The very first jet passenger aircraft in the world. First jetliners: elimination race

An aircraft that has been produced since 1967 to the present day! Every 5 seconds, one of the Boeing 737 aircraft takes off and lands in the world. It is the most mass-produced jet passenger aircraft in the entire history of the passenger aircraft industry (as of September 2012, 7320 aircraft were delivered and 2845 orders were not closed). In fact, the Boeing-737 is the common name for more than ten types of aircraft.

I am starting a series of reports about different types airplanes and helicopters civil aviation, which I managed to visit and shoot in detail. I really love aviation and today, while preparing the material, I myself learn a lot of new facts and nuances, it's incredibly interesting! I invite you to plunge a little into the world of aviation, the one that we often use consumerly during our travels, we do not think about and are not interested in its technical and internal side.

The Boeing 737 was designed for the relatively small capacity, short range passenger aircraft market, where the BAC 1-11 and DC-9 played a major role. In this struggle, Boeing was initially far behind its competitors: in 1964, when the development of the aircraft began, its competitors were already undergoing flight certification. The seats in the cabin were placed 6 in a row, which provided more spaciousness than competitors who had five seats in each row. Already in February 1965, the completion of the stage of formation of the design of the new liner was announced. During the development process, the Boeing 737 "grew up" from the originally planned 60-seat airliner to an aircraft with a passenger capacity of up to 103 seats. In 1965, Lufthansa signed an order for 22 Boeing 737-100s.

The solemn ceremony to mark the completion of the assembly of the first aircraft took place on January 17, 1967. The Boeing 737-100 entered service with Lufthansa in February 1968.

Initially, the final assembly of the Boeing 737 was carried out at a new plant at Boeing Field, near Seattle. In 1970, after a major reorganization of the company due to financial problems, all final aircraft assembly activities were moved a little further south to the Boeing plant in Renton. By this time, 271 Boeing 737s had already been built.

The main modifications of the Boeing-737:

737 Original (-100,-200),
- 737 Classic (-300, -400, -500),
- 737 Next Generation (-600, -700, -800, -900),
- 737-MAX

Original family:

Modifications -100 and -200 are recognizable due to the cigar-shaped engine nacelle, almost completely integrated into the wing from its leading to trailing edge. Early Boeing 737 models used low bypass Pratt and Whitney JT8D engines. Also, these models are easily recognizable by the smooth bend of the upper edge of the keel.
Boeing 737-200. This board is currently 30 years old! And he is still in the ranks of StarParu!

Boeing and Airbus aircraft distribution diagram by flight range and passenger capacity:

Classic family:

In the early 1980s, the Boeing 737 underwent its first major facelift. The biggest change was the use of CFM International CFM56 engines instead of JT8Ds. The CFM56 is a high bypass turbofan engine. It is much larger in diameter, so it was suspended under the wing on pylons, and the principle of an integrated engine was abandoned. But the low clearance of the aircraft (a feature borrowed from the Boeing 707) in this case created a problem, so it was decided to place the units, usually located below the engine, on the sides of the compressor section. Associated with this is the unusual "flattening" of the gondola. At the same time, the cockpit of the 737 was upgraded to the level of the Boeing 757 and 767. The first model of the new Classic series, the 737-300, entered service in 1984. In the future, this generation was replenished with aircraft 737-400 and 737-500.

I'll show you the interiors and details of two Boeing 737-500 UTair airlines at Surgut airport.

The Boeing 737-500 is a 2m shorter version of the 737-300, to 29.79m, with extended range. With a passenger capacity similar to that of the 737-200, the Boeing 737-500 was an adequate replacement for it. I propose to take a walk on two UTair Boeing 737-500 aircraft.

Fuel system

Three fuel tanks are located in the wing and center section: wing and central. The central one is developed first, then the wing ones. Each tank has two fuel pumps. The total maximum capacity of the 737 Original family aircraft tanks is from 12,700 to 15,600 kg, depending on the modification.
On aircraft of the 737 Classic family, the capacity of the tanks has been increased to 16200 kg, it is also possible to install an additional fuel tank in the rear trunk.
In general, similar to 737 NG, tank capacity increased to 20800 kg, changed fuel tanks: the central tank occupies not only the center section, but also part of the wing from the root to the engine pylon. The location of the pumps has also changed and a system for removing water from the tanks has been added.

