Supersonic Tu 144. Aviation of Russia
When can a new supersonic passenger plane take to the skies? Business jet based on the Tu-160 bomber: real? How to silently break the sound barrier?
Tu-160 is the largest and most powerful supersonic and variable wing aircraft in the history of military aviation. Among the pilots he received the nickname "White Swan". Photo: AP
Do supersonic passenger cars have a future? - I asked not so long ago the outstanding Russian aircraft designer Genrikh Novozhilov.
Of course have. At least a supersonic business aircraft will certainly appear, - answered Genrikh Vasilyevich. - I had a chance to talk with American businessmen more than once. They clearly stated: "If such an aircraft appeared, Mr. Novozhilov, then, no matter how expensive it was, they would instantly buy it from you." Speed, altitude and range are three factors that are always relevant.
Yes, they are relevant. The dream of any businessman is to fly across the ocean in the morning, make a big deal, and return home in the evening. Modern aircraft fly no faster than 900 km/h. A supersonic business jet will have a cruising speed of about 1900 km per hour. What prospects for the business world!
That is why neither Russia, nor America, nor Europe has ever abandoned attempts to create a new supersonic passenger car. But the history of those that have already flown - the Soviet Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde - has taught us a lot.
In December of this year, it will be half a century since the Tu-144 made its first flight. And a year later, the liner showed what exactly it is capable of: it broke the sound barrier. He picked up a speed of 2.5 thousand km / h at an altitude of 11 km. This event has gone down in history. There are still no analogues of passenger boards in the world that are able to repeat such a maneuver.
"One hundred and forty-four" opened a fundamentally new page in the global aircraft industry. They say that at one of the meetings in the Central Committee of the CPSU, designer Andrei Tupolev reported to Khrushchev: the car is turning out to be quite voracious. But he just waved his hand: your job is to wipe the nose of the capitalists, and we have kerosene - at least fill up ...
Nose - lost. Kerosene - flooded.
However, the European competitor, which took off later, also did not excel in efficiency. So, in 1978, nine "Concordes" brought their companies about $ 60 million in losses. And only government subsidies saved the situation. Nevertheless, the Anglo-French flew until November 2003. But the Tu-144 was written off much earlier. Why?
First of all, Khrushchev's optimism was not justified: an energy crisis erupted in the world and kerosene prices rushed up. The supersonic first-born was immediately dubbed "a boa constrictor around Aeroflot's neck." Huge fuel consumption also knocked out the design flight range: the Tu-144 did not reach either Khabarovsk or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Only from Moscow to Alma-Ata.
And if only this. A 200-ton "iron", cruising over densely populated areas at supersonic speed, literally blew up the entire space along the route. Complaints poured in: cows' milk yields fell, chickens stopped laying, acid rains crushed ... Where is the truth, where is the lie - today you can’t say for sure. But the fact remains: the Concorde flew only over the ocean.
Finally, and most importantly, disasters. One - in June 1973 at the Paris air show in Le Bourget, as they say, in full view of the whole planet: the crew of test pilot Kozlov wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of the Soviet airliner ... The other - in five years. Then a test flight was carried out with the engines of the new series: they just had to pull the plane to the required range.
"Concorde" also did not escape the tragedy: the plane crashed in July 2000 while taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport. Ironically, it crashed almost where the Tu-144 had once been. 109 people on board and four on the ground were killed. Regular passenger traffic resumed only a year later. But another series of incidents followed, and a bullet was also put on this supersonic aircraft.
On December 31, 1968, the first flight of the Tu-144 took place, two months earlier than the Concorde. And on June 5, 1969, at an altitude of 11,000 meters, our aircraft was the first in the world to break beyond the sound barrier. A photo: Sergey Mikheev / RG
Today, at a new stage in the development of technology, scientists need to find a balance between conflicting factors: the good aerodynamics of the new supersonic aircraft, low fuel consumption, as well as severe restrictions on noise and sonic boom.
How realistic is it to create a new passenger supersonic aircraft based on the Tu-160 bomber? From a purely engineering point of view, it is quite, experts say. And there are examples in history when military aircraft successfully "removed their shoulder straps" and flew "to civilian life": for example, the Tu-104 was created on the basis of the Tu-16 long-range bomber, and the Tu-114 was based on the Tu-95 bomber. In both cases, the fuselage had to be redone - to change the wing layout, to expand the diameter. In fact, these were new aircraft, and quite successful. By the way, a curious detail: when the Tu-114 first flew to New York, there was neither a suitable ladder nor a tractor at the dumbfounded airport ...
Similar work will at least be required for the conversion of the Tu-160. However, how cost-effective will this solution be? Everything needs to be carefully evaluated.
How many of these planes do you need? Who will fly them and where? To what extent will they be commercially available to passengers? How soon will the development costs pay off? .. Tickets for the same Tu-144 cost 1.5 times more than usual, but even such a high cost did not cover operating costs.
Meanwhile, according to experts, the first Russian supersonic administrative aircraft (business jet) can be designed in seven to eight years if there is a backlog on the engine. Such an aircraft can accommodate up to 50 people. The overall demand in the domestic market is projected at the level of 20-30 cars at a price of 100-120 million dollars.
Serial supersonic passenger aircraft of the new generation may appear around 2030
Designers on both sides of the ocean are working on projects for supersonic business jets. Everyone is looking for new layout solutions. Someone offers an atypical tail, someone - a completely unusual wing, someone - a fuselage with a curved central axis ...
TsAGI specialists are developing a SDS / SPS project (“supersonic business aircraft / supersonic passenger aircraft”): according to the idea, it will be able to perform transatlantic flights over a distance of up to 8600 km at a cruising speed of at least 1900 km / h. Moreover, the salon will be made transformable - from an 80-seat to a 20-seat VIP class.
And last summer at the air show in Zhukovsky, one of the most interesting was the model of high-speed civil aircraft, created by TsAGI scientists as part of the international project HEXAFLY-INT. This aircraft must fly at a speed of more than 7-8 thousand km / h, corresponding to Mach 7 or 8.
But in order for a high-speed civil aircraft to become a reality, a huge range of tasks must be solved. They are associated with materials, hydrogen power plant, its integration with the airframe and obtaining high aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft itself.
And what is already absolutely certain: the design features of the designed winged machine will be clearly non-standard.
Competently
Sergey Chernyshev, CEO TsAGI, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
The level of sonic boom (a sharp pressure drop in the shock wave) from the Tu-144 was 100-130 pascals. But modern research has shown that it can be brought up to 15-20. Moreover, reduce the volume of the sonic boom to 65 decibels, which is equivalent to noise big city. Until now, there are no official standards for the permissible level of sonic boom in the world. And most likely it will be determined no earlier than 2022.
We have already proposed the appearance of a demonstrator of a supersonic civil aircraft of the future. The sample should show the feasibility of reducing sonic boom in supersonic cruising and airport noise. Several options are being considered: a plane for 12-16 passengers, also for 60-80. There is a variant of a very small business aircraft - for 6-8 passengers. These are different weights. In one case, the machine will weigh about 50 tons, and in the other - 100-120, etc. But we will start from the first of the designated supersonic aircraft.
According to various estimates, today there is an unrealized need in the market for fast flights for business people on airplanes with a passenger capacity of 12-16 people. And, of course, the car must fly at a distance of at least 7-8 thousand kilometers along transatlantic routes. Cruise speed will be Mach 1.8-2, that is, approximately twice faster speed sound. This speed is a technological barrier to the use of conventional aluminum materials in the airframe design. Therefore, the dream of scientists is to make an aircraft entirely from thermal composites. And there are good practices.
