Tu-144 - the successes and failures of the battle for supersonic
60-s. Leading countries in the aircraft industry begin the race to create a passenger supersonic aircraft. For the first time, the Soviet Union, one of the main participants in the race, was able to lift the aircraft of this class - Tu-1969 - for the first time. He was the first passenger supersonic aircraft to ascend into the sky. In only two months, the French-English Concorde will make its first flight. And then the fate of the domestic car is not so happy. Drama and tragedy pursue a proud domestic iron bird.
For the first time, the Tu-144 rises into the sky on the last day of 1968. The machine was run by test pilot E.Elyan. As a passenger aircraft TU-144, the first in the world overcame the speed of sound at the beginning of June, 1969, at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The second speed of sound (2М) Tu-144 took in the middle of 1970 of the year, being at the height of 16.3 kilometer. Tu-144 has absorbed many innovations design and technical plan. Here I would like to note this decision as the front horizontal tail. With the use of [PGO], the maneuverability of flight was improved and the speed was quenched when the aircraft approached the landing. Domestic Tu-144 could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English "Concord", having a high speed when landing, could only sit at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a tremendous job. Take, for example, field tests of the wing of the new aircraft. They were held on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I aircraft, converted specially for testing the design and equipment of the future Tu-144 wing.
1973 year. Demonstration flight at Le Bourget Soviet Tu-144, tail number 77102. During the flight the plane crashes. Weight crew died. There were quite a few versions of the incident: making a sharp maneuver to avoid a collision with the Mirage, a failure in the control system, making a difficult maneuver that the Tu-144 design did not withstand. Today, after many years, it can be concluded that, most likely, the following has happened. A new experimental equipment was installed on board the ship for automatic flight control, and perhaps the pilots used it to complete a complex figure. However, it is precisely known that the crew’s fault in the plane crash is absent. This, though, and undermined the reputation of the aircraft, but work on improvement continued. Tu-144 released to make passenger traffic. For the first time, the Tu-144 with passengers on board rises into the sky at the end of 1977. Regular route Moscow - Almaty. Passenger traffic carried two Tu-144, tail numbers - 77109 and 77110. An interesting fact is that the airplanes were piloted from the Tupolev Design Bureau, the aeroflots pilots always played the role of co-pilots. The cost of the flight was 20 rubles more than a regular plane flight, and was 68 Soviet rubles. But the operation of the aircraft was very short because of its unprofitability. Tu-144, created for ultra-fast flights over long distances, could not find himself in domestic passenger traffic. Due to the price of a ticket, supersonic airplanes almost never were fully loaded, which, in the end, leads to the decommissioning of both aircraft. Seven months of use for its intended purpose, and in the middle of 1978, the Tu-144 left forever from the lines of Aeroflot. A little later, the Tu-114D aircraft began to carry out freight transportation on the route Moscow-Khabarovsk. In total, during the operation of the Tu-144, 3194 people were transported, 102 flights were carried out, of which 55 were passenger flights. Built aircraft 64 Voronezh plant. By the time of decommissioning, the 16 units of the Tu-144 units left the factory. The planes flew more than 4 thousands of hours in more than 2.5 thousands of sorties. The 4 aircraft under construction at the factory were not completed, but the bases were dismantled.
Tu-144 still rose to the sky to perform various tests and test the maximum capabilities of the aircraft, which was reflected in the establishment of world records. During one of the test flights of the upgraded Tu-144D in May 1978, another plane crash occurs. An aircraft with an 77111 flight registration vehicle makes an emergency landing in the field. The cause of the accident was the destruction of the fuel line, which led to the ignition of fuel in the third SU. There was a cabin smoke, the crew had to turn off two engines to prevent a fire and go to the forced one. Having made an extreme landing, the commander of the car, the navigator and the co-pilot were able to leave the cockpit through the window, the engineers who were in the cabin, left the plane through the front door. But two flight engineers were clamped by the deformed parts of the aircraft during landing and died.
