The very first passenger aircraft in the world. The first jet aircraft for passengers. Depending on flight distance

It was thanks to the dreamers to conquer the sky that the era of the industrial revolution gave us vehicle, which was called the plane.

In the world

In order to rise into the sky, you need to know the theoretical foundations. It was they who developed the Briton George Cayley (1773 - 1857). The scientist devoted his whole life to the basics of aerodynamics in order to get an answer to the question: how to conquer the airspace? His labors bore fruit, and at the beginning of the 19th century, the scientific article “On Air Navigation” saw the light of day. Caylee was the first ever built air Transport life-size, which flew over short distances. The airship was also projected by him, and thanks to K.E. Tsiolkovsky, acquired a metal case. However, despite the exclusive ideas of Cayley, his work gained popularity only in the 30s of the 20th century.

Antony Fokker's "Spin" aircraft, 1910

The son of coffee planter Hermann Fokker, Anthony Fokker, was definitely not going to lead the plantation after his father's death. Even as a child, Anthony was fond of technology, collecting model trains with miniature engines. However, trains did not become his destiny. In 1908, the main event in the life of Fokker took place - the demonstration flight of Wilbur Wright. Since that time, the young inventor began work on the project of his own aircraft, and in 1910 the first “de Spin” took off into the sky. The flight was short-lived, as Anthony crashed it into a tree. But that was only the beginning. A young Dutch scientist founded in 1911 own company, which was named the Fokker Aeroplanbau, and in 1915 the first fighter aircraft appeared, thanks to which Germany turned the course of the First World War. Thus, Fokker became a pioneer in the production of fighter aircraft, and his company lasted until 1996.

Specifications aircraft "Spin"

In Russia. Aircraft Mozhaisky

"Aircraft projectile" appeared on the territory of Russia thanks to an officer long-distance navigation Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky. It all started in 1876 with demonstration flights of a small boat with wings that fit easily on a table. The Petersburg public was delighted with what they saw, and a few days later an article about the incredible structure appeared in the newspaper Kronstadt Vestnik.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev became interested in the invention of Mozhaisky, who by that time was already known throughout the world. It was he who became the main associate of Alexander Fedorovich, and convinced the commission of the Main Engineering Directorate to allocate funds for experiments. However, the skeptical attitude towards the invention of this kind in Russia, on the part of the military department, did not allow the construction of the aircraft to be completed in time. The commission terminates sponsorship and Mozhaisky, in order to protect himself from foreign encroachments on his invention, receives a patent in 1880 and material assistance from manufactories.

In the period from 1881 to 1886, testing of the aircraft began. There are no historical documents describing the experiments carried out, but there are notes in the journals, from which it follows that all attempts ended with a short retention of a person in the air. If Alexander Fedorovich had a little more time, perhaps the planes that we see now would have appeared earlier. However, death interrupted the research activities of the aircraft designer in 1890.

Reactive plane

Construction work jet aircraft German and Soviet scientists started at the same time. In 1937, the talented young designer A.M. Lyulka, who lived in the USSR, proposed the creation of the first turbojet engine, which, according to forecasts, would help achieve flight speeds of up to 900 km / h. In the same year, work began on its creation, but the outbreak of war suddenly forced the work to be suspended.

Perhaps that is why Germany managed to get ahead of everyone, and in July 1942 Me.262 took off. Due to the fact that the aircraft served as an attack aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and fighter, it quickly gained popularity. For a long time, combat units were produced in factories that were located in the forest. The roofs of the workshops were painted green, making it impossible to search for factories from the air. In total, for the period 1944-1945, about one and a half thousand combat vehicles were produced. Accelerating to a speed of 870 km / h, the aircraft flew on average about 1050 km with a maximum mass of outboard missiles of 1500 kg.