Clear requirements for the aircraft must be determined by the launch customer, and then at the stages of preliminary design and development work, some change in the initial appearance of the aircraft obtained at the stage of preliminary design is possible. But the sound principles of sonic boom reduction remain unchanged.
The short-term passenger operation of the supersonic Tu-144 was limited to flights from Moscow to Alma-Ata. A photo: Boris Korzin/ TASS Newsreel
I think we are 10-15 years away from the flying prototype. In the near future, according to our plans, a flying demonstrator should appear, the appearance of which is being worked out. Its main task is to demonstrate the basic technologies for building a supersonic aircraft with a low level of sonic boom. This is a necessary step in the work. A production supersonic aircraft of a new generation may appear on the horizon of 2030.
Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission Public Council Rostransnadzor:
To make a passenger supersonic aircraft based on the Tu-160? For our engineers - absolutely real. Not a problem. Moreover, this machine is very good, with excellent aerodynamic qualities, a good wing and fuselage. However, today any passenger aircraft must first of all comply with international airworthiness and technical requirements. The discrepancies, if we compare the bomber and the passenger plane, are more than 50 percent. For example, when some say that during the alteration it is necessary to "inflate the fuselage", one must understand that the Tu-160 itself weighs more than 100 tons. "Inflate" is to add more weight. And that means - to increase fuel consumption, reduce speed and height, make the device absolutely unattractive for any airline in terms of its operating costs.
To create a supersonic aircraft for business aviation, we need new avionics, new aircraft engines, new materials, new types of fuel. On the Tu-144, kerosene, as they say, flowed like a river. Today, this is impossible. And most importantly, there should be massive demand for such an aircraft. One or two cars commissioned by millionaires will not solve the financial problem. Airlines will have to lease it and "work off" the cost. On whom? Naturally, on passengers. From an economic point of view, the project will be a failure.
Sergey Melnichenko, Director General of the ICAA "Safety Flights":
In the almost 35 years that have passed since the start of serial production of the Tu-160, technology has advanced, and this will have to be taken into account in the deep modernization of the existing aircraft. Aircraft builders say it's much easier and cheaper to build a new aircraft according to a new concept than to rebuild an old one.
Another question: if the Tu-160 is rebuilt specifically for a business jet, will the Arab sheikhs still be interested in it? However, there are several "buts". The aircraft will need to obtain an international certificate (and the European Union and the United States are behind its issuance), which is very problematic. In addition, new economical engines will be needed, which we do not have. Those that are available do not consume fuel, but drink.
If the plane is converted to transport economy passengers (which is unlikely), then the question is where to fly and who to carry? Last year, we only just approached the figure of 100 million passengers carried. In the USSR, these figures were much higher. The number of airfields has decreased several times. Not everyone who would like to fly to the European part of the country from Kamchatka and Primorye can afford it. Tickets for a "fuel-drinking plane" will be more expensive than for Boeings and Airbuses.
If the plane is planned to be rebuilt purely for the interests of the leaders of large companies, then most likely it will be so. But then this question concerns only them, and not the Russian economy and people. Although even in this case it is difficult to imagine that flights will be operated only to Siberia or the Far East. The problem with the noise in the area. And if the updated plane is not allowed to Sardinia, then who needs it?
Supersonic Passenger July 14th, 2015
Once sunk into oblivion" Concords» and Tu-144 no one was left on the field of supersonic aviation. It is not clear whether such aircraft are not needed (unprofitable), or whether our civilization has not yet reached such technical perfection and reliability in this direction.
Gradually, small private projects begin to appear.
The American company "Aerion Corporation" from the small town of Reno, Nevada, began accepting orders for the creation of a private supersonic aircraft "AS2 Aerion", which is being created with the support of Airbus
It is not clear yet what will come of this, but here are the details ...
The manufacturer claims that its patented laminar flow technology reduces aerodynamic drag over the wings by up to 80%, allowing the three-engine powerplant to cover distances quickly enough. For example, from Paris to Washington, the plane will fly in just three hours, and from Singapore to San Francisco, in just six hours. Supersonic flights over the United States are prohibited, but this does not apply to flights over the ocean. The body of the aircraft is made mainly of carbon fiber and is "sewn" along the seam with a titanium alloy. Without refueling, the plane will be able to fly up to 5400 miles. The release of the first aircraft is planned for 2021.
What projects of supersonic aircraft have not been implemented in reality? Well, for example, from the most serious:
Sukhoi Supersonic Business Jet (SSBJ, S-21) - supersonic project passenger aircraft business class developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. In search of funding, Sukhoi collaborated on this project with Gulfstream Aerospace, Dassault Aviation, and a number of Chinese companies.
The development of the S-21 and its larger modification, the S-51, began in 1981 on the initiative of the chief designer of the Sukhoi Design Bureau at that time, Mikhail Petrovich Simonov. The project was headed by Deputy Chief Designer Mikhail Aslanovich Pogosyan.
An analysis of the commercial operation of the Tu-144 and Concorde aircraft showed that with rising aviation fuel prices, supersonic aircraft cannot compete with more economical subsonic liners in the mass transportation segment. The number of passengers who are ready to significantly overpay for the speed of movement is small and is determined mainly by representatives of large businesses and senior officials. At the same time, airlines connecting world capitals are priority traffic routes. This determined the concept of the aircraft as designed to carry 8-10 passengers over a distance of 7-10 thousand kilometers (to ensure a non-stop flight between cities on the same continent and with one refueling when flying from any to any capital in the world). It was also important to reduce the length of the run so that the aircraft could take all international airports peace.
In the course of work on the aircraft, various layout options were worked out - with 2, 3 or 4 engines. collapse Soviet Union led to the cessation of state funding for the program. Sukhoi Design Bureau began searching for independent investors for the project. In particular, in the early 1990s, work was carried out in cooperation with the American company Gulfstream Aerospace - at the same time, a variant with 2 British engines was developed, which received the designation S-21G. However, in 1992, the American side withdrew from the project, fearing unbearable costs. The project has been suspended.
In 1993, investors for the project were found in Russia and the project was resumed. Received from investors 25 million US dollars allowed to reach the stage of completion of the design. Ground tests of engines were carried out, as well as tests of aircraft models in wind tunnels.
In 1999, the aircraft project was presented at the Le Bourget air show, at the same time Mikhail Petrovich Simonov said that about $ 1 billion more would be required to complete all work on the aircraft and begin production of serial liners. With timely and full funding, the aircraft could have taken to the air for the first time in 2002, and the unit cost would have been about $50 million. The possibility of continuing joint work on the project with the French company Dassault Aviation was considered, but the contract did not take place.
In 2000, the Sukhoi Design Bureau tried to find investors for this project in China.
Currently, investments to complete the development and creation of aircraft have not been found. In the state program “Development of aviation industry for 2013 - 2025 "there is no mention of the aircraft
ZEHST(short for Zero Emission HyperSonic Transport- English. High-speed transport with zero emissions) is a project of a supersonic-hypersonic passenger airliner, implemented under the leadership of the European aerospace agency EADS.
The project was first presented on June 18, 2011 at the Le Bourget air show. According to the project, it is assumed that the aircraft will accommodate 50-100 passengers and reach speeds of up to 5029 km/h. The flight altitude should be up to 32 km.
The jet system of the aircraft will consist of two turbojet engines used in the take-off and acceleration section up to Mach 0.8, then rocket upper stages will accelerate the aircraft up to Mach 2.5, after which two ramjet engines located under the wings will bring the speed up to Mach 4.
