Tupolev Tu-144 (Russian: Ty ?????? - 144 ; NATO reporting name: Charger ) is a retired commercial jetliner and commercial supersonic transport plane (SST). It is one of only two SST to enter commercial services, the other being the Anglo-French Concorde. The design is a product of the Tupolev design bureau, led by Alexei Tupolev, of the Soviet Union and produced by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh, Russia. The airline conducts 55 passenger service flights, at an average service height of 16,000 meters (52,000 feet) and speeds at about 2,000 kilometers per hour (1,200 mph) (Mach 1.6).
The first prototype flew on December 31, 1968 near Moscow, two months before Concorde's first flight. The first Tu-144 went supersonic on 5 June 1969, and on May 26, 1970 became the first commercial transport beyond Mach 2. Tu-144 fell in 1973 at the Paris Air Show, postponing further developments. The aircraft was introduced to passenger service on November 1, 1977, almost two years after Concorde, due to budgetary restrictions. In May 1978, another Tu-144 (an improvement version, named Tu-144D) fell on test flights while it was being shipped, and the passenger fleet was permanently grounded after only 55 scheduled flights. The aircraft remained in use as a cargo plane until 1983, at which point a total of 102 commercial flights were completed. The Tu-144 was later used by the Soviet space program to train the Buran spacecraft pilots, and by NASA for supersonic research.
Video Tupolev Tu-144
Development
The Soviet government published the Tu-144 concept in an article in the January 1962 magazine of Air Transport Technology. The air ministry began development of the Tu-144 on 26 July 1963, 10 days after the design was approved by the Council of Ministers. The plan calls for five flying prototypes to be built in four years, with the first aircraft ready in 1966. MiG-21I (1968; Izdeliye 21-11; "Analog") I = Imitator ("Simulator") is a testbed for wing design Tu-144.
Despite the close resemblance to the Tu-144 appearance with the Anglo-French supersonic aircraft, there is a significant difference in control, navigation and engine systems. Tu-144 lags behind Concorde in areas such as braking and engine control. Concorde utilizes an electronic engine control package from Lucas, which Tupolev is not allowed to buy for the Tu-144 because it can also be used on military aircraft. Concorde designers use fuel as a coolant for cabin air conditioners and for hydraulic systems (see Concorde for details). Tupolev also uses fuel/hydraulic heat exchangers but uses a cooling turbine for cabin air.
The Tu-144 prototype is a full-scale demonstrator aircraft with very different production aircraft developed in parallel. While both the Concorde and Tu-144 prototypes have an ogival delta wing, the Tu-144 wing lacks a Concorde cone camber. Production of Tu-144 replaced this wing with double delta wings including spanwise and chordwise camber. They also added two small retractable surfaces called canache whites, with fixed double-slotted LE bars and a retractable double-slotted flap. It's mounted just behind the cockpit and lift lift at low speed.
Moving the elevon down on the wing-delta plane improves lift (style), but also lowers its nose downwards. Canards canceled this nose-down moment, thus reducing the Tu-144 production landing speed to 315-333 km/h (196-207 mph; 170-180 kn), still faster than Concorde. The NASA study lists the speed of the final approach during the Tu-144LL flight flight as 315-335 km/h (196-208 mph; 170-181 kn). An FAA circular lists the Tu-144S approach speed as 329 km/h (204 mph; 178 kn), compared to the Concorde speed approach of 300 km/h (190 mph; 160 kn), based on the characteristics expressed by the manufacturer to Western governing bodies. It opens for the argument of how stable the Tu-144S is at registered air velocity. However, when NASA subcontracted the Tupolev bureau in the 1990s to turn one of the remaining Tu-144D into the Tu-144LL standard, the procedure set by Tupolev for landing defines the Tu-144LL "final approach speed... on orders of 360 km/hour depending on the weight of the fuel. "Brian Calvert, Concorde's technical flight manager and commercial pilot for the first few flights, cites speeds approaching the typical Concorde landing end to 287-296 km/h (178-184 mph; 155-160 kn ). Landing speeds lower than the Tu-144 are due to the more subtle Concorde wing profile design that provides higher lift at lower speeds without degrading supersonic cruise performance - a feature often mentioned in Western publications on Concorde and recognized by Tupolev designers as well.
Maps Tupolev Tu-144
Design
Along with the early Tu-134s, the Tu-144 was one of the last commercial aircraft with a braking parachute.