Me.262 models for the entire period of hostilities shot down about 150 aircraft, and the losses amounted to 100 combat units. However, despite the superiority of this model over other aircraft of that time, Me.262 had a complex control system for untrained pilots, and wartime conditions did not make it possible to modify the engine. Frequent breakdowns and uncontrolled diving when reaching a speed of 800 km / h forced Hitler to reconsider his attitude towards new machines, and the program for their production was curtailed.

Technical characteristics of the aircraft Me.262

The first jet passenger aircraft appeared in the UK in 1952. The De Havilland DH-106 Comet proved to be dangerous to operate. The weakness of the metal at the windows led to 12 disasters, as a result of which the DH-106 was discontinued.

Description aircraft De Havilland DH-106 Comet

passenger plane

mother civil aviation is Russia. "Ilya Muromets" was born thanks to the designer Sikorsky, who converted the bomber into an aircraft passenger ship. Inside the "Muromets" there were well-appointed, separated by partitions, sleeping places with heating, there was a restaurant and even a bathroom. A passenger liner took to the skies for the first time in 1913, and already in February 1914 a flight demonstration took place with 16 air passengers. He also set a record for longest flight. "Ilya Muromets" flying from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back, made only one landing for refueling. However, the outbreak of the First World War suspended the development and further improvement of the air transport series.

The Ford Trimotor became the American prototype of the Muromets and is considered the second civilian liner in history. Its assembly was carried out in the period from 1925 to 1933. The plane took on board 8 passengers and was considered the most reliable. It was the high degree of confidence in the liner that allowed the Ford Trimotor to remain on the market even after the completion of production.

supersonic aircraft

The advent of jet aircraft gave impetus to the creation of faster aircraft. Achieving higher speeds in flight would allow for superiority in the sky. So, in 1946, Bell Aircraft, under a special program of the US Air Force, created a fundamentally new aircraft with a Bell X-1 rocket engine.

Thanks to a super powerful engine, Bell X-1 reached incredible speeds for those times. At maximum height flight 24400 m, speed was 2720 km / h.

Charles Yeager became the commander of the vessel, under which it was possible to fix supersonic speed. In total, 80 flights were made on the Bell X-1 aircraft, the last of which took place in January 1949. During the last flight, the aircraft, with a takeoff speed of 273 km/h, climbed to a height of 7600 m in 1 minute 40 seconds. Record figures were recorded for the entire period of operation.

Technical characteristics of the aircraft Bell X-1

Most often, when describing the characteristics of an aircraft, the designation M is used. M is the maximum speed to which the aircraft can accelerate. For example, for the Bell X-1 model, M = 2.5. This suggests that the maximum speed that the aircraft can reach is 2500 km / h.

Studying the history of the appearance of various types of liners, it is clear that the geography of design is different. Started with a simple desire to fly, aviation has become the subject of global competition. Thanks to scientists who have done what was impossible for most, aircraft will improve more and more every day. And with the development of technology, the struggle for world domination in the sky will only intensify.

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 of 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, it is similar to the 737 NG, the tank capacity has been increased to 20800 kg, the fuel tanks have been changed: 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. The passenger cabin of the aircraft of this series was developed on the basis of the 757 and 767 cabins. Even when developing Boeing aircraft The 777 used the 737NG saloon style. 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

Tu-104 (according to NATO codification: Camel - "Camel") - the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft. In the period from 1956, after the suspension for technical reasons of flights of the British jet airliner De Havilland Comet, until October 1958, when it was introduced into commercial exploitation American jet aircraft Boeing liner 707, the Tu-104 was the only jet airliner in operation in the world. A total of 201 aircraft of various modifications were built.

Ulyanovsk Aviation Museum.

As always, I use information from sites
http://www.airwar.ru
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
and other sources found by me in the internet and literature.