Tu-444- a project of a Russian supersonic passenger aircraft for business aviation developed by JSC Tupolev. It replaced the Tu-344 project and a competitor to the Sukhoi Design Bureau SSBJ project. In the state program "Development of the aviation industry for 2013-2025" adopted at the end of 2012, there is no mention of the project
The design of the Tu-444 began in the early 2000s, and in 2004 the preliminary study of the project began. The development was preceded by a miscalculation of the most advantageous technical characteristics for an aircraft of this class. So, it was found that a range of 7500 kilometers is enough to cover the main business centers of the world, and the optimal takeoff run is 1800 meters. The potential market was estimated at 400-700 aircraft, the first flight according to the plan was to take place in 2015
Nevertheless, despite the use in the project of the old developments of a number of design bureaus, including Tupolev directly (for example, Tu-144, it was supposed to use AL-F-31 engines), the need for a number of technical innovations became clear, which turned out to be impossible without significant financial investments which could not be attracted. Despite the development by 2008 draft design, the project stalled.
Supersonic speed is the speed at which an object travels faster than sound. The speed during the flight of a supersonic aircraft is measured in Mach - the speed of the aircraft at a certain point in space relative to the speed of sound at the same point. Now it is rather difficult to surprise with such speeds of movement, and even some 80 years ago they only dreamed about it.
How it all started
In the forties of the twentieth century, during the Second World War, German designers actively worked on solving this issue, hoping to turn the tide of the war with the help of such aircraft. As we know, they did not succeed, the war ended. However, in 1945, closer to its completion, the German pilot L. Hoffmann, testing the world's first jet fighter Me-262, was able to reach a speed of about 980 km / h at an altitude of 7200 m.
The first to realize the dream of all pilots to overcome the supersonic barrier was the American test pilot Chuck Yeager. In 1947, this pilot was the first in history to overcome the speed of sound in a manned vehicle. He flew the prototype rocket-powered Bell X-1 aircraft. By the way, German scientists captured during the war and their developments contributed quite a lot to the appearance of this device, as well as, in fact, to the entire further development of flight technologies.
The speed of sound was reached in the Soviet Union on December 26, 1948. It was an experimental aircraft LA-176, at an altitude of 9060 m, piloted by I.E. Fedorov and O.V. Sokolovsky. About a month later, on this aircraft, but with a more advanced engine, the speed of sound was not only achieved, but also exceeded by 7000 m. The LA-176 project was very promising, but due to the tragic death of O.V. Sokolovsky, who controlled this apparatus, the developments were closed.
In the future, the development of this industry slowed down somewhat, as a significant number of physical difficulties arose associated with controlling an aircraft at supersonic speeds. At high speeds, such a property of air as compressibility begins to appear, the aerodynamic streamlining becomes completely different. Wave resistance appears, and such an unpleasant phenomenon for any pilot as flutter - the plane begins to heat up very much.
Faced with these problems, the designers began to look for a radical solution that could overcome the difficulties. Such a decision turned out to be a complete revision of the design of aircraft designed for supersonic flights. Those streamlined forms of airliners that we are now seeing are the result of many years of scientific research.
Further development
At that moment, when the Second World War had just ended, and the Korean and Vietnamese wars had begun, the development of the industry could only take place through military technology. That is why the first production aircraft capable of flying faster than the speed of sound were the Soviet MiG-19 (NATO Farmer) and the American F-100 Super Saber. The speed record was held by an American aircraft - 1215 km / h (set on October 29, 1953), but already at the end of 1954 the MiG-19 was able to accelerate to 1450 km / h.
Interesting fact. Although the USSR and the United States of America did not conduct official hostilities, but the real multiple clashes during the Korean and Vietnam Wars showed the undeniable advantage of Soviet technology. For example, our MiG-19s were much lighter, had engines with better dynamic characteristics and, as a result, with a faster rate of climb. The radius of the possible combat use of the aircraft was 200 km more for the MiG-19. That is why the Americans really wanted to get an undamaged sample and even announced a reward for completing such a task. And it was implemented.
Already after the end of the Korean War, 1 MiG-19 aircraft was hijacked from the air base by Korean Air Force officer No Geum Sok. For which the Americans paid him the due $ 100,000 as a reward for the delivery of an undamaged aircraft.
Interesting fact. The first female pilot to reach the speed of sound is American Jacqueline Cochran. She reached a speed of 1270 km / h, piloting the F-86 Saber.
Development of civil aviation
In the 60s of the last century, after the appearance of technical developments tested during the wars, aviation began to develop rapidly. Solutions were found for the existing problems of supersonic speeds, and then the creation of the first supersonic passenger aircraft began.
The first ever flight of a civilian airliner at a speed exceeding the speed of sound occurred on August 21, 1961 on a Douglas DC-8 aircraft. At the time of the flight, there were no passengers on the aircraft, except for the pilots, and ballast was placed to match the full load of the liner in these experimental conditions. A speed of 1262 km / h was reached when descending from a height of 15877 m to 12300 m.
Interesting fact. Boeing 747 SP-09 of China Airlines (China Airlines) February 19, 1985, making a flight from Taiwanese Taipei to Los Angeles, entered an uncontrollable dive. The reason for this was a malfunction of the engine and the subsequent unskilled actions of the personnel. During a dive from an altitude of 12500 m to 2900 m, where the crew was able to stabilize the aircraft, the speed of sound was exceeded. At the same time, the liner, not designed for such overloads, received serious damage to the tail section. However, with all this, only 2 people on board were seriously injured. The plane landed in San Francisco, was repaired and subsequently carried out passenger flights again.
However, really real supersonic passenger aircraft (SPS), capable of regular flights at speeds above the speed of sound, all two types were designed and built:
- Soviet airliner Tu-144;
- Anglo-French aircraft Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde.
Only these two aircraft were able to maintain cruising supersonic speed (English supercruise). At that time, they surpassed even most combat aircraft, the design of these liners was unique for its time. There were only a few types of aircraft capable of flying in supercruise mode, today most modern military vehicles are equipped with such capabilities.
Aviation of the USSR
The Soviet Tu-144 was built somewhat earlier than its European counterpart, so it can be considered the world's first passenger supersonic liner. The appearance of these aircraft, both Tu-144 and Concorde, will not leave anyone indifferent even now. It is unlikely that in the history of the aircraft industry there were more beautiful cars.
The Tu-144 has attractive characteristics, except for the range of practical use: higher cruising and lower landing speeds, a higher flight ceiling, but the history of our liner is much more tragic.
Important! Tu-144 is not only the first flying, but also the first crashed passenger supersonic liner. The accident at the Le Bourget air show on June 3, 1973, in which 14 people died, was the first step towards the completion of Tu-144 flights. The unequivocal reasons have not been established, and the final version of the disaster raises many questions.
The second crash near Yegorievsk in the Moscow region on May 23, 1978, where a fire occurred in flight and 2 crew members died during landing, became the final point in the decision to stop the operation of these aircraft. Despite the fact that, after analysis, it was found that the fire occurred as a result of a flaw in the fuel system of the new, tested engine, and the aircraft itself showed excellent controllability and structural reliability, when the burning one was able to land, the aircraft were removed from flights and taken out of commercial operation. .