These are winglets, initially the aircraft was produced without them, recently a modernization was carried out, due to which it is possible to reduce fuel consumption by up to 5% due to a change in aerodynamics through the use of winglets - wingtips at the end of the wings:

Power supply system

The primary power supply system is an alternating current system with a voltage of 115 V and a frequency of 400 Hz. On aircraft types 737 Original and 737 Classic, the power sources are two motor synchronous alternators with a constant speed drive and an APU generator. Power generators 40 KVA. Synchronous operation is not provided. On NG aircraft, the power supply system has been slightly changed compared to the 737 Classic: the power distribution system has been changed, a battery has been added to start the APU and new generators have been installed, combined with a constant speed drive.

Air conditioning system

Air is taken from the engines and the auxiliary power unit (APU). The air is used for cabin air conditioning, equipment cooling, engine and wing anti-icing and engine starting. The air conditioning system (SCR) has two channels and can also use the air from the passenger compartment for recirculation.
On 737-300, -500, -600 and -700 aircraft, the SCR is the same as the 737 Original. On 737-400, -800 and -900 aircraft, the SCR is very different from the others, which is caused by the increased cabin volume. "Long" aircraft have two cabin temperature zones, more developed system temperature control.

The Boeing 737 aircraft uses the classic tricycle landing gear with a front steering column. Each landing gear has two wheels. The main pillars are retracted into the landing gear niche, located in the center section and not having flaps, so the wheels become aerodynamic surfaces. This minimizes the number of hydraulic components of the chassis system, but worsens the aerodynamics.
In connection with the use of engines with a large radius on the 737 Classic, the struts are made higher than on the 737 Original, and also reinforced to varying degrees, depending on the takeoff weight of various types (-300, -400 or -500).
On the 737 NG aircraft, the landing gear has been redesigned, higher than on the 737 Classic and also reinforced depending on the takeoff weight. Since 2008, the 737 NG aircraft have been able to install new carbon brakes, which have a lower mass and a longer service life.

Hydraulic system:

There are three hydraulic systems on Boeing 737 aircraft: A, B (primary) and Standby (backup). On the 737-100 and -200 system A is powered by two motor pumps and system B is powered by two electric pumps. The backup system is battery powered and supplies only the slats, rudder and reverse. Most of the hydraulic components are located in the chassis recess.
The hydraulic system of the 737 Classic and 737NG is very different from the 737 Original. Energy consumers are redistributed in it and each of the main systems is operated by one motor and one electric hydraulic pump. In normal flight, electric pumps are not used.

Bow to represent scale:

Engines in the Classic modification:

CFM56-3 series turbofan engines manufactured by CFM International were chosen as the power plant.

Let's get on board?
UTair has a standard cabin layout - 3-row business class and economy class. Let me remind you, this is the interior of the Boeing Classic:

The most modern interior that Boeing offers to its customers is the Sky Interior. It uses dynamic interior lighting with different colors depending on the phase of the flight, as well as luggage racks that open down and retract up, rather than recline:

Instrument panels on 737 Classic aircraft equipped with EFIS include both electronic and dial gauges.

Additional windows above the windshield are borrowed from the Boeing 707. Their main task is to expand the viewing angle. With the improvement of avionics, windows have become redundant and are no longer installed. In this cabin there is a place for additional windows above my head from above and to the left (there are no windows themselves):

And the bow outside :) Thanks for the photo olga_fink :

For comparison - the interior of the cockpit on the Boeing 737-800 (belongs to the 737 Next Generation family).
The main difference is the use of the Common Display System (CDS) developed by Honeywell, similar to the Boeing 777 aircraft. The CDS includes two Display Electronic Unit computers, six Display Unit LCD indicators, two control panels and switching equipment. The indication can be transferred from one display to another.

Boeing 737-500 UTair. Serious Oleg Barmin freedom on right:

Boeing 737-800NG FlyDubai:

Above, I showed photos of two UTair aircraft, one of them is 15 years old, the second is 19. Age in this case suggests that this type of aircraft requires more frequent and more costly service cycles, which will certainly affect the cost of the flight. But age does not affect flight safety in any way! And the salon, by the way, is also periodically updated at the old sides.