Machine
SST for M2.2 was designed in the Soviet Union before Tupolev was tasked to develop it. The design study for Myasischev SST has shown that a cruise ship special fuel consumption (SFC) of no more than 1.2 kg/kg per hour will be required. The only machine available in time with the necessary and suitable impulse to test and refine the aircraft is the Kuznetsov NK-144 afterburning turbofan with SFC 1.58 kg/kgpj. The development of alternative machines to meet SFC requirements, non-afterburning turbojets, Kolesov RD-36-51A, began in 1964. It took a long time for this machine to achieve SFC and acceptable reliability. Meanwhile the NK-144 SFC high provides a limited range of approximately 2,500 km (1,600 mi; 1,300 nmi), much less than Concorde. The maximum speed of 2,430 km/h (1,510 mph; 1,310 kn) (Mach 2.29) is achieved with afterburner. Afterburner was added to the Concorde to meet the thrust requirements of take-off and was not required for supersonic voyages; Tu-144 uses maximum afterburner for take-off and minimum for shipping.
The Tu-144S, which was nine produced, fitted with a Kuznetsov NK-144A turbofan to overcome the lack of thrust and spike margins. SFC at M2.0 is 1.81 kg/kgpj. Further enhancement, NK-144V, reached the required SFC, but was delayed to influence the decision to use Kolesov RD-36-51.
The Tu-144D, which is five produced (plus one uncompleted), is powered by a Kolesov RD-36-51 turbojet with a 1.22 kg/kgp hour SFC. The range with full payload increased to 5330 km compared to 6,470 km for Concorde. Plans for aircraft with a range of more than 7,000 km (4,300 miles, 3,800 million) were never implemented.
The engine intake has a variable ramp and cuts the flap in an automatically controlled position to match the engine airflow. They are very long to help prevent spikes. But they are twice as long as the one in Concorde. Jean Rech (Sud Aviation) expressed the need for excessive lengths based on the misconception that length is needed to reduce inlet distortion. The intake should be shortened by 10 feet in projected Tu-144M.
The Kolesov RD-36-51 has an unconventional con-variable in the nozzle for the nozzle pressure ratio at supersonic speed. Without afterburner there is no variable nozzle available. A translation plug nozzle is used.
Production
Sixteen Tu-144 aircraft built:
- Tu-144 prototype, registration number 68001
- pre-production Tu-144S, number 77101
- nine production Tu-144S, number 77102 to 77110
- five models of Tu-144D, number 77111 to 77115.
The last production aircraft, Tu-144D number 77116, was not completed and left abandoned for years at the Voronezh East airfield. There is at least one ground test agency for static testing in parallel with the development of the 68001 prototype.
Although the last commercial passenger flight was in 1978, the Tu-144 production did not stop until 1983, when the construction of the airframe was discontinued and left partially completed.
Operational history
Operational services
The Tu-144S began operations on 26 December 1975, a letter flying and shipping between Moscow and Alma-Ata in preparation for passenger services, which began on November 1, 1977. Type of certificate issued by USSR Gosaviaregister on 29 October 1977
The passenger service ran the semi-scheduled service until the first Tu-144D suffered a flight failure during a pre-shipment test flight, an emergency landing on May 23, 1978 with two crew deaths. The 55th and final passenger flights scheduled for Tu-144 occurred on June 1, 1978.
The Aeroflot delivery service started with a new production variant of the aircraft on June 23, 1979, including the new production route of the aircraft, including the route farther from Moscow to Khabarovsk made possible by the more efficient Kolesov RD-36-51 turbojet engine, which also increases maximum cruising speed to Mach 2.15.
Including 55 airline passengers, there were 102 scheduled flights before the suspension of commercial services.
Later use
The Tu-144 program was canceled by the Soviet government's decree on 1 July 1983 which also provided for future use of the remaining Tu-144 aircraft as an aerial laboratory. In 1985, the Tu-144D was used to train the shuttle of the Soviet Buran. In 1986-1988 Tu-144D No. 77114, built in 1981, is used for medical and biological research from high altitude atmospheric radiological conditions. Further research is planned but not yet completed, due to lack of funds.
Use by NASA
In the early 1990s, a wealthy businessman, Judith DePaul, and his company IBP Aerospace negotiated an agreement with Tupolev, NASA, Rockwell, and then Boeing. They offer the Tu-144 as a testbed for the High Speed ​​Commercial Research program, which is intended to design a second generation supersonic jet aircraft called High Speed ​​Civil Transport. In 1995, Tu-144D No. 77114 (with only 82.5 hours flight time) removed from storage and after extensive modification at a cost of US $ 350 Ã, million, designated as Tu- 144LL (where LL is the Russian abbreviation for the Fly Laboratory, Russian: Letayushchaya Laboratoriya, ?????????????????? range>). The aircraft made 27 flights during 1996 and 1997. Although considered a technical success, the project was canceled due to lack of funding in 1999.
The aircraft was reportedly sold in June 2001 for $ 11 million through an on-line auction, but aircraft sales were not continued. Tejavia Systems, the company dealing with transactions, reported in September 2003 that the deal was not signed because the replacement of the Kuznetsov NK-321 engine from the Tupolev Tu-160 bomber was a military device and the Russian government would not allow it to be exported.