How it happened abroad
The European Concorde, in turn, flew much longer from 1976 to 2003. However, due to unprofitability (the aircraft could not be brought to a minimum payback), the operation was also eventually curtailed. This was largely due to the plane crash in Paris on July 25, 2000: during takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport, the engine caught fire and the plane crashed to the ground (113 people died, including 4 on the ground), as well as the September 11 terrorist attacks 2001 Despite the fact that this was the only aircraft crash in 37 years of operation, and the attacks were not directly related to Concorde, the overall decrease in passenger flow reduced the already missing profitability of flights and led to the fact that the last flight of this aircraft was made at from Heathrow to Filton on 26 November 2003
Interesting fact. A ticket for a Concorde flight in the 70s cost at least $ 1,500 one way, towards the end of the nineties, the price rose to $ 4,000. A ticket for a seat on the last flight of this liner already cost $ 10,000.
Supersonic aviation at the moment
To date, solutions like the Tu-144 and Concorde are not expected. But, if you are the kind of person who does not care about the cost of tickets, there are a number of developments in the field of business flights and small-seat aircraft.
The most promising development is the XB-1 Baby Boom aircraft of the American company Boom technology from Colorado. This is a small aircraft, about 20 m long and with a wingspan of 5.2 m. It is equipped with 3 engines developed in the fifties for cruise missiles.
The capacity is planned to be about 45 people, with a flight range of 1800 km at a speed of up to Mach 2. At the moment, this is still development, but the first flight of the prototype is scheduled for 2018, and the aircraft itself should be certified by 2023. The creators plan to use the development both as a business jet for private transportation, and on scheduled flights small capacity. The planned cost for a flight on this machine will be about $ 5,000, which is quite a lot, but at the same time comparable to the cost of a flight in business class.
However, if you look at the entire civil aviation industry as a whole, then with the current level of technology development, everything does not look very promising. Large companies are more concerned with generating value and profitability of projects than with new developments in the field of supersonic flight. The reason is that in the entire history of aviation there has not been a sufficiently successful implementation of tasks of this kind, no matter how they tried to achieve the goals, they all failed to one degree or another.
In general, those designers who are engaged in current projects are rather enthusiasts who are optimistic about the future, who, of course, expect to make profits, but are quite realistic about the results, and most of the projects still exist only on paper, and there are enough analytics are skeptical about the possibility of their implementation.
One of the few really big projects is the Concorde-2 supersonic aircraft patented by Airbus last year. Structurally, it will be an aircraft with three types of engines:
- Turbofan jet engines. Will be installed in front of the aircraft;
- Hypersonic air-jet engines. Will be mounted under the wings of the liner;
- Rocket engines. Installed in the rear fuselage.
This design feature involves the operation of various engines at certain stages of flight (takeoff, landing, movement at cruising speed).
Taking into account one of the main problems of civil air transportation - noise (standards of the organization air traffic most countries set a limit on the noise level, if the airport is located close to residential areas, this imposes restrictions on the possibility of night flights), Airbus has developed a special technology for the Concorde-2 project that allows vertical take-off. This will make it possible to practically avoid shock waves hitting the ground surface, which in turn will ensure that there is no discomfort for people below. Also, thanks to a similar design and technology, the flight of an airliner will take place at an altitude of about 30-35,000 m (at the moment, civil aviation flies at a maximum of 12,000 m), which will help reduce noise not only during takeoff, but throughout the entire flight, since this height shock sound waves will not be able to reach the surface.
The future of supersonic flight
Not everything is as sad as it might seem at first glance. In addition to civil aviation, there is and will always be a military industry. The combat needs of the state, as before, drove the development of aviation, and will continue to do so. The armies of all states need more and more perfect aircraft. From year to year, this need only increases, which entails the creation of new design and technological solutions.
Sooner or later, development will reach a level where the use of military technology may become cost-effective for peaceful purposes as well.
Video
In the Soviet Union, the design bureau of Academician Andrey Tupolev was engaged in the creation of the Tu-144 supersonic aircraft. At a preliminary meeting of the Design Bureau in January 1963, Tupolev said: “Thinking about the future of air transportation of people from one continent to another, you come to an unambiguous conclusion: supersonic airliners are undoubtedly needed, and I have no doubt that they will come into life ...” He was appointed the lead designer of the project son of the academician - Alexei Tupolev. More than a thousand specialists from other organizations closely cooperated with his design bureau. The creation of the aircraft was preceded by extensive theoretical and experimental work, which included numerous tests in wind tunnels and natural conditions during flights of an analog aircraft.
The developers had to rack their brains to find the optimal machine layout. The speed of the designed liner is fundamentally important - 2500 or 3000 km / h. The Americans, having learned that the Concorde is designed for 2500 km / h, said that they would release their passenger Boeing 2707, made of steel and titanium, only six months later. Only these materials withstood the heating of the structure in contact with the air flow at speeds of 3000 km/h and above without destructive consequences. However, solid steel and titanium structures still have to undergo serious technological and operational testing. This will take a long time, and Tupolev decides to build the Tu-144 from duralumin, based on a speed of 2500 km / h. The American Boeing project was subsequently closed altogether.
In June 1965, the model was shown at the annual Paris Air Show. Concorde and Tu-144 turned out to be strikingly similar to each other. Soviet designers said - nothing surprising: the general shape of the aircraft is determined by the laws of aerodynamics and the requirements for a certain type of machine.
But what should be the shape of the aircraft wing? We settled on a thin triangular wing with an outline of the leading edge in the form of the letter "8". The tailless scheme - inevitable with such a design of the carrier plane - made the supersonic liner stable and well controlled in all flight modes. Four engines were located under the fuselage, closer to the axis of the aircraft. Fuel is placed in caisson wing tanks. Balance tanks, located in the rear fuselage and wing bulges, are designed to change the position of the aircraft's center of gravity during the transition from subsonic to supersonic flight speeds. The nose of the plane was made sharp and smooth. But how in this case to provide pilots with a forward view? They found a way out - "bowing nose". The circular section fuselage had a cockpit nose cone deflecting downward at an angle of 12 degrees during takeoff and 17 degrees during landing.
For the first time Tu-144 takes to the skies on the last day of 1968. The machine was driven by test pilot E. Yelyan. As a passenger aircraft TU-144, the world's first overcame the speed of sound in early June 1969, being at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The Tu-144 took the second speed of sound (2M) in the middle of 1970, being at an altitude of 16.3 kilometers. The Tu-144 incorporated many design and technical innovations. Here I would like to note such a decision as the front horizontal tail. When using the PGO, the flight maneuverability was improved and the speed was extinguished when the aircraft was landing. The domestic Tu-144 could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English Concorde, having a high landing speed, could land only at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a tremendous job. Take, for example, full-scale tests of the wing of a new aircraft. They took place on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I aircraft, specially converted for testing the design and equipment of the wing of the future Tu-144.
Work on the development of the basic design of the "044" aircraft went in two directions: the creation of a new economical non-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 the range of supersonic flight. The decision of the commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the Tu-144 version with RD-36-51 was adopted in 1969. At the same time, at the suggestion of the MAP - MGA, a decision is made, until the creation of the RD-36-51 and their installation on the Tu-144, to build six Tu-144s with NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial Tu-144s with NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, to make significant changes in the aerodynamics of the aircraft, having received Kmax over 8 in supersonic cruising mode. This modernization was supposed to ensure that the requirements of the first stage in terms of range (4000-4500 km), were later transition in the series to RD-36-51.