737 Next Generation family

The Next Generation family was Boeing's answer to competition from the more high-tech Airbus A320. The NG aircraft have digital cockpits, completely new wings (lengthened by 5.5 meters) and tail, as well as improved engines. Passenger cabin aircraft of this series was developed on the basis of the salons "757" and "767". Even when developing Boeing aircraft The 777 used the 737NG saloon styling. In general, the aircraft of the 737 Next Generation family are a restyled version of the aircraft of the 737 Classic family. Most of the systems have remained almost unchanged schematically and functionally, however, the units have become one-third smaller, and most of them have been redesigned. Since the entire family was designed at the same time, the numbers in the names of the aircraft are ordered in order of increasing fuselage length (-600/-700/-800/-900).

737 MAX family

The Boeing 737 MAX is a new family of aircraft being developed by Boeing to replace the Boeing 737 Next Generation family.

Options
- 737 MAX 7 - replacement for 737-700
- 737 MAX 8 - replacement for 737-800
- 737 MAX 9 - replacement for 737-900

Boeing VS Airbus:

In general, both aircraft are very popular among customers. However, as of mid-2012, Boeing received 2,227 orders for the 737 plus 649 for the 737 MAX, while Airbus received 3,352 orders for the A320 series and 1,534 orders for the updated A320neo. Both companies abandoned plans to create new narrow-body aircraft due to the huge costs of launching new models. Airbus has incurred enormous costs to launch the A380 and is currently completing a nearly equally expensive A350 project. However, Boeing has incurred even more significant costs for the creation and launch of the 787 Dreamliner - by some estimates, the cost of the program has increased by almost five times. Moreover, both models continue to experience problems associated with novelty, and divert significant funds.

Happy flying! :)

I want to express my gratitude to the airline

The birthplace of the passenger aircraft industry is Russia. The first passenger aircraft in the history of aviation was the Russian Ilya Muromets. The aircraft designed by Sikorsky, converted into a passenger bomber, was equipped with a comfortable lounge, a restaurant, separate bedrooms and even a bathroom. Muromets had heating and electricity. For the first time the plane took off on December 10, 1913, in February 1914 a demonstration flight was made with 16 passengers on board. In June of the same year, the aircraft set a distance record by flying from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back with only one intermediate landing. The beginning of the First World War and civil war in Russia prevented the further development of domestic civil aviation.

The second passenger aircraft was the American Ford Trimotor. It was equipped with three piston engines (two on the wings and one on the nose) and took on board 8 passengers. The Trimotor was produced from 1925 to 1933. Due to its reliability, the aircraft was used for many years after production ended. In the mid-30s, production of the DC-3 began, which became the most massive passenger aircraft in history. It was also produced for the needs of the US Army and the Allies during the Second World War as the C-47 Skytrain (Dacota). The plane took on board 21-32 passengers. The DC-3 was also produced under license in the USSR under the designation PS-84/Li-2. The most popular aircraft in pre-war Europe was the Junkers Ju52/3m. Passenger seaplanes have become widespread.
At the end of the war, the leading design bureaus were characterized by the creation of multi-engine passenger aircraft based on heavy bomber gliders. In the 50s, the era of jet airliners began. The first such aircraft was the British De Havilland Comet, which took off on July 27, 1949. However, after a series of accidents, the airliner was temporarily withdrawn from flights in 1954 and subjected to major modernization. Leadership in the field of jet passenger aviation passed to the Soviet Union with the Tu-104 airliner (first flight June 17, 1955) and the United States with the Boeing 707 (first flight July 15, 1954), created on the basis of military aircraft.

Wide-body aircraft became a further development of civil aviation. The American Boeing 747 was the first wide-body aircraft to take to the air in 1969. The largest wide-body ultra-large aircraft was the double-deck Airbus A380, which made its first flight on April 27, 2005. In the late 60s of the 20th century, the first supersonic aircraft appeared - the Soviet Tu-144 and Anglo-French Concorde. However, they did not achieve commercial success, becoming rather symbols of the prestige of national aviation industries. Tu-144 after several accidents was decommissioned. The Concorde served until 2003, but a crash in 2000 proved fatal for this aircraft, also taken out of service.

Modern passenger aircraft outwardly differ little from those that appeared in the 60s. Nowadays, the main focus is on improving aircraft engines in order to increase fuel efficiency and reduce noise levels, improve avionics and lighten airframe design through the use of new generation materials, including those based on composites.