In 2003, after retiring from Concorde, there was renewed interest from some wealthy people who wanted to use the Tu-144LL for transatlantic note work, despite the high cost of improving the readiness of the flight even if the military authorities would authorize the use of NK-321 machines outside the territory of the Russian Federation.
The last two aircraft remain at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky, No. 77114 (Tu-144LL) ​​and 77115. In March 2006, it was reported that both aircraft would be preserved, with one erected on a pedestal near the Zhukovsky City Council or above the entrance of the Gromov Flight Research Institute from the Tupolev street.
Reasons for failure and cancellation
Initial flight
Initial flights in scheduled services show the Tu-144S very unreliable. During 102 flights and 181 hours of delivery and passenger time, the Tu-144S suffered more than 226 failures, 80 of which were in flight. (This list is included in the Tu-144 service record provided by the Soviet Union to British Aircraft Corporation-AÃÆ' Â © rospatiale in late 1978, when appealing for Western technological assistance with the Tu-144, and possibly incomplete.) These eighty failures are serious enough to cancel or delay the flight.
After the inaugural flight, the next two flights, over the next two weeks, were canceled and the third flight rescheduled. The official reason given by Aeroflot for cancellation was bad weather at Alma-Ata; But when the reporter phoned the Aeroflot office in Alma-Ata about the local weather, the office said the weather was perfect and one plane had arrived that morning. Failures included decompression of the in-flight cabin on December 27, 1977, and engine overheating-exhaust channels caused the flight to be canceled and returned to the airport taking off on March 14, 1978.
Alexei Tupolev, head of the Tu-144 designer, and two deputy ministers of the Soviet Union (aviation and civil aviation industry) must be personally present at Domodedovo airport before any Tu-144 departure scheduled to review aircraft conditions and make connections. the decision whether it can be released to the flight. Furthermore, flight cancellations are becoming less common, as some Tu-144s are anchored at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport.
Tu-144 pilot Aleksandr Larin recalled a troublesome flight around January 25, 1978. Flight with passengers suffered 22 to 24 onboard system failures. Seven to eight systems failed before takeoff, but given the large number of foreign TV and radio journalists as well as other foreigners aboard, it was decided to continue the flight to avoid embarrassment due to cancellation.
After takeoff, failure continues to multiply. While the plane was supersonic on its way to the destination airport, the center of the Tupolev headquarters crisis predicted that the front and left landing gear would not expand and that the aircraft should land on the right gear alone, with landing speeds of over 300 km/h. h (190 mph, 160 kn). Due to the expected political collapse, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was personally informed of what was going on in the air.
With the accumulation of failure, the alarm siren sounds immediately after takeoff, with sound and volume similar to civil defense warning. The crew could not figure out how to turn it off so the siren stayed on for the remaining 75 minutes of the flight. Finally, the captain ordered the navigator to borrow a pillow from the passenger and put it in the siren horn. After all the tension, all the landing gear is extended and the plane can land.
The last Tu-144 passenger flight on May 30, 1978 involved a valve failure in one of the fuel tanks.
Limited route
Only one commercial route, Moscow to Alma-Ata (now Almaty), has ever been used and flights are limited to once a week, although there are eight available Tu-144S certified aircraft and a number of other routes suitable for supersonic flight, indicating that makers the Soviet decision had little confidence in the Tu-144 when passenger service began in 1977. Considering the high rate of technical failure their reasoning was sound. Reservations are limited to 70-80 passengers or fewer flights, falling well below the seating capacity of Tu-144s and seat requests. On 55 scheduled flights, the Tu-144 carries 3,194 passengers, averaging 58 passengers per flight. With officials deeply aware of the reliability of poor planes and fear of possible collisions, Soviet decision-makers deliberately restricted flight frequencies by several times to allow them to claim regular service offerings, and they also restricted passenger loads to minimize the impact and political fallout of the possibility crash.
Air failure test
Serious problems are found when two Tu-144S airframes experience structural failures during laboratory testing just before entering the Tu-144 passenger service. Details are included in the chapters in the Fridlyander memoirs and mentioned by Bliznyuk et al. The problem, discovered in 1976, may have been known before this test; Large cracks were found on the fuselage of the Tu-144 prototype (68001 aircraft) during a stopover in Warsaw after its appearance at the 1971 Paris Air Show.