The aircraft in the museum is Tu-104 USSR-42322 (6350103) Released on November 6, 1956 at aircraft factory 135 in Kharkov. Judging by the number, it was one of the first Tu-104s manufactured at this enterprise. Registered November 16, 1956 as USSR-L5416. The operator was the Moscow Department of Civil Aviation of Aeroflot (Vnukovo) in the 200th flight detachment. On July 13, 1959, it was transferred to the Uzbek Territorial Administration of Aeroflot. Registered July 4, 1959 as USSR-42322. Decommissioned 25 March 1961. On December 13, 1961, it was transferred to the aviation of the Navy in the Northern Fleet in military unit 20216 with the preservation of the color scheme of Aeroflot. Converted to VIP configuration for the Commander of the Northern Fleet. In 1962, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin would have been a passenger on this plane. After a raid of 6428 hours, it was laid up in August 1981 and was stored at Kola Peninsula on the a / b Olenya in the village of Vysokiy, behind the lake Permusozero to the east of the city of Olenegorsk. Refurbished to flying condition in 20 days in October 1986 by the technical team of Gosnii GA. On November 1, 1986, the crew, consisting of commander N.P. Volodkin, navigator M. Abdulov, test flight engineer V. Tsedrov, flight operator I. Ilyin and co-pilot-chief of the LIK GosNII GA G. Demenko flew it to Moscow (Sheremetyevo) , and from there on November 11 to Ulyanovsk to the place of the last stop. By the end of the 80s, it was installed in the main exposition of the museum (before that it was located on the territory of the ATB ShVLP). In 2006, the salon was restored and is open to the public. Repainted in August 2008.
IN different years Hero of Socialist Labor, Honored Pilot of the USSR N. Shapkin, Honored Pilots of the USSR K. Sapelkin, E. Barabash sat at the helm of this aircraft.

When creating the Tu-16 bomber, the first sketches of the Tu-2AM-3-200 jet passenger aircraft appeared in the OKB-156 General Views Brigade. In 1952-1953, working drawings began to be produced, and only in June 1954 did the Council of Ministers of the USSR issue a decree on the development of the future Tu-104 with AM-3M engines. In accordance with the tactical and technical requirements of the Air Force, the aircraft was supposed to carry 50 passengers and up to 1250 kg of cargo over a distance of 3200-3500 km, fly at a maximum speed of 950-1000 km / h, with a takeoff run of no more than 1600-1650 m.

It has become a tradition in the Design Bureau to develop new passenger aircraft using already tested units, assemblies, power plant and equipment of their predecessors - bombers. This approach made it possible to significantly reduce the cycle of creating a new machine. True, in this case, the cost of transportation turned out to be far from optimal, but then this was not considered the main thing.

The scheme of transition to the Tu-104 from the Tu-16 was carried out by replacing the fuselage with a newly designed larger diameter (3.5 m instead of 2.9 m) with a pressurized cabin from the fuselage nose to the tail section. The layout of the aircraft changed: instead of a medium-wing aircraft, it became a low-wing one, and the center section and engine nacelles were redesigned accordingly. From the serial Tu-16 were used: detachable parts of the wing, engine compartments of the wing, landing gear, horizontal tail, vertical tail and chassis nacelles. Initially, the Tu-104 was designed for 50 people, although from the very beginning a further transition was envisaged in case of success of the project for modifications for 70 or more passengers.
The AM-3 engines with an axial compressor have also been preserved, developing take-off thrust at the nominal mode of 7000 kg, and at the maximum - 8750 kg.

In December 1954, the commission approved the layout of the aircraft and at the beginning of 1955, an experimental machine was built at the 156th plant under the symbol L5400, the first flight of which took place on June 17, 1955. The stage of factory tests in the period from June to October 1955 was carried out by a crew consisting of: the first pilot Yu. and leading engineer V. N. Benderov. During this time, the crew completed 67 flights.

Factory tests were successful and in the fall of 1955 the question arose: who would conduct state tests? Despite the fact that back in 1953 a group of 7 pilots was created in civil aviation to master the Il-28, the flight crew of the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet did not yet have sufficient experience in flying jet aircraft. Therefore, we approached with a proposal to carry out this work in the State Research Institute of the Air Force. After the visit of A. A. Arkhangelsky to Chkalovsky, the issue was resolved positively.