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Tu-144 The world's first supersonic passenger jet

The years that have passed since the end of the Second World War have brought major achievements in the development of civil aviation. The planes got bigger, flew higher and farther. The Soviet Union did not lag behind, and sometimes successfully outstripped world achievements. Many research institutes, including TsAGI, were working on problems that needed to be solved in order to make planes fly faster. Huge speeds have already been achieved. A little faster - and at transonic speeds, the aircraft was subjected to aerodynamic vibration. There was no choice: you need to overcome the sound barrier and start flying at supersonic speeds.

In the early 1960s, research into metals, alloys, and plastics needed for aircraft construction and capable of withstanding the high temperatures resulting from long-term supersonic flight began to bear fruit. Meanwhile, in November 1962, France and Great Britain sign an agreement on the joint development and construction of the Concorde supersonic passenger jet aircraft.

In early 1963, Tupolev set the task of designing a supersonic jet aircraft. He appoints his son Alexei as the chief designer. So far, Aleksey has been focused on the future in the sense that military strategists of the 50s understood it: he was engaged in the design of missiles and unmanned aircraft. For the work done, Alexei Tupolev was awarded several awards. The experience gained while working on these high-speed projects increased his professionalism and allowed him to develop a supersonic jet aircraft, naturally, under the general supervision of his father.

In the early 1960s, supersonic flights were seen as a means of saving time and reducing passenger fatigue from running jet engines, which was especially felt on long flights. Mainly economic arguments were offered against the supersonic jet, but this did not stop either the Anglo-French project or the Tupolev project. There were also environmental limitations, although they were still little understood at that time, except, perhaps, the effect of sonic boom, which could be a problem for people living in the area of ​​​​the flight path.

large group designers under the leadership of A. Tupolev starts work. Despite the vast experience gained by the Design Bureau in the development of high-speed military aircraft, many problems remained unresolved. The first of these is the shape of the aircraft. TsAGI, now located at a test base in Zhukovsky, had one of the best wind tunnels in the world. It tested the aerodynamic qualities of the structures of Tupolev aircraft, created in the form of models. To provide passengers with comfortable flight conditions, the aerodynamics of a passenger aircraft must be at least 50 percent better than that of a military aircraft. For the same reason, it was necessary to study the effect of breaking the sound barrier on the strength and balance of the aircraft.

It was necessary to develop new heat-resistant materials, choose materials that meet the requirements for periodic heating, when the aircraft either expands due to pressurization and heats up due to air flow friction, or contracts at low altitudes and low speeds or while on the ground. The fuselage, 60 m long, is extended by 300 mm in flight. At first glance, not much, but the impact on the pressurized and pressurized cabin had to be kept to a minimum. New lubricants and sealing materials and even construction technologies were required. In order for passengers to feel comfortable at an altitude of 20,000 meters, it was necessary to provide new life support systems in the cockpit.

To carry out these works, which the Soviet leadership considered a matter of honor for the whole country, over a thousand people were seconded from other aviation organizations to the Tupolev Design Bureau. A decision is made in advance to test the aerodynamic qualities of the wing structure. For this, the MiG-21 was modernized and a new wing was installed on it, similar in shape to the Tu-144 wing. This work was carried out in the workshops of the MiG Design Bureau on the Leningrad Highway.

For the prototype aircraft, which was built at the Opyt plant, many parts materials were etched and processed manually. In the same way, manually, they decided to seal the fuel tanks.

The first crew of the Tu-144 M. Kozlov, V. Benderov, Yu. Seliverstov, E. Elyan

The external similarity of the Tupolev aircraft and the Anglo-French Concorde often aroused suspicions of plagiarism. It began in June 1965, when the Tu-144 model was shown at the Paris air show. Despite the significant differences that were visible on closer inspection, the planes really looked alike. According to the designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau, the overall shape of the aircraft is determined mainly by the laws of aerodynamics, the requirements for the aircraft, and the availability of materials. For comparison, they cite as an example the similarity of the DC-9 and LHC 1-11, DC-8 and Boeing 707, DC-10 and Tristar aircraft from Lockheed. At that time, machine design was just in its infancy, but today, aircraft may have even more similarities.