The aircraft is assembled from engine parts of blocks and large panels, many over 19Ã, (62Ã, ft) long and 0.64-1.27 m (2.1 to 4.2Ã, ft) wide. While at the time, this approach was heralded as a sophisticated feature of the design, it turned out that large parts of the molded and worked machines contained defects in the alloy structure that caused cracks in stress levels beneath the supposedly defensive parts. As the crack began to grow, it spread rapidly for several meters, without the cracked design features to stop it. In 1976, during re-load and static testing at TsAGI (Russian Aerohydrodynamic Institute ), the Tu-144S airframe cracked at 70% of the estimated flight pressure with cracks that traveled many meters in both directions from their origin.
Later that same year, the test airframe was subjected to tests that simulated the temperature and pressure during the flight. Tu-144 is placed in a hyperbaric chamber and heated to 130-150 Â ° C (270-300 Â ° F). Contractions and expansions occur due to cooling during ascent and descent, heating during supersonic acceleration and voyage and due to changes in pressure from high altitude (low external pressure causing the fuselage to expand) to the surface pressure (causing it to contract). The fuselage cracked in a similar way to it during Tsagi's load testing.
Despite the fatigue cracks at the normal acceptable length in the plane, they are usually found during routine inspections or stops at the crack-capture feature. Airplanes with cracks are accepted until they are repaired. The Tu-144 design is the opposite of standard practice, allowing higher incidence of defects in the alloy structure, leading to the formation of cracks and propagation to many meters.
Decision to return to passenger service
The Soviet leadership made the political decision to enter the Tu-144 into passenger service in November 1977 despite receiving a test report showing that the Tu-144 airframe was unsafe and unfeasible to fly for regular service. Aeroflot seems to have thought of so few planes that were not mentioned in the five-year plan for 1976-1980. However, it was not an airline executives decision and Aeroflot reluctantly entered the Tu-144 into passenger service on November 1, 1977.
Although the decision to cancel the Tu-144S passenger service came several days after the Tu-144D crashed during a test flight on May 23, 1978, the accident was seen as the last pile of growing concerns about the reliability of the Tu-144. Even the fact that the technical reason for the accident was specific to the Tu-144D fuel pump system and does not apply to the Tu-144S does not help. The decision to withdraw the Tu-144S from passenger service after only 55 flights was thus more likely due to the high incidence of failures during and before scheduled flights.
Cab sound
The problem for passengers is the very high noise level inside the cabin. Noise coming from the engine and air conditioning. In addition, a unique active heat insulation system, which uses the spent cabin airflow, is described as being too noisy. Passengers sitting side by side can have a conversation with difficulty only, and those who sit in two separate seats can not hear each other even when screaming and must pass a hand-written note. The noise behind the plane was unbearable. Alexei Tupolev acknowledged the problem to foreign passengers and promised to fix it, but never had the means to do so.
Seek outside help
There was an unprecedented Soviet demand for Western technological assistance with the development of the Tu-144. The request was made although it certainly did not help to cultivate Soviet technology prestige, which is one of the main goals of the Tu-144 program. In 1977, the Soviet Union approached Lucas Industries, the engine control engine designer for Concorde, requested assistance with the electronic management system design of the Tu-144 engine, and also requested the BAC-AÃÆ' Â © rospatiale for assistance in improving the Tu-144 air intake. (Variable air intake geometry designs and their control systems are one of the most complicated features of Concorde, contributing to fuel efficiency.More than half of the wind tunnel time during Concorde development is spent on air intake design and their control systems. late 1978, the Soviet Union requested various Concorde technologies, which clearly reflect the wide spectrum of unresolved Tu-144 technical issues. The list includes ice melting equipment for the front of air intakes, fuel system pipelines and devices to improve the durability of these pipes, exhaust valves for fuel tanks, fireproof paint, navigation and test equipment, systems and loading techniques acoustics of airframe and control (to test against acoustic fatigue caused by high-jet-noise environments), ways to strengthen airframe to withstand damage, fire extinguishers, including lightning and lightning protection devices, emergency power supplies, and a landing gear sprinkler (aka water deflector or "mud flap" which improves engine efficiency during takeoff from the wet airstrip). This request was rejected after the British government vetoed them on the grounds that the same technology, if transferred, could also be used in Soviet bombers. The Soviet approach was also reported in the mainstream of England at that time, such as The Times .
Failure of compressor disk in 1980
On August 31, 1980, the Tu-144D (77113) suffered uncontrolled compressor disk failure in a supersonic flight that damaged parts of the structure and airframe system. The crew was able to make an emergency landing at Engels-2's strategic bomber base. On November 12, 1981, the RD-36-51 Tu-144D engine was destroyed during a bench test, which led to a temporary suspension of all Tu-144D flights. One of the Tu-144Ds (77114, a.k.a. 101) crashed in the underside of its wing.
Economic inefficiency
Finally, higher oil prices in the 1970s began to catch up with the Soviet Union. Much slower than in the West, but since the late 1970s, commercial efficiency began to be a factor in aviation development decisions even in the Soviet Union. The Tu-144 disappeared from Aeroflot published prospect, replaced by Ilyushin Il-86, a jumbo jet plane that became the mainstay plane of the Soviet Union.