Clickable 2000 px
The construction of the pre-production modernized aircraft Tu-144 ("004") began at the MMZ "Experience" in 1968. According to the calculated data with the NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the expected supersonic range should have been 3275 km, and with the NK-144A (Ср=1.91) exceed 3500 km In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft in cruising mode M=2.2, the wing shape was changed in plan (the swept part along the leading edge was reduced to 76 °, and the base was increased to 57 °), the shape of the wing became closer to the "Gothic". Compared to the "044", the wing area increased, a more intense conical twist of the wing tips was introduced. However, the most important innovation in aerodynamics of the wing was the change in the middle part of the wing, which provided self-balancing in cruising mode with minimal losses quality, taking into account optimization for flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased, taking into account the accommodation of 150 passengers, the shape of the nose was improved, which also had a positive effect on the aerodynamics of the aircraft.
Unlike the "044", each pair of engines in twin 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 flow compression area, increasing the gap between the lower surface of the wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of preloading the flow at the inlet to the air intakes at Kmax than it was possible to get on "044". The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes in the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with their cleaning inside between air channels engines, switched to an eight-wheeled bogie, the scheme for cleaning the nose landing gear has also changed. An important difference between "004" and "044" was the introduction of a front multi-section destabilizer wing retractable in flight, which was extended from the fuselage in takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to provide the required balancing of the aircraft with deflected elevons-flaps. Improvements in the design, an increase in the payload and fuel supply led to an increase in the take-off weight of the aircraft, which exceeded 190 tons (for "044" - 150 tons).
The construction of the pre-production Tu-144 No. 01-1 (tail number 77101) was completed at the beginning of 1971, on June 1, 1971 the aircraft made its first flight. According to the program of factory tests, the machine performed 231 flights, lasting 338 hours, of which 55 hours the aircraft flew at supersonic speed. On this machine, complex issues were worked out - issues of interaction between the power plant and the aircraft in various flight modes. On September 20, 1972, the car made a flight along the Moscow-Tashkent route, while the route was completed in 1 hour 50 minutes, cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km / h. The pre-production machine became the basis for the deployment of mass production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which, by decision of the government, was entrusted with the development of the Tu-144 series.
The first flight of serial Tu-144 No. 01-2 (tail number 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, according to the results of tests of the pre-production machine, the aerodynamics of the wing was corrected and its area was slightly increased again. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. The specific fuel consumption of NK-144A by the time of operational testing of serial machines was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg / kgf hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and later up to 1.57 kg / kgf hour, while the flight range should was to increase to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km respectively. By 1977, during testing and refinement of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, we were actually able to achieve Cp = 1.81 kg / kgf hour in the cruising supersonic thrust mode of 5000 kgf, Cp = 1.65 kg / kgf hour in the takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20000 kgf, Cp = 0.92 kg / kgf hour in cruising subsonic thrust mode 3000 kgf and in maximum afterburner mode in transonic mode received 11800 kgf. Tu-144 fragment
In a short period of time, in strict accordance with the program, 395 flights were performed with a total flight time of 739 hours, including more than 430 hours in supersonic modes.
At the second stage of operational testing, in accordance with the joint order of the ministers of the aviation industry and civil aviation dated September 13, 1977 No. 149-223, there was a more active connection of civil aviation facilities and services. A new testing commission was formed, headed by Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation B.D. Rough. By decision of the commission, then confirmed by a joint order of September 30 - October 5, 1977, crews were appointed to conduct operational tests:
First crew: pilots B.F. Kuznetsov (Moscow Transport Administration of the Civil Aviation), S.T. Agapov (ZhLIiDB), navigator S.P. Khramov (MTU GA), flight engineers Yu.N. Avaev (MTU GA), Yu.T. Seliverstov (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer S.P. Avakimov (ZhLIiDB).
The second crew: pilots V.P. Voronin (MGU GA), I.K. Vedernikov (ZhLIiDB), navigator A.A. Senyuk (MTU GA), flight engineers E.A. Trebuntsov (MTU GA) and V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer V.V. Isaev (GosNIIGA).
The third crew: pilots M.S. Kuznetsov (GosNIIGA), G.V. Voronchenko (ZhLIiDB), navigator V.V. Vyazigin (GosNIIGA), flight engineers M.P. Isaev (MTU GA), V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer V.N. Poklad (ZhLIiDB).
The fourth crew: pilots N.I. Yurskov (GosNIIGA), V.A. Sevankaev (ZhLIiDB), navigator Yu.A. Vasiliev (GosNIIGA), flight engineer V.L. Venediktov (GosNIIGA), leading engineer I.S. Mayboroda (GosNIIGA).
Prior to the start of the tests, a lot of work was done to review all the materials received in order to use them “for offsetting” the fulfillment of specific requirements. However, despite this, some civil aviation specialists insisted on the implementation of the Tu-144 Aircraft Operational Test Program, developed at GosNIIGA back in 1975 under the guidance of lead engineer A.M. Teteryukov. This program required, in fact, the repetition of previously completed flights in the amount of 750 flights (1200 flight hours) on the MGA routes.
The total volume of operational flights and tests for both stages will amount to 445 flights with 835 flight hours, of which 475 hours are in supersonic modes. 128 paired flights were performed on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.
The final stage of testing was not strenuous from a technical point of view. Rhythmic work on schedule was provided without serious failures and major defects. The engineering and technical staff "had fun" assessing household equipment, preparing for passenger transportation. The flight attendants involved in the tests and the relevant specialists of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation began to conduct ground training to work out the technology of servicing passengers in flight. The so-called. "jokes" and two technical flights with passengers. The "Raffle" was held on October 16, 1977, with a complete simulation of the ticket check-in, baggage check-in, passenger boarding, real-time flight, passenger disembarkation, and baggage check-in at the destination airport. From the "passengers" (the best employees of the Design Bureau, ZhLIiDB, GosNIIGA and other organizations) there was no end. The diet during the "flight" was at the highest level, since it was approved by the first class menu, everyone enjoyed it very much. The "draw" made it possible to clarify many important elements and details of passenger service. On October 20 and 21, 1977, two technical flights were made along the Moscow-Alma-Ata route with passengers. The first passengers were employees of many organizations that were directly involved in the creation and testing of the Tu-144 aircraft. Today it is even difficult to imagine the atmosphere on board the aircraft: there was a sense of joy and pride, great hope for development against the backdrop of first-class service, to which technical people are absolutely not accustomed. In the first flights, all the heads of leading institutions and organizations were on board the aircraft.
Technical flights passed without serious remarks and showed the full readiness of the Tu-144 aircraft and all ground services for regular transportation. On October 25, 1977, the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR B.P. Bugaev and Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR V.A. Kazakov approved the main document: "Act on the results of operational tests of the Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144 engines" with a positive conclusion and conclusions.
On the basis of the presented tables of compliance of the Tu-144 aircraft with the requirements of the Interim Airworthiness Standards for Civil Aircraft of the USSR, the full amount of evidence presented, including acts on state and operational tests, on October 29, 1977, the chairman of the State Aviation Register of the USSR I.K. Mulkidzhanov approved the conclusion and signed the USSR's first airworthiness certificate type No. 03-144 for the Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144A engines.
The road for passenger traffic was open.
The Tu-144 could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while the Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% faster, required a separate landing certificate for each airport. According to some experts, if the Concorde engines were placed in the same way as those of the Tu-144, then the accident on July 25, 2000 would not have happened.
According to experts, the design of the Tu-144 airframe was perfect, but the flaws concerned engines and various systems.