A prototype Tu-144 was built in the summer of 1968. The Soviet leadership really wanted to show it in the sky before the Concorde appeared there, and at the Paris air show it was announced that the aircraft would be ready in 1968. According to the old tradition, after the construction, the aircraft was dismantled for transportation to a test base in Zhukovsky. The workshops of the Tupolev Design Bureau were closer to the center of Moscow, but there was no airfield nearby. By October, the Tu-144 was reassembled in Zhukovsky, ground tests were carried out and the engines were tested. December 31, 1968, after sixteen days of waiting for good weather, a few hours before the expiration of the promised period, Eduard Yelyan finally takes the helm and lifts the Tu-144 with the tail number of the USSR 68001 into the air. The world's first passenger supersonic jet aircraft takes off with the main runway Zhukovsky airfield 5 km long. In this flight, the Tu-144 was accompanied by a MiG-21 aircraft.

Only for testing, four aircraft were built: two for static testing at TsAGI, one was sent to Novosibirsk at the SibNII for thermal fatigue testing, and the fourth remained in Zhukovsky for fatigue testing. The Tu-144 had four new NK-144 engines, created at the Kuznetsov engine-building design bureau. The new engines were equipped with an afterburner, which was used mainly during takeoff. The hull and wing were made of duralumin, but the leading edge of the wing, which gets very hot in supersonic flight, was made of stainless steel and titanium.

The cockpit of the Tu-144. From the collection of K. Udalov

A prototype Tu-144, which already showed some design changes, was demonstrated at the Paris Air Show in 1971. These changes were made possible by the experience gained during the flight test program. There was an opportunity to compare two supersonic passenger liners, one of which was the French Concorde prototype. The Tu-144 was larger, and the wing root began with a noticeable increase in sweep. It improved flight characteristics at low speeds. On both aircraft, the engines were located in underwing nacelles. However, their layout was different. Later, the Tu-144 will be equipped with a front horizontal tail, located directly after the cockpit and retractable from the fuselage to improve flight performance when flying at low speeds and retractable when flying at high speeds.

Aeroflot, which at first had high hopes for the Tu-144, planned to order many aircraft. At the Voronezh Plant No. 64, the production of a new aircraft was launched. At the same time, the flight test program continued.

On June 5, 1969, at an altitude of 11,000 m, the Tu-144 broke the sound barrier for the first time. A year later, on May 25, 1970, he exceeded the speed of 2M, flying at an altitude of 16,300 m at a speed of 2,150 km / h. The plane was shown to the public for the first time a few days earlier, on May 21, during an inspection by officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation at Sheremetyevo Airport.

It soon became clear that the fuel consumption exceeded the calculated one. Although fuel consumption was not of fundamental importance for the Soviet economy, this significantly affected the flight range.

Instead of the promised 6,500 km, the range of the aircraft was only about 3,500 km, and without landing for refueling, it was not able to fly to many cities located in the eastern and southeastern regions Soviet Union, and due to this, the very time that the plane was supposed to save was lost. Even worse, the second production aircraft crashed during a demonstration flight in Paris in 1973 in front of 300,000 spectators and journalists. The report on the causes of the accident was never published, in Soviet times it was not accepted, but, apparently, there were no complaints about the aircraft. It seems that the main cause of the disaster was an attempt to avoid a collision with an unidentified French Air Force Mirage fighter, from which the filming of the air show was made. Nevertheless, many linked the desire of the Soviet leadership to seize the palm in this area with the haste in the testing program, and in connection with this there was a lot of unfavorable feedback.

By that time, five serial aircraft had already been produced and five more were in the process of being built. After the appointment of A.A. Tupolev The administrative and technical management of the work on the Tu-144 project was entrusted to Boris Antonovich Gantsevsky as the responsible manager and General Designer. A man of very difficult fate, a student of I.F. Nezval, B.A. Gantsevsky performed a very difficult job on the introduction of a new modification of the aircraft - Tu-144D (long-range) at the Voronezh Aviation Production Association. The choice of a new engine (single-circuit non-afterburning RD-36-51 - chief designer P.A. Kolesov) required a reconfiguration of the aircraft, especially in terms of power systems. B.A. Gantsevsky successfully coped with all the problems at the stage of issuing drawings. But he failed to find and solve serious design gaps associated with the incorrect placement of the fuel system. Numerous studies of the fuel system, reconfiguration of technical compartments were required, time and timing for the optimal introduction of a long-range aircraft were missed.