In the late 1970s, Soviet insiders were very hopeful in conversations with Western counterparts to reintroduce the Tu-144 passenger service for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, perhaps even for flights to Western Europe, given the high visibility of aircraft, but apparently the technical conditions of Aircraft are weighed against such re-introduction even for token flights.
As discussed by the Moon, economic efficiency alone will not destroy Tu-144 at all; the continuation of a token flight for reasons of political prestige would be possible, if only the plane itself would allow it, but it would not. The Tu-144 is for the most part meant to be and bellow as a symbol of prestige and Soviet technological superiority.
Tu-144D production shutdown
The decision to stop production of the Tu-144D was issued on January 7, 1982, followed by a government decision of the Soviet Union dated July 1, 1983 to stop the entire Tu-144 program and use the Tu-144 aircraft manufactured as a flying laboratory.
In retrospect, it is clear that the Tu-144 suffered a rush in the design process to the detriment of its rigor and quality, and this rush to get the air demanded severe punishment later on. This departure is clearly visible even in the time out: the government decree of 1963 that launched the Tu-144 program determined that the Tu-144 should fly in 1968; first flew on the last day of 1968 (December 31) to meet the government's goals set five years earlier. (By way of comparison, Concorde's first flight was originally scheduled for February 1968, but was pushed back several times until March 1969 to solve the problem and test the component more closely). Unlike the Concorde development, the Tu-144 project was also strongly motivated by the Soviet self-imposed ideological and political motivation of Concorde; Aleksei Poukhov, one of Tupolev's designers, recalled: "For the Soviet Union to allow the West to forge ahead and leave it at that time unthinkable We must not only prevent the West from progressing, but must compete and leap them, if necessary. Khrushchev... We knew that when the inaugural Concorde flight was set for February or March 1969, we had to raise our plane and fly by the end of 1968. "
The introduction of the Tu-144 into passenger service was adapted to the 60th anniversary of the Communist revolution, as noted in the speech of Soviet officials delivered at the airport before the inaugural flight - whether the plane was actually ready for passenger service was considered secondary interest. Even the outside details of the inaudible Tu-144 flight betrayed its introduction into service: several open ceiling panels, jammed service trays, window curtains falling unshrugged, reading lights not working, not all toilets working and broken road departures delayed half an hour. Arriving at Alma-Ata, Tu-144 was withdrawn for 25 minutes before being aligned with an exit. In other words, the number of hours spent on flight testing. While Concorde has experienced 5,000 test hours by the time it is certified for passenger flights, making it the most tested aircraft ever, total flight testing time of Tu-144 at the time of its introduction to passenger service is less than 800 hours. The flight test time recorded on the prototype (68001) is 180 hours; flight testing time for Tu-144S until completion of state acceptance test is 408 hours; service tests until commencement of passenger service is 96 hours of flight time; it all amounted to 756 hours. It is unclear why the Minister of Aviation Industry and the Minister of Civil Aviation did not support the state acceptance test protocol for four months after the tests were completed. One reason is the change of guards - Minister Dementiev, who was one of the main supporters of the Tu-144, died the day before the tests were completed - but may also have to do with the reliability records of the aircraft found during tests that were no better than the subsequent gloomy service record.
External factors contribute to project cancellation
Fridlyander points out that in addition to the Tu-144, the Tupolev bureau has to work on other projects, including the Tu-154 passenger plane and the Tu-22M bomber. Despite large resource investment and high priority in the Tu-144 development program and the fact that most of the entire Soviet R & D infrastructure is subordinated to the Tu-144 project, parallel project development leaves the office overwhelmed and loses focus. and make a design error. (Design errors not only affect Tu-144, but Tu-154 as well). The first batch of 120 Tu-154 suffered wing damage due to excessive structural load and had to be withdrawn.
A hasty introduction to a poorly tested aircraft service happened earlier with another Tupolev project that had high political visibility and prestige: the Tu-104 passenger jet aircraft that was the first successful passenger jet in service (de Havilland Comet 1 was not considered successful ) because four of the original nine aircraft fell). In decision making similar to the Tu-144 story, the Soviet government introduced the Tu-104 into passenger service before satisfactory stability and control had been achieved. During high-speed and high-speed flights, the aircraft is susceptible to longitudinal instability, and also at high altitudes, the aircraft has a narrow angle attack range that separates the aircraft from the stalls known as the corners of the casket. These problems create a prerequisite for spin dives, which occur twice before the Tu-104 is finally tested correctly and the problem has been resolved.