At the stage of state tests, the crew included commander A. K. Starikov, who had previously tested the Tu-16, co-pilot N. Ya. Yakovlev, navigator I. K. Bagrich. Leading engineers were from the Air Force Research Institute N. Kochetkov, from the Civil Air Fleet - Uvarov. Military test pilots flew around the aircraft, in particular, Yu. A. Antipov, V. A. Ivanov and V. D. Khromov, navigator A. N. Rekunov and others.
The tests were carried out intermittently. In February-March 1956, engines that had exhausted their resources were replaced, from March 20 to April 29, 1956 - flights to London. Then household equipment was finalized, and in May 1956 the aircraft was demonstrated at the international aviation exhibition. State tests, during which 100 flights were performed, ended with a "satisfactory" rating.

In the conclusion of the act on state tests, it was noted, in particular, the following: "In terms of piloting technique, the Tu-104 is available for pilots of medium qualification. The Tu-104 requires airfields with a runway length of at least 2500 m for flights, and in southern regions with high outdoor temperatures of at least 3000 m.
The aircraft did not meet the following requirements of the Decree of the Council of Ministers: AM-3 engines with lower thrust were installed instead of AM-3M engines; practical flight range - 3000 km instead of 3200-3500 km; takeoff run at a takeoff speed of 266-295 km/h is 1775-2180 m instead of 1600-1650 m; continuation of flight is not ensured in case of failure of one engine after liftoff with a takeoff weight of 71,500 kg and the maximum takeoff weight is not determined, at which a safe continuation of takeoff with one engine can be ensured; when flying at an altitude of 10,000 m with a headwind of 50 km/h, the practical flight range is 2,715 km.

The Tu-104, which has passed state tests, with a takeoff weight of 71,500 kg, has a relatively small payload of 5,200 kg, which is 7.28% of the takeoff weight.
As the aircraft and engines are mastered in production and operation, and the service life increases, the efficiency of the aircraft will increase significantly. However, compared to foreign transport aircraft with turbojet engines, the technical and economic indicators of the Tu-104 will also be lower in this case.
Given that the Tu-104 will be operated on routes of 1700-2300 km in the coming years, it is advisable to re-equip the passenger cabin for 70 seats in order to increase the aircraft's economy, which will reduce the cost of transportation by 28%. (By the way, with an average planned load of 70% of the maximum load, it was higher than the cost of transportation of the GU GVF in 1956).
To improve take-off performance and increase efficiency, put the question before OKB-156 about reducing the weight of the aircraft structure and reducing the time for retracting and extending the landing gear.
Disagreeing completely with the conclusion, A. N. Tupolev expressed his dissenting opinion: "I do not agree with the range figures of 2890 and 2715 km, as artificially taken at a flight altitude of 10,000 m and a headwind, which is taken into account in the hourly fuel reserve."

According to the general opinion of the test pilots: “At altitudes of 11,000 m, with M numbers less than 0.7, with centerings of more than 30% MAR, the longitudinal stability margin for overload with released control is below the norm provided for by the tactical and technical requirements of the Air Force. M=0.66 overload margin is 5.5% at a rate of 10%.
When the M number is more than 0.82-0.84, the aircraft is longitudinally statically unstable in speed. With numbers M = 0.87-0.88 at altitudes of 10,000-11,000 m, there is a significant roll back reaction to rudder deflection.
It was noted that "good efficiency of the elevator, combined with acceptable loads on the steering wheel, provides normal longitudinal controllability both in flight at M numbers up to 0.86-0.87, and on landing ...

Loads on the steering wheel when performing the necessary maneuvers with an alignment of more than 30% at altitudes of 10000-11000 m at medium and high speeds direct in sign, but small in size, so the pilot must smoothly create the necessary overload. Slightly pulling the yoke "toward yourself" leads to the exit of the aircraft at angles of attack close to critical.
The Tu-104 was created in an environment when there were still fresh reports of two crashes in 1954 by British De Havilland Cometa aircraft, which broke up in the air after a flight of about 3000 hours. The search for the causes of the disaster continued for almost a year, and only the debris raised from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea made it possible to conclude that there were fatigue cracks in the fuselage.