Most importantly, B.A. Gantsevsky, even less A.A. Tupolev was adapted to "break through" high offices. He did not have the necessary experience in introducing aircraft, did not have the authority to defend his positions and positions to prove that the Soviet Union needed supersonic aircraft.

B.A. Gantsevsky was retired in 1979. All work on the Tu-144 program began to be led by V.I. Bliznyuk and his deputy Yu.N. Popov.

In November 1974, the fifth production aircraft with new RD-36-51A engines, named Tu-144D ( side number USSR-77105), takes to the air for the first time.

Although, after the disaster in Paris, the enthusiasm for the Tu-144 among the leadership of Aeroflot diminished, at the end of 1974, the training of flight crews began. Test pilots from the Tupolev Design Bureau act as instructors. At the earliest stages of testing the TU-144 aircraft, testers from the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation were connected to the Tupolev testers: pilots Popov V.D., Kuznetsov M.S., Yurskov N.I., navigators Abdulov I.N., Vyazigin V.V., flight engineers Troepolsky A.S., Venediktov V.L. (died in the crash of the first Tu-144D aircraft on May 23, 1978.)

First regular flight on the Tu-144 aircraft on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route was carried out by the crew of Boris Fedorovich Kuznetsov. The crews under the leadership of Voronin V.P., Larin A.A. worked successfully. (later director of the department air transport, CEO Rossiya Airlines, President's crew commander Russian Federation), Khalimova Kh.Kh., Smorzhka G.P. Pilots, navigators and civil aviation engineers have been preparing to fly the Tu-144 aircraft on a regular basis since 1975.

The first Tu-144s were trained on the Domodedovo-Baku-Tashkent route. Later, starting in December 1975, cargo and mail were transported by regular flights from Moscow to the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata. In February 1977, part-load cargo flights from Moscow to Khabarovsk began. On both routes, supersonic flights took place over sparsely populated areas. The pilot of the Tupolev Design Bureau always commanded the ship.

Boris Gantsevsky Chief Designer Tu-144

Finally, on November 1, 1977, the Tu-144 receives a certificate of airworthiness, and passenger flights begin on the same day. Flight control is carried out by the Ministry of Aviation Industry, which provides pilots, engineers and organizes aircraft maintenance. Aeroflot only sells tickets and receives money. Aeroflot pilots fly as co-pilots, but the commanders are always test pilots from the Tupolev Design Bureau. Tu-144 fly only on the route Domodedovo - Alma-Ata. A total of 50 return flights were made; a one-way ticket in tourist class cost 82 rubles. The Tu-144 was provided with 122 seats in the tourist class and 11 in the first. In total, Tu-144 aircraft carried 3,194 passengers. Flights were carried out by only two aircraft: USSR-77108 and USSR-77109. Commercial flights ceased on May 31, 1978, a few days after a fire broke out in the air on the first production Tu-144D aircraft, which took off from the airfield in Zhukovsky for testing, and the aircraft crashed and crashed at forced landing in Yegoryevsk. The crashed plane with tail number USSR-77111 was built quite shortly before this disaster. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Tu-144 with tail number USSR-77144 is gaining altitude From the collection of K. Udalov

At the same time, the reasons for the failures with the Tu-144 had little to do with the aircraft itself and the problems that arose in connection with it. The fact is that after the disaster in Paris, political support for the project to create a supersonic passenger aircraft began to gradually weaken. Moreover, Aeroflot used the crash of the second aircraft as an excuse to stop flying the Tu-144, which it never actually operated. After the loss of the USSR-77111, four of the five aircraft in production were completed. They were based at the airfield in Zhukovsky and periodically took to the air as flying laboratories. Two of these aircraft continued to be used for ozone research until the end of 1990.

The sixteen Tu-144s built made a total of 2,556 sorties and flew only 4,110 hours. Most of all (432 hours) the aircraft with tail number USSR-77144 flew.

In the mid-90s, ten Tu-144s were preserved, of which four copies are in museums: Georgy Voronchenko overtook the aircraft with tail number USSR-77106 on February 29, 1980 to Monino. Tu-144 (USSR-77107), piloted by Vladimir Matveev, flew to Kazan on March 29, 1985. The aircraft with tail number USSR-77108 was flown to Kuibyshev on August 27, 1987 by Vasily Borisov. On June 1, 1984, Sergei Agapov flew to Ulyanovsk on an USSR-77110 aircraft. SSSR-77109 is located at the plant in Voronezh, where it was built. Tu-144 (USSR-77105 board) remains in Zhukovsky in disrepair. Four Tu-144Ds (USSR-77112 - 77115) are in Zhukovsky.