This politically motivated impulse, together with the fact that the project was essentially ideologically motivated rather than driven by the intrinsic needs of Soviet society, and with the general technological deficiency of the Soviet industrial base, contributed to the final destruction of the Tu-144 project. (Alexander Poukhov, one of the Tu-144 design engineers who later rose to become one of the senior designers of the firm, estimated in 1998 that the Tu-144 project was 10-15 years beyond the capabilities of the Soviet Union at that time).
Moon pointed out that the subordination of the allocation of Soviet R & D resources available to the Tu-144 program significantly slowed the development of other Soviet aircraft projects, such as the Il-86 body jet, and the stagnant Soviet aviation development for nearly a decade.
After project cancellation
After stopping the Tu-144 program, Tu-144D No. 77114 (aircraft 101 or 08-2) tested flights between 13-20 July 1983 to establish 13 world records registered with FÃÆ' Â © dationation AÃÆ' Â © ronautique Internationale (FAI). The record sets a height of 18,200 meters (59,700 feet) with loads of up to 30 tons, and a continuous speed of 2,032 km/h (1,263 mph; 1,097 kn) through a closed circuit of up to 2,000 Ã, km (1,200Ã, mi; 1,100Ã, nmi) with a similar load.
To put the numbers in perspective, the Concorde service ceiling under a typical 10-ton Transatlantic flight load is 18,290 m (60,000 ft), and this is higher than the record set by the Tu-144D. According to unverified sources, during a test flight of 26 March 1974, Concorde reached its maximum speed of 2.370 km/h (1.470 mph; 1.280 kn) (Mach 2.23) at an altitude of 19,415 m (63,700 ft). , and during the next test flight reaches a maximum height of 20,700 m (67,900 ft). It is unclear why the maximum height achieved by the Tu-144D will be lower than the regular Concorde flight height, given that the Tupolev data claims a better lift-to-pull ratio for Tu-144 (more than 8.0 for Tu-144D vs Concorde 7 , 3-7.7 at Mach 2.x) and a RD-36-51 Tu-144D engine boost higher than Concorde's Olympus 593 engine.
Concorde was originally designed for cruising speeds up to Mach 2.2, but its regular service speed was limited to Mach 2.02 to reduce fuel consumption, extend the life of the fuselage and provide higher safety margins. One of Tupolev's website pages states that "TU-144 and TU-160 aircraft operations have demonstrated the utility of M = 2.0's supersonic speed limits to provide service life structures and to limit roaming altitudes".
- Materials
The aircraft is designed for 30,000 hours of service life for 15 years. Airframe heater and high temperature properties of the main structural material, which is an aluminum alloy, set the maximum speed at M2.2. 15% by weight is titanium and 23% of the nonmetallic material. Titanium or stainless steel is used for leading edge, elevon, steering and heat exhaust engine-rear springs.
Tu-144DA
A project study, commissioned the Tu-144DA number, increased the wing area, lost weight and replaced the engine with RD-36-61 which had 5% more impulse. The Tu-144da increases the fuel capacity from 98,000 kg to 125,000 kg with a higher maximum certified maximum offload (MCTOW) of 235,000 kg. and reach up to 7,500 km.
Variant
- Tu-144 - ( izdeliye 044 - article 044) The only prototype of the Tu-144 plane
- Tu-144 - (004) Six redesigned production aircraft powered by Kuznetsov NK-144A machine at nacelles a separate area, and a redesigned undercarriage
- Tu-144D - ( izdeliye 004D - 004D article) (D- Dahl'neye - long -range) Production of Tu-144 aircraft powered by non-afterburning engine Koliesov RD36-51. One aircraft was converted from Tu-144 CCCP-77105 (c/n10031) and five production aircraft (CCCP-77111 [c/n10062] to CCCP-77115 [c/n 10091]) plus one (CCCP-77116) unfinished
- Tu-144DA - Projects an improved version of the Tu-144D with a larger fuel capacity and therefore longer range increases up to 7500 km
- Tu-144LL - One Tu-144D aircraft (CCCP-77114 [c/n10082]) was converted into a flying laboratory with four Kuznetsov NK-321 afterburning turbofan engines and re-registered RA-77114. The first flight took place on November 19, 1996 with the 27th and last flight on February 28, 1998
The proposed military version
The initial configuration of the Tu-144 was based on a Tu-135 bomber that was not created, retaining the last plane's canard layout, wings and nacelles. Derived from the Tu-135 bomber, Tupolev's initial design for a supersonic passenger plane was codenamed Tu-135P before obtaining the Tu-144 project code.
During the Tu-144 project, the Tupolev bureau designed a number of military versions of the Tu-144 but nothing was ever made. In the early 1970s, Tupolev developed the Tu-144R intended to carry and launch air up to three solid-fuel ICBMs. The launch will be carried out from inside Soviet airspace, with aircraft accelerating to maximum speed before unleashing missiles. The original design was based on the Tu-144S, but was later changed to derive from the Tu-144D. Another version of the design is to carry an air-launched long range cruise missile similar to the Kh-55. The study of this version envisages the use of liquid hydrogen for afterburners.