In June 1973, the 30th International Paris Air Show took place in France. The interest generated by the Soviet liner Tu-144, the world's first supersonic passenger jet, was enormous. On June 2, thousands of visitors to the air show in the suburbs of Paris, Le Bourget, watched the second serial Tu-144 take to the runway. The roar of four engines, a powerful run - and now the car is in the air. The sharp nose of the liner straightened and aimed at the sky. The supersonic Tu, piloted by Captain Kozlov, made its first demonstration flight over Paris: having gained the necessary height, the car went beyond the horizon, then returned and made a circle over the airfield. The flight took place in normal mode, no technical problems were noted.
The next day, the Soviet crew decided to show everything that the new aircraft is capable of.
The sunny morning of June 3 did not seem to portend trouble. At first, everything went according to plan - the audience, raising their heads, applauded in unison. Tu-144, showing the "highest class", went down. At that moment, a French Mirage fighter appeared in the air (as it turned out later, he was filming an air show). A collision seemed inevitable. In order not to crash into the airfield and the spectators, the crew commander decided to climb higher and pulled the steering wheel towards himself. However, the height was already lost, large loads were created on the structure; as a result, the right wing cracked and fell off. The plane started a fire, and a few seconds later the blazing Tu-144 rushed to the ground. A terrible landing occurred on one of the streets of the Parisian suburb of Goosenville. The giant machine, destroying everything in its path, crashed to the ground and exploded. The entire crew - six people - and eight Frenchmen on the ground were killed. Goosenville also suffered - several buildings were destroyed. What led to the tragedy? According to most experts, the cause of the disaster was an attempt by the Tu-144 crew to avoid a collision with the Mirage. When landing, the Tu got into a wake from the French Mirage fighter.
This version is given in Gene Alexander's book "Russian Aircraft Since 1944" and in a June 11, 1973 article in Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, written in fresh pursuit. The authors believe that pilot Mikhail Kozlov landed on the wrong runway - either by mistake of the flight director, or by the inattention of the pilots. The controller noticed the mistake in time and warned the Soviet pilots. But instead of going to the second circle, Kozlov laid a sharp turn - and ended up right in front of the nose of the French Air Force fighter. The co-pilot at that time was filming a story about the crew of the Tu for French television with a movie camera and therefore was not wearing a seat belt. During the maneuver, he fell on the center console, and by the time he returned to his seat, the plane had already lost altitude. Kozlov sharply pulled the steering wheel towards himself - overload: the right wing could not stand it. And here is another explanation for the terrible tragedy. Kozlov was ordered to squeeze the maximum out of the car. Even during takeoff, at low speed, he took almost a vertical angle. For an aircraft with this configuration, this is fraught with huge overloads. As a result, one of the external nodes could not stand it and fell off.
According to A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau employees, the cause of the disaster was the connection of an ill-adjusted analog control system unit, which led to a destructive overload.
The spy version belongs to the writer James Ahlberg. In short, it is. The Soviets tried to "furnish" the Concorde. Group N.D. Kuznetsova created good engines, but they could not work at low temperatures, unlike the Concorde ones. Then the Soviet intelligence officers got involved. Penkovsky, through his agent Greville Wine, got hold of some of the Concorde blueprints and sent them to Moscow through an East German sales representative. British counterintelligence thus established the leak, but instead of arresting the spy, they decided to let misinformation into Moscow through his own channels. As a result, the Tu-144 was born, very similar to the Concorde. It is difficult to establish the truth, since the "black boxes" did not clarify anything. One was found in Bourges, at the crash site, however, judging by reports, damaged. The second was never found. There is an opinion that the "black box" Tu-144 has become the subject of contention between the KGB and the GRU.
According to the pilots, emergency situations happened on almost every flight. May 23, 1978 there was a second crash of the Tu-144. An improved experimental version of the aircraft, Tu-144D (No. 77111), after a fuel fire in the area of the engine nacelle of the 3rd power plant due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cockpit and the shutdown of two engines by the crew, committed forced landing on a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city of Yegoryevsk.
After landing, the crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin left the plane through the cockpit window. Engineers V. M. Kulesh, V. A. Isaev, V. N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the plane through the front front door. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov were caught in the workplace by structures deformed during landing and died. (The deflected nose cone touched the ground first, worked like a bulldozer knife, gaining ground, and turned under the belly, entering the fuselage.) On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot permanently stopped supersonic passenger flights.
Work on improving the Tu-144 aircraft continued for several more years. Five serial aircraft produced; five more were under construction. A new modification has been developed - Tu-144D (long-range). However, the choice of a new engine (more economical), RD-36-51, required a significant redesign of the aircraft, especially the power plant. Serious design gaps in this area led to a delay in the release of the new liner. Only in November 1974 did the serial Tu-144D (tail number 77105) take to the air, and nine (!) years after its first flight, on November 1, 1977, the Tu-144 received an airworthiness certificate. On the same day, passenger flights were opened. During their short operation, the Tu-144 liners carried 3,194 passengers. On May 31, 1978, flights were stopped: a fire broke out on one of the serial Tu-144Ds, and the aircraft crashed, crashing during an emergency landing.
The catastrophes in Paris and Yegorievsk led to the fact that the state's interest in the project decreased. From 1977 to 1978, 600 problems were identified. As a result, already in the 80s, it was decided to remove the Tu-144, explaining this by "a bad effect on people's health when crossing the sound barrier." Nevertheless, four of the five Tu-144Ds that were in production were nevertheless completed. Later they were based in Zhukovsky and took to the air as flying laboratories. A total of 16 Tu-144 aircraft were built (including long-range modifications), which made a total of 2556 sorties. By the mid-90s, ten of them had survived: four in museums (Monino, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk); one remained at the plant in Voronezh, where it was built; another was in Zhukovsky along with four Tu-144Ds.
Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for cargo transportation between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the Tu-144 made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, 55 of them were passenger flights (3,194 passengers were carried).
Later, Tu-144s only made test flights and a few flights with the aim of setting world records.
On the Tu-144LL, NK-32 engines were installed due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and test control and recording equipment.
In total, 16 Tu-144 aircraft were built, which made a total of 2,556 sorties and flew 4,110 hours (among them, 432 hours, 77144 flew the most). The construction of four more aircraft was never completed.
What happened to the planes
A total of 16 aircraft were built - boards 68001, 77101, 77102, 77105, 77106, 77107, 77108, 77109, 77110, 77111, 77112, 77113, 77114, 77115, 77116 and 77144.
Those remaining in flying condition do not currently exist. The sides of the Tu-144LL No. 77114 and TU-144D No. 77115 are almost completely equipped with parts and can be restored to flight condition.
TU-144LL No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored in a recoverable state at the airfield in Zhukovsky.
TU-144D No. 77115 is also stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2007, both aircraft were repainted and put on public display at the MAKS-2007 air show.
Aircraft No. 77114 and No. 77115 will most likely be installed as monuments or exhibited at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2004-2005, some deals were made with them to sell them for scrap, but the protests of the aviation community led to their preservation. The danger of selling them for scrap has not been completely eliminated. Questions about whose ownership they will pass are not finally resolved.
Blogger igor113 studied the Tu-144 aircraft in the Ulyanovsk field in detail,
The signature of the first cosmonaut who landed on the moon Neil Armstrong, pilot cosmonaut Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy and all the dead crew members is on the photo. Tu-144 No. 77102 crashed during a demonstration flight at the air show in Le Bourget. All 6 crew members (Honoured Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Test Pilot V.M. Molchanov, Navigator G.N. Bazhenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer Major General V.N. Benderov, Leading Engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Dralin) died.