However, the designers and testers of the Tupolev Design Bureau, even after the decision to close the topic, could not come to terms with the fact that years of hard work were wasted and grains of precious experience would be lost. V.T. Klimov, appointed in 1982 as the head of the Zhukovskaya flight test base, A.L. Pukhov, head of the design department, which carried out the layout and design of the Tu-144 aircraft, Deputy Chief Designer Yu.N. Popov, supported by enthusiasts of supersonic flights, were able to restore and put into operation two Tu-144 D.

In 1985, they seek permission to fly to set world records. Such flights were carried out from a military airfield by the crews of S.T. Agapova and B.I. Veremey. More than 18 world records were set in the class of supersonic aircraft in terms of flight speed with a load, in rate of climb, in flight range with a load on supersonic speed which have not been beaten to date.

Presentation in the State Aviation Register of the USSR of the certificate of airworthiness of the Tu-144 aircraft.

From right to left: General Designer A. Tupolev, R. Teimurazov, Chairman of the State Aviation Register of the USSR I. Mulkidzhanov, I. Ivanov, S. Borisov, V. Klimov, S. Dolmatov.

At the same time, in TsAGI under the leadership of Academician G.P. Svishchev and Yu.N. Vasiliev, parametric studies are carried out on new aerodynamic schemes to solve the most challenging tasks development of supersonic aviation. Projects for a second-generation supersonic aircraft are selected, protection requirements are formulated environment from exposure to excessive noise and supersonic impact. Together with the design bureau, new constructive solutions for systems are being developed.

It was these works, the results of which were regularly discussed at international seminars, that became the basis for new discussions about the possibilities of supersonic flight, which actively developed in the early 1990s.

In November 1993, the Tupolev ASTC signed an agreement to make the Tu-144 (USSR-77114 tail number) ready for flights and use it as a research aircraft to create a promising US supersonic transport aircraft. Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, Rockwell Collins, NASA, as well as interested companies from England, France, Germany and Japan are participating in the work on this project. By that time, the RD-36-51A engines originally installed on the aircraft were no longer there. Therefore, Alexander Pukhov, the chief designer of the Tu-144 restoration project, decided to use the NK-321 engines, which are equipped with Tu-160 aircraft, instead of the RD-36-51A engines.

The commander of the ship Boris Kuznetsov from the Domodedovo division of Aeroflot reports to the Minister of Civil Aviation Marshal Boris Bugaev about readiness for a flight to Alma-Ata. November 1, 1977 Domodedovo Civil Aviation Press Agency

"Mysterious Plane 101". Tu-144D aircraft at the airfield in Kipelovo before setting world records

Since the Tu-144 had not flown for several years, it was necessary to check and carefully sort out all the systems of the aircraft: hydraulic, electrical and mechanical. To implement the research program, it was also necessary to mount a complex system of sensors necessary to collect aerodynamic and technical data. To record flight parameters, a Damien computer was installed on board. The agreement provides for the implementation of the program in the amount of 35 flights from the airfield in Zhukovsky to obtain a certificate of the US Federal Aviation Administration on its fitness for flight operation for experiments, after which the aircraft was supposed to go to the United States. Another aircraft is also participating in the program, from which parts necessary to maintain the first one in a state of airworthiness will be dismantled.

Zhukovsky, March 16, 1996. The fourth Tu-144D is ready to start a series of research flights in the interests of developing the second generation of supersonic passenger aircraft. The program is funded by an international group that includes NASA, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and IP. This plane is called Tu-144LL. Paul Duffy

Aeroflot pilots and engineers to this day regret the fate of the Tu-144 and call the aircraft the “lost generation”. The flight and engineering staff of the Tupolev Design Bureau constantly worked with Aeroflot personnel, since operational flights were considered as development flights. As a rule, each plane flew only once or twice a week. They recall that for about twenty minutes after landing it was impossible to even touch the hot skin of the aircraft: the temperature of the metal reached 120 degrees.

Project "145"