In the late 1970s. Tupolev contemplates the development of long-distance heavy interceptors (DP-2) based on the Tu-144D also capable of escorting bombers on long-distance missions. The project then evolved into an electronic counter (ECM) aircraft for suppressing enemy radar and facilitating bomber penetration through enemy air defense (Tu-144PP). In the early 1980s this function was replaced with theater and strategic reconnaissance (Tu-144PR).
The dim prospects for the Tu-144 are becoming increasingly clear that Tupolev is trying to "sell" the plane to the military. One last attempt to sell the military version of the Tu-144 is the Tu-144MR, a project for remote surveillance aircraft for the Soviet Navy intended to provide targeted information to naval vessels and submarines on marine and marine theaters. operation. Other proposed ocean versions are capable of attacking (two air-to-surface missiles of the Kh-45), along with reconnaissance functions. The Tu-144MR has also been used as a transport aircraft for the Tupolev Voron reconnaissance aircraft, designed to compete with Lockheed D-21 and influenced by it, but the project never materialized.
The military would not accept Tupolev's approach. Vasily Reshetnikov, commander of Soviet strategic aviation and later, deputy commander of the Soviet Air Force, recalled how, in 1972, he was dismayed by Tupolev's efforts to offer military aircraft use that "failed to achieve its performance targets," reliability problems, fuel-hungry, and difficult to operate ".
Reshetnikov goes on to remember:
The development and construction of supersonic aircraft, the future of the Tu-144, is included in the five-year plan and is under the auspices of influential DFP. Ustinov (then defense minister and Soviet trustee Brezhnev, who represents the interests of the defense industry lobbying against the military) who regard this mission as a personal responsibility - not so much for the country and its people as "Leonid Il'ych" "(Brezhnev) he really worshiped, sometimes up to the point of wonder... But the supersonic passenger jet did not seem to make any progress and, anxiously from the curator, it seems Brezhnev might be disappointed.At that moment Dmitry Fedorovich (Ustinov) jumps on the idea of ​​someone to falsified "Aeroflot brides in marriage searches" in the military, and after being denied by bombing, Ustinov used the Military Industry Commission (one of the most influential Soviet government agencies) to promote the aircraft to Strategic Aviation as a reconnaissance or ECM platform, or both. me that this plane is unlikely to work with bombers or hood formations al missile parent; I also can not imagine they operate solo as "Flying Dutchmen" in a war scenario, therefore I firmly reject the offer.
Commander of the Navy Commander Aleksandr Alekseyevich Mironenko, followed him.
Ustinov can not be delayed just like that. He succeeded in persuading the C-in-C Navy (admiral) S.G. Gorshkov who agreed to accept the Tu-144 for Naval Aviation service as a remote reconnaissance aircraft without consulting anyone on the matter. Mironenko rebelled against this decision, but the supreme commander will not hear the attention - this matter was decided, period. When I know this, I'm very worried: if Mironenko is pressed to take Tu-144, this means I will be next. I made a phone call to Aleksandr Alekseyevich, urging him to take radical action; I do not need to call because even without my insistence Mironenko gave his C-in-C a hard time. Eventually Ustinov got wind of the rebellion and called Mironenko to his office. They had a long and hot discussion but eventually Mironenko managed to prove that Ustinov's ideas were unfounded. That was the last time we heard Tu-144.
Operator
- USSR
- Ministry of Aviation Industry
- Aeroflot Soviet Airlines
- United States
- NASA
Plane on display
While some Tu-144s were donated to museums in Moscow Monino, Samara and Ulyanovsk, at least two Tu-144D remained in open storage in Moscow Zhukovsky.
In June 2010, two aircraft were outdoors at LII's aircraft testing facility, Zhukovsky (in coordinates 55,569,786 Â ° N 38,155652Ã, Â ° E / 55.569786; 38.155652 and 55.571776Ã, Â ° N 38.152304Ã, Â ° E / 55.571776; 38.152304 ). Previously, they were kept on display at MAKS Airshows.
Tu-144S, tail number 77106, on display at Central Air Force Museum of Russia in Monino. The inaugural flight occurred on March 4, 1975, the last of which was February 29, 1980. The aircraft was used to assess the effectiveness of air conditioning systems and solve some problems in the fuel system. This can be regarded as the first production aircraft, being the first to be equipped for commercial use and shipped to Aeroflot. The first operational flight was on 26 December 1975 between Moscow and Alma-Ata carrying cargo and mail. This aircraft was the first SST to land on a dirty runway when he retired to Monino.