95-99 years. Tu-144D with tail number 77114 was used by the American NASA as a flying laboratory. Received the name of the Tu-144LL. The main purpose - research and testing of American developments to create their own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger traffic.
For the first time, the Tu-144 rises into the sky on the last day of 1968. The machine was run by test pilot E.Elyan. As a passenger aircraft TU-144, the first in the world overcame the speed of sound at the beginning of June, 1969, at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The second speed of sound (2М) Tu-144 took in the middle of 1970 of the year, being at the height of 16.3 kilometer. Tu-144 has absorbed many innovations design and technical plan. Here I would like to note this decision as the front horizontal tail. With the use of [PGO], the maneuverability of flight was improved and the speed was quenched when the aircraft approached the landing. Domestic Tu-144 could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English "Concord", having a high speed when landing, could only sit at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a tremendous job. Take, for example, field tests of the wing of the new aircraft. They were held on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I aircraft, converted specially for testing the design and equipment of the future Tu-144 wing.
1973 year. Demonstration flight at Le Bourget Soviet Tu-144, tail number 77102. During the flight the plane crashes. Weight crew died. There were quite a few versions of the incident: making a sharp maneuver to avoid a collision with the Mirage, a failure in the control system, making a difficult maneuver that the Tu-144 design did not withstand. Today, after many years, it can be concluded that, most likely, the following has happened. A new experimental equipment was installed on board the ship for automatic flight control, and perhaps the pilots used it to complete a complex figure. However, it is precisely known that the crew’s fault in the plane crash is absent. This, though, and undermined the reputation of the aircraft, but work on improvement continued. Tu-144 released to make passenger traffic. For the first time, the Tu-144 with passengers on board rises into the sky at the end of 1977. Regular route Moscow - Almaty. Passenger traffic carried two Tu-144, tail numbers - 77109 and 77110. An interesting fact is that the airplanes were piloted from the Tupolev Design Bureau, the aeroflots pilots always played the role of co-pilots. The cost of the flight was 20 rubles more than a regular plane flight, and was 68 Soviet rubles. But the operation of the aircraft was very short because of its unprofitability. Tu-144, created for ultra-fast flights over long distances, could not find himself in domestic passenger traffic. Due to the price of a ticket, supersonic airplanes almost never were fully loaded, which, in the end, leads to the decommissioning of both aircraft. Seven months of use for its intended purpose, and in the middle of 1978, the Tu-144 left forever from the lines of Aeroflot. A little later, the Tu-114D aircraft began to carry out freight transportation on the route Moscow-Khabarovsk. In total, during the operation of the Tu-144, 3194 people were transported, 102 flights were carried out, of which 55 were passenger flights. Built aircraft 64 Voronezh plant. By the time of decommissioning, the 16 units of the Tu-144 units left the factory. The planes flew more than 4 thousands of hours in more than 2.5 thousands of sorties. The 4 aircraft under construction at the factory were not completed, but the bases were dismantled.
Tu-144 still rose to the sky to perform various tests and test the maximum capabilities of the aircraft, which was reflected in the establishment of world records. During one of the test flights of the upgraded Tu-144D in May 1978, another plane crash occurs. An aircraft with an 77111 flight registration vehicle makes an emergency landing in the field. The cause of the accident was the destruction of the fuel line, which led to the ignition of fuel in the third SU. There was a cabin smoke, the crew had to turn off two engines to prevent a fire and go to the forced one. Having made an extreme landing, the commander of the car, the navigator and the co-pilot were able to leave the cockpit through the window, the engineers who were in the cabin, left the plane through the front door. But two flight engineers were clamped by the deformed parts of the aircraft during landing and died.
95-99 years. Tu-144D with tail number 77114 was used by the American NASA as a flying laboratory. Received the name of the Tu-144LL. The main purpose - research and testing of American developments to create their own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger traffic.
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