From left to right. Six members of the crew of the aircraft TU-144 No. 77102: Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Test Pilot V.M. Molchanov, Navigator G.N. Bazhenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer Major General V. N. Benderov, lead engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Next, the pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy, behind him on the left Lavrov Vladimir Aleksandrovich, then the first American cosmonaut to land on the moon, Neil Armstrong, then (standing behind the Nile) - Stepan Gavrilovich Korneev (head of the UVS from the department of external relations Presidium of the Academy of Sciences), in the center Tupolev Andrey Nikolaevich - Soviet aircraft designer, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Colonel General, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Labor of the RSFSR, then Alexander Alexandrovich Arkhangelsky, chief designer of the plant, Soviet aircraft designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Honored Scientist and technicians of the RSFSR, Hero of Socialist Labor. Tupolev Aleksey Andreevich (son of A.N. Tupolev), far right, is a Russian aircraft designer, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences since 1984, Hero of Socialist Labor. The picture was taken in 1970. Signatures on the photo of G.T. Beregovoy and Neil Armstrong.
source neferjournal
Concord..
Concord accident.
The aircraft is currently out of service due to a crash on July 25, 2000. On April 10, 2003, British Airways and Air France announced their decision to cease commercial operation of their fleet of Conchords. The last flights took place on 24 October. The last flight of the Concorde took place on November 26, 2003, the G-BOAF (the last aircraft built) took off from Heathrow, flew over the Bay of Biscay, made a pass over Bristol, and landed at Filton Airport.
Tupolev's supersonic aircraft is often referred to as the "lost generation". Intercontinental flights are recognized as uneconomical: in an hour of flight, the Tu-144 burned eight times more fuel than an ordinary passenger aircraft. For the same reason, long-distance flights to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok did not justify themselves. It is inappropriate to use the supersonic "Tu" as transport aircraft due to its small carrying capacity. True, passenger transportation on the Tu-144 nevertheless became a prestigious and profitable business for Aeroflot, although tickets were considered very expensive at that time. Even after the official closure of the project, in August 1984, the head of the Zhukovsky flight test base, Klimov, the head of the design department, Pukhov, and the deputy chief designer, Popov, with the support of supersonic flight enthusiasts, restored and commissioned two Tu-144Ds, and in 1985 obtained permission to carry out flights to set world records. The crews of Aganov and Veremey set more than 18 world records in the class of supersonic aircraft - in terms of speed, rate of climb and range with a load.
On March 16, 1996, a series of Tu-144LL research flights began in Zhukovsky, which marked the beginning of the development of the second generation of supersonic passenger liners.
95-99 years. Tu-144D tail number 77114 was used by the American NASA as a flying laboratory. Received the name Tu-144LL. The main purpose is research and testing of American developments to create our own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger transportation.
Here's a story...
sources
nnm.ru
aminpro.narod.ru
neferjournal.livejournal.com
testpilot.ru
igor113.livejournal.com
alexandernaumov.ru
topwar.ru
www.airwar.ru
sergib.agava.ru
Supersonic passenger masterpiece of the Soviet aircraft industry of the late 60s of the twentieth century. Graceful appearance and incredible power. Unthinkable 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 went into 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 turned their attention to passenger aircraft models. By this time, technologies to overcome the sound barrier were mastered.
The first manned aircraft to break the speed of sound was the American prototype Bell X-1 in 1947. The production of supersonic F-100 and MiG-19 fighters began almost simultaneously in the USA and the USSR with a difference of one year.
The increased air transportation of passengers around the world raised the question of the possibility of providing air carriers with supersonic aircraft before the designers of the West and Europe. This type newest liners, according to the European leadership of the aviation industry, could provide a number of advantages, including:
- reduction of flight time;
- lack of intermediate landings;
- a new level of comfort;
- world prestige.
The end of the 50s was marked in the international aircraft industry by the beginning of the incredible ambitions of the Supersonic projects. The plane of the future was supposed to carry one hundred passengers at a speed of 2500 km / h. Great Britain began to develop the Bristol-223, and France the Super-Caravelle.
However, the task turned out to be so complicated and expensive that England and France decided to join forces in the joint Concord 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 terms of 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 the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers issued a decree on the creation of a supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 in the Tupolev Design Bureau.
According to the task, the aircraft had to carry 100 passengers at a speed of 2,700 km/h for 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 "Hawk". 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 mass-produced. But the design of the passenger model had to start almost from scratch.
The first task arose in choosing the scheme of the new liner.
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 that for the first stage of testing in all modes, use a reliable powerful engine developed under the leadership of Nikolai Kuznetsov at the Kuibyshev Motor Plant.
However, Kuznetsov's aircraft engine had a significant drawback. In order for the Tu-144 to be able to fly at supersonic speeds, the power plant had to constantly operate in the extreme afterburner mode.
The limit mode consumed a huge amount of fuel, reducing the flight range. But the designers had to hurry and by any means raise the car into the sky and get ahead of the West.
Several dozen stands were built to test various Tu-144 systems. Hundreds of experiments have been carried out on them. The Tupolev Design Bureau has not yet had such a number of preliminary studies.
One of the main design stages was a full-size mock-up of the aircraft. Breadboarding made it possible to optimally place the equipment, arrange the cabin and the passenger compartment.
The first flight
The first experimental machine was assembled in the workshops of the Moscow Engineering Plant "Experience", as Tupolev's company was called at that time. The aircraft was built in a wide cooperation. Thousands of enterprises of the country were involved in the work.
In Kuibyshev, rudders, elevons and the main landing gear were made. In Voronezh, they made a detachable part of the wing and the nose gear. The Mi-10 helicopter crane was used to transport large 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 the installation of all parts of the aircraft took place.
At the beginning of 1968, the aircraft was delivered to the city of Zhukovsky. Transporting such a bulky cargo was a difficult task. The Tu-144 was transported between the factory buildings with pinpoint accuracy.
The final assembly took place on the territory of the Zhukovsky flight test and development base. The work went on around the clock on a three-shift schedule, this was required by the tight 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 aircraft 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 outperformed 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 configuration of a tailless supersonic aircraft. The fuselage body is in the form of an elongated semi-monocoque tube with stringers and frames.
Outside, the case 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.
Such an innovative measure is caused by high temperature loads, reaching +130 degrees Celsius or more at supersonic 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 fairing, which was lowered during takeoff and landing to improve visibility.
Behind the canopy there was a retractable front horizontal tail unit for effective takeoff and landing (PGO). The second block is the central part, which housed the salon for passengers, capable of accommodating 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 brake parachute and the keel of the aircraft.
The front part of the wing of the airliner had two angles in relation to the fuselage. The line started from the hull at an angle of 76° and reached 57° by the end of the wing. In the design of the wing, an integration scheme of ailerons and an elevator was used, which creates controls - elevons.
Avionics
The aircraft was equipped with an onboard electronic computer center, which was directly involved in the control of the aircraft. However, in terms of its characteristics, it lagged behind the similar automation of the Concorde, 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, a PIN was installed in the design - 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 of the Kuibyshev plant - TRD NK-144A on the first experimental model and aircraft engines of the Rybinsk plant RD-36-51A 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 supersonic operation without the use of an afterburner.
The placement of the engines was done in pairs to reduce the aggressive effect of the flame on the tail section. The nozzles went beyond the cut of the wing. 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.
Somewhat controversial was the decision to place the engines under the center section. The air intakes were quite close to the nose landing gear. It was possible to increase the throwing of dust and dirt into the engines and, as an option, their failure.
Chassis
In the design of the Tu-144 aircraft, a tricycle chassis with a nose strut was used. The main supports had eight wheels with brake drums and were retracted into the wheel arch between the air intakes by means of hydraulic cylinders.