Another Tu-144, tail number 77107, is on the open screen in Kazan. This aircraft was built in 1975 and is a production model intended for passenger use. However, it is only used during test flights. On March 29, 1976, the plane made its last flight to Kazan. The aircraft is sold on eBay in 2017.
TU-144S, tail number 77108, on display at the Samara State University museum. It made its maiden flight on December 12, 1975, and its last flight was on August 27, 1987. The development works on the navigation system made in this aircraft as well as the director-flight approach.
TU-144S, tail number 77110, is on display at the Civil Aviation Museum in Ulyanovsk. Inaugural flight occurred on February 14, 1977, Flight last on June 1, 1984. This aircraft is the second of two aircraft used for regular passenger flights in Moscow - Alma-Ata route. In 1977 flew to Paris to take part in the Paris XXIII Air Show at Le Bourget Airport. This is Tu-144's last appearance in Western Europe. CCCP-77110 is the last aircraft manufactured from the Tu-144S model, powered by Kuznetsov NK-144A engine. In the first half of 2008 the cabin was open for visits and between August and September was restored and painted with the original Aeroflot style.
The only Tu-144, tail number 77112, which is on display outside the former Soviet Union was acquired by Auto & amp; Technikmuseum Sinsheim in Germany, where it was shipped - was not flown - in 2001 and where it now stands, in its wild real Aeroflot, which is on display next to the Air France Concorde. In 2017, Technikmuseum Sinsheim remains the only museum in the world where Tu-144 and Concorde are displayed together.
Incidents and accidents
Paris Air Show crashes
At the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1973, the Tu-144 development program suffered greatly when the first production aircraft Tu-144S (reg 77102) fell.
At the end of the approved official demonstration flight, which is the exact repeat of the previous day's view, instead of landing as expected the plane enters a very steep ascent before a rough downward maneuver. While trying to recover the plane broke and crashed, destroyed 15 houses and killed all six people on board Tu-144 and eight more on the ground.
Gordon et al. stated that the flight crew had departed from an approved aviation profile for displays, a serious breach in its own right. They are under instructions to surpass the Concorde screen by all means. During unapproved maneuvers, and therefore untrained, stability and control enlargement systems do not operate normally. If it will prevent the load that causes the port wing to fail.
A popular Russian theory for the accident was that the Tu-144 tried to avoid the plane pursuing the French Mirage trying to photograph the canards, which were very advanced for the time, and the French and Soviet governments colluded with each other, to cover up such details. Mirage flights were rejected in the original French report of the incident, possibly due to engaging in industrial espionage. More recent reports have acknowledged the existence of Mirage (and the fact that the Russian crew was not informed of Mirage flights) even though it was not his role in the accident. The official press release stated: "although the investigation determined that there was no risk of a collision between the two planes, Soviet pilots would most likely be surprised."
Another theory is related to deliberate information on the Anglo-French team. The main point of this theory is the Anglo-French team knows the Soviet team plans to steal the Concorde design plan, and the Soviets allegedly passed the ersatz blueprint with a flawed design. This case, claimed, contributed to the prison by Soviet Greville Wynne in 1963 for spying. Wynne was imprisoned on May 11, 1963 and the Tu-144 development was not approved until July 16, 1963.
Specifications (Tu-144D)
Data from
General characteristics
- Crew: three
- Capacity: 140 passengers (11 first class & 129 tourist classes)
- Length: 65.70m (215.54 ft)
- Wingspan: 28.80 m (with wingtip) (94.48 ft)
- Height: 12.55m (41.00 ft)
- Wings area: 506.35 mÃ,² (5,450 ftÃ,²)
- Empty weight: 99,200 kg (218,500 lb)
- Weight loading: 125,000 kg (275,330 lb)
- Max. takeoff weight: 207,000 kg (455,950 lb)
- Powerplant: 4 ÃÆ'â € "Kolesov RD-36-51 or Kuznetsov NK-144 turbojet, 240 kN (235 to 256 kN) (44,122 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 2.15 (2300 km/j)
- Roaming speed: Mach 2.00 (2.125 km/h (1.320 mph))
- Range: 4000 mi (6,500 km)
- Service ceiling: 20,000m (65,600ft)
- Ascent level: 3,000m/mnt (9,840ft/min)
- Wings loading: 410.96 kg/m² (84.20 lb/ft²)
- Push/weight: 0.44
See also
- Supersonic transport
Related development
- Tupolev Tu-244
- Tupolev Tu-444
Related list
- List of jet planes
References
Note
Quote
Bibliography
External links
- "144" (TU-144). The world's first Tupolev supersonic passenger production aircraft (official veranda)
- TU-144 SST fan site
- NASA video clip
- Short film Takeoff SST (Supersonic Transport Aircraft) (1969) available for free download on the Internet Archive
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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