General view of the museum from Tu-104 :-))

When designing the Tu-104 fuselage, special attention was paid to the required endurance of the skin joints, special reinforcement of the edging of the cutouts for windows, doors and hatches. The endurance of the fuselage was tested in a hydro pool under the action of a repeated pressure drop and external loads simulating a typical flight. The research results made it possible to develop a design with a given resource.
Supercharging in the Tu-104 fuselage made it possible to maintain normal pressure in the cabin up to a height of 2500 m, and then it decreased as it reached the ceiling and at an altitude of about 10,000 m corresponded to atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 2500 m. The pressure drop was 0.5 atmospheres, which provided the necessary comfort for passengers. Initially, on the SSSR-L5400 machine, the overpressure was 0.57 kg / cm2, however, after the destruction of the fuselage of the serial machine during pressure testing at the 135th plant in Kharkov to an overpressure of 0.75 kg / cm2, the overpressure was reduced to 0.45 kg on an experimental aircraft /cm2.

Prior to the advent of the Tu-104, there was no experience in operating aircraft with pressurized cabins of a large volume. Therefore, the designers had to apply a number of technical solutions that complicate and make the aircraft heavier. For this purpose, an emergency containment partition was installed between the cockpit and the passenger compartment. In case of depressurization for the crew and passengers, an oxygen system was provided with automatically drop-down oxygen masks designed for the time of descent to a safe altitude. Fortunately, during the operation of the jet first-born, such emergency situations did not arise. In case of failure of one of the engines, the aircraft could continue the flight, maintaining the required level of comfort. To reduce the length of the run, a two-dome parachute system was provided.

The equipment of the liner, in particular, included the AP-5-2M autopilot, the SPU-10 intercom, the ARK-5 radio compass, the Rubidium-MM-2 radar, the MRP-48L marker radio receiver, the RV-2 radio altimeter, the SRZO interrogator-responder -2 The AP-5-2M autopilot failed to meet the set parameters and was subsequently replaced by the AP-6E.
In the salons of the experimental machine, a pronounced "splendor" was striking - large wide armchairs packed in front red covers, carpets and curtains. Individual chairs were made swivel, many tables were decorated with porcelain figurines.
The aircraft was still being tested, and it has already been put into mass production. In 1955, the assembly of the first Tu-104s began at the Kharkov Aviation Plant, in a hastily repaired hangar. The organization of production was equated to the second birth of the plant.

On the morning of November 5, 1955, test pilots V.F. Kovalev, G.Ya. The lead vehicle of the first series was lifted into the air by the crew of test pilot F.F. Dotsenko.
In 1956, the Tu-104 was put into production at the Omsk Aviation Plant, and twelve months later the first production aircraft flew. In total, 58 cars were built in Omsk. The production of Tu-104 was stopped due to the transition of the plant to the production of rocket technology.
Serial machines differed from the experimental USSR-L5400 in slightly modified cockpit glazing, which, at the request of Aeroflot, was done to improve visibility. By the end of 1960, three enterprises, including the 22nd plant in Kazan, produced over 200 Tu-104s of all modifications.

During the tests on the USSR-L5400 machine, a number of long-range flights were performed, in one of which the flight and navigation complex was tested in Uzbekistan, and on March 22, 1956 A. Starikov, I. Bagrich, N. Belyaev, N. Kochetkov and G. Goncharenko for the first time entered the international Moscow-London route. The flight passed through Gdansk, Berlin, Amsterdam. Three hours after departure, the coast of England appeared in a break in the clouds. Over the checkpoint, the plane fell into a heavy rain, but this did not prevent the crew from making a normal landing.
The appearance of the Tu-104 in London was a real sensation. The foreign press spared no enthusiastic responses.