The front landing gear is 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 transition of the aircraft to supersonic mode, the fuel was pumped into the central expendable fuel tank located in the rear of the fuselage.
It should be noted that the fuel system was equipped with duplicated security and fire extinguishing systems, at a level superior to passenger aircraft of that time.
Specifications
To date, SPS airliner operations have taken a pause that will last an unknown amount of time. Almost 15 years ago, the last Concorde flight took place on November 26, 2003 between Heathrow and Filton airports in the UK.
The European "Supersonic" served 24 years longer than the only competitor Tu-144. However, the Soviet aircraft had a number of advantages over its European counterpart.
Speed
The planes of competing countries developed a staggering speed, exceeding the speed of sound twice. The settings were similar. However, the Soviet liner Tu-144 surpassed the Concorde in cruising speed, developing 2300 km / h against 2150 km / h of the European.
Cruise speed is the basic speed of the aircraft, at which the ratio of fuel consumption and distance traveled over a period of time is optimal.
Interesting fact! The supersonic flight from the UK to the US moved passengers back in time, as the Concorde arrived in New York two hours before it departed from London. This result was achieved by quickly overcoming time zones.
Capacity
The Soviet liner accommodated 150 passengers in a fairly spacious cabin with a five-row seating arrangement. 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 the interior trim is much more luxurious and ergonomic than the Soviet liner. This also applies to the cockpit.
practical ceiling
The Tu-144 aircraft could climb 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 serial Tu models (004, 144-D, 144-LL, 144-C) outperformed the Olympus-593 power plant of the international development of the British company Rolls-Royce and the French airline SNECMA in thrust.
The thrust of the foreign aircraft engine was 170.0 kN, against the weakest Soviet aircraft engine NK-144 with an indicator of 171.6 kN and the most powerful aircraft engine NK-32-1 with an indicator of 245.0 kN.
It is worth noting that, unlike Soviet developments, significant restrictions were introduced for foreign engines in terms of fuel consumption, noise conditions and environmental friendliness. This largely led to such a lag in power.
Development time
This advantage is hardly worth considering, since it is not entirely estimated. However, the fact of a shorter program from the beginning of design to the debut flight remains with the Soviet Union.
The Tu-144 was the first to take to the air and six months later became the first passenger airliner in the world to break the speed of sound. Both competing aircraft had shortcomings that were subject to elimination for a long time in operation.
For example, "Concorde" until the mid-1980s brought losses covered by the governments of Great Britain and France. Only after serious improvements 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 | |
| Mass of fuel, 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 |
Operation history 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 aircraft showed a rather interesting number, entering the runway and hitting it with the wheels of the landing gear, the liner went into the sky with a candle. The Soviet delegation instructed the Soviet pilots to repeat the maneuver of the "European" on the Tu-144.
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 in order to repeat the sharp climb of the Concorde the day before.
After passing over the GDP with the mechanization and landing gear released, the Tu-144 abruptly began to climb, but upon reaching 1200 meters, the aircraft went into an uncontrolled dive.
The pilots tried to take the plane out of the dive, but from the received overloads, the hull of the liner 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 crash has not been reliably established. The French Mirage flew near the Tu-144, which took photographs of the Soviet car. One of the versions has the interpretation that the crew of the liner avoided a collision with a French aircraft 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 steering wheel. Both sides of the ATP manufacturers decided to converge on the human factor, since technical problems would cast a shadow on the future fate of the project.
Route operation
Europe began operating the Concorde on international flights to Rio de Janeiro and Bahrain in 1976. Having been on a working visit to France in the summer of 1977, L.I. Brezhnev was aware of this fact and demanded that the Minister of Aviation of the USSR Bugaev start 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 aviation airliners have just begun to be created.
The first commercial flight on the route Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow, Tupolev Tu-144 made October 26, 1975. The transported cargo consisted of postal property. Two years later, passenger traffic began in the same direction. The ticket price did not differ much from the subsonic flight, 62 rubles against 80 rubles.
This flight operated once a week on Thursdays. There were plenty of passengers who wanted to get on it. But they were unaware that each flight was accompanied by a terrible stress for both the pilots (since there was no fuel supply to go to the alternate airfield) and for the controllers, who continuously monitored the weather conditions.
Seven months later, on June 1, 1978, Aeroflot terminated regular SPS passenger routes, this was due to a new plane crash of an experimental 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 even cover part of Aeroflot's operating costs. An increase in 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.
In the entire history of commercial operation, the Tu-144 aircraft carried 3284 passengers, while the Concorde was able to transport 2.5 million people over the entire period of operation. In the future, operable Soviet SPS were used to set world records or for test flights.
American history
In 1996, representatives of the NASA agency asked the Russian government to provide them with a modified Tu-144LL with laboratory equipment for research in the development of high-speed passenger aircraft.
The Russian government went to meet Western researchers and contributed to the lease of the "Flying Laboratory".
This board has been converted from a Tu-144D into a research aircraft since 1995. The Russian airliner adequately served the Americans from 1996 to 1999.
Modifications and surviving examples
Over the 17 years of the existence of the Soviet project of a supersonic passenger aircraft, since 1967, 17 aircraft have been built, including the first “null” aircraft and the last board, which did not find its “owner” and stood for a long time on the territory of the plant, and then was disposed of.
Two liners (board No. 77102 and board No. 77111) were lost in air crashes in 1973 and 1978. Aircraft modifications:
- Tu-144 (044) - the pioneer of the project, built in 1968,
- Tu-144 (004) - pre-production board with the power plant NK-144, 1968,
- Tu-144 (004D) - pre-production board with the power plant RD-36-51A, manufactured in 1974,
- Tu-144 YES - a long-range aircraft with a power plant "61",
- Tu-144 K - board of the air missile system,
- Tu-144 KP - the board of the long-range aviation missile complex,
- Tu-144 LL - a flying laboratory with a power plant NK-32-1, manufactured in 1996,
- Tu-144 P - jammer board,
- Tu-144 PR - reconnaissance jammer board,
- Tu-144 C - a serial board with the power plant NK-144A, manufactured in 1971,
- Tu144-DP2 is a long-range aircraft interceptor.
Part of the aircraft is currently in storage, eight aircraft have been scrapped. Three Tu-144s can take to the air after repairs.
Tu-144 in the culture of the USSR and Russia
The plane was very fond of the citizens of the Soviet Union, as a powerful and beautiful airliner. His image has been applied to the postal blocks of the USSR since 1969. Subsequently, the image of the Tu-144 was captured on a postage stamp of Kazakhstan by 2002, since this year exactly 25 years of passenger flights Moscow-Alma-Ata-Moscow were celebrated. The Mint of Russia 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 SPS in Delhi and San Francisco, although in reality the Tu-144 did not go on international lines.
Also, the plane was filmed in Soviet films: “A Drop in the Sea”, “The Tale of the Human Heart”, “Ilf and Petrov Were Riding a Tram”, “A Poem about Wings” and “Responsible for Everything”.
Computer game developers also could not resist using the Soviet SPS model, and presented it in the Microsoft FlightSimulator 9 flight simulator. The scheme of the Tu-144D aircraft (tail number 77115) was taken as the basis.
The control of the digital model accurately repeats the instrument panel and real actions: switching toggle switches, observing the flight plan, controlling the PGO, nose cone and switching to supersonic.
For connoisseurs of the Iron Curtain period, there is an opportunity to see documentaries about the Tu-144 aircraft. At the moment, films are widely represented on the YouTube video hosting.
Video
