service ceiling: 20,000 meters
Gallery[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This resulted in the chief of Aeroflot's Paris office being arrested with a set of Concorde engineering drawings in his briefcase, and a plot to acquire tyre samples from Le Bourget, which was foiled when Aerospatiale scientists substituted an exotic compound that had no use in tyres.
Sources[]
- ↑ World Aircraft Information Files Aviation Partwork. Midsummer Books Ltd. File 554 Sheet 1 )World Civil Aircraft:Tupolev Tu-144 'Charger' - Supersonic Soviet)