In fact, domestic aircraft, despite their high flight performance, lagged behind in the level of comfort, were distinguished by low economic parameters, high noise levels, and were equipped with flight-navigation and radio equipment that did not meet Western standards.
In March-April 1956, four flights were made to London. England was followed by flights to Burma, Switzerland, demonstrating high performance Tu-104 and, perhaps no less important, the flying skills of its crew. In January 1957, USSR Minister of Defense G.K. Zhukov flew to India on a USSR Air Force plane with tail number 05. In the autumn of the same year, the crew of A. Starikov delivered the USSR delegation to China. When flying from Moscow to Beijing, we covered a distance of over 6,000 km with two intermediate landings in Omsk and Irkutsk in 8 hours and 40 minutes of flight time. In total, the journey took 10 hours and 50 minutes.

Flights to Southeast Asia were carried out, apparently, on the same aircraft, which later received the Aeroflot index. On the same plane in 1957, Marshal Zhukov returned to Moscow from Yugoslavia. Until the date of decommissioning, the aircraft with the USSR-42387 index was based in the city of Akhtubinsk and until now has been in one of the parks in the city of Zhytomyr.
The first Tu-104s entered the Civil Air Fleet in mid-May 1958. In September, the Aeroflot crew on an aircraft with tail number USSR-L5438 made the first flight from Moscow to New York along the route passing through London, Keflavik and Goose Bay. The liner stayed in the air for 13 hours and 29 minutes. On September 15, 1956, the Moscow-Khabarovsk Tu-104 flight with tail number USSR-L5413 began regular operation of jet engines. The crew included commander E. Barabash, co-pilot S. Kuznetsov, navigator A. Lebedev, flight engineer V. Tomin and radio operator R. Gorin. For 7 hours 10 minutes with an intermediate landing in Omsk, the plane flew to Irkutsk, covering a distance of 4570 km.
In October, the operation of the Tu-104 on the international overhead line Moscow-Prague. Subsequently, the Tu-104 entered the lines connecting Moscow with Rome, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and others. foreign cities. A little over a year has passed since the start of flight tests.

But a little time will pass and two catastrophes will respond with pain to the relatives of 169 victims.
The first alarm sounded was a flight accident on May 16, 1958, when the Czechoslovak Tu-104, following at an altitude of 12,000 m, fell into a zone of thunderstorm activity. Almost immediately, both engines turned off and only at an altitude of 4000 m the crew was able to start one engine and land at a military airfield near Prague.
A month later, on June 22, 1958, the Tu-104A, en route from Irkutsk-Khabarovsk at an altitude of 12,500 m, fell into a powerful updraft of air and ended up at an altitude of 13,500 m, from where it began to randomly fall to a height of 11,500 m. After "stalling" and losing altitude, the commander crew pilot Polbin managed to bring the plane into level flight.
Two premises, it seemed, should have made both Aeroflot executives and aviation industry. But this did not happen, it seems that everyone was waiting for the real "thunder" to strike.

Unfortunately, we didn't have to wait long. The first disaster occurred in the area of ​​Birobidzhan. In August 1958, the Tu-104A, en route from Khabarovsk-Irkutsk, at an altitude of 10,800 m, in perfectly clear weather, was thrown by an ascending gust of air to an altitude of 12,000 m. earth about what happened. A month later, pilot Zhelbakov's plane was thrown from a height of 9,000 m to 11,500 m. On October 17, in Chuvashia, pilot G. Kuznetsov's board 42362 was killed, following the Beijing-Moscow route. The tape recording preserved his last words; "Help!... Save!... Abandoned car!... We're dying! Goodbye!" The crew of board 1904, unexpectedly witnessing the tragedy, saw an explosion 20-30 km west of Kanash.
Similar cases occurred during the operation of Tu-16 bombers. During the investigation, it turned out that the Tu-104 with the maximum rear centering reached critical angles of attack at an altitude of about 12,000 m as a result of the impact of powerful turbulent flows, which later received the name "clear sky turbulence".

Tu-104 in some flight modes and at certain alignments had an insufficient margin of longitudinal stability and was even unstable. On this occasion, A. Starikov recalled that "when flying in cruising conditions, at altitudes above 10,000 m and the position of the center of gravity corresponding to 29 percent or more of the average aerodynamic chord, when meeting with turbulent flows, the flight becomes unsafe and can lead to its failure. But then they did not pay attention to this and the defect was not eliminated.
These cases forced to look for a way out of this situation. In December 1958, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On crashes of Tu-104 aircraft and measures to improve flight safety on these aircraft" was issued.
The document provided for within a month to temporarily limit the flight altitude of the Tu-104 to 9000-10000 m, set the maximum allowable rear balance of 26.5% instead of 30% MAR, expand the range of elevator deflection angles by 3 degrees, and reduce the stabilizer installation angle from 2 to 1 deg. And to replace the bomber's attitude indicator with a fighter AGI-1, to eliminate the spontaneous loss of the landing gear under the influence of overloads and a number of other measures.

At the same time, 16 defects identified during the operation of the Tu-104 were noted, and among them - the absence of a device that excludes asymmetric flap extension. But the most curious thing was the decision to conduct stall tests, first on the Tu-16, then on the Tu-104. A. Starikov was appointed the lead pilot from the Air Force, and V. Komarov from the GKAT. These tests made it possible to get answers to many questions, including those on the removal of the Tu-104 from a spin.
Tu-104 spin tests were carried out on two machines - the experimental USSR-L5400 (lead engineer V.N. Vendorov, pilots Yu.T. Apasheev and V.F. Kovalev) and the serial USSR-L5421 (lead engineer Yu.G. Efimov , pilots S.N. Anokhin, V.A. Komarov and V.F. Khapov). The experimental car was finalized, increasing the margin of longitudinal stability and improving handling. If earlier, when reaching high angles of attack, the crew did not notice anything special in the behavior of the car, now there is a warning shaking. Just in case, the machines were equipped with anti-spin parachutes and an emergency escape system. The pilots' seats were installed on guides, connecting them with a cable to a winch. When the aircraft was forced to leave, the winch was supposed to roll them up to the hatches in the bottom of the fuselage.
In one of the flights, the car with the number L5421, piloted by Kovalev, rolled over, but the crew got out of the situation without using the means of rescue. Performing aerobatics, the 70-ton machine did not fall apart only thanks to the hereditary trait of its predecessor Tu-16 - a significant margin of safety. In general, Kovalev, testing the Tu-104, repeatedly found himself in critical situations. In another flight, the ailerons jammed, but this time he emerged victorious from the duel with the obstinate machine.

Studies have confirmed the correctness of earlier measures taken, and the hydrometeorological center of the USSR was obliged to more accurately predict the state of the atmosphere on the routes of jet aircraft.
During the period of serial construction, which lasted until 1960, the 135th, 156th and 166th plants produced 21 Tu-104s. The 135th and 166th plants built 82 Tu-104A, the 22nd plant delivered 96 Tu-104B, two Tu-104E and three Tu-110 to the customer.
In 1979, the Tu-104 was decommissioned. On passenger lines, they were replaced by more economical Tu-154s. However, in the Air Force they continued to fly. Only after the crash on February 17, 1981, which led to the death of the command of the Pacific Fleet, was the fate of the aircraft finally decided. The official version is a misalignment, which is highly doubtful. After analyzing the radio exchange between the crew and the control tower, test pilot Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Zentsov, who spent eight years at the helm of the Tu-104, concluded that the accident occurred as a result of the asymmetrical extension of the flaps and the roll that appeared at the moment of separation, to parry which not enough ailerons.
The last flight of the Tu-104 was made on November 11, 1986. Taking off from the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, the plane landed in Ulyanovsk, taking pride of place in the Civil Aviation Museum (this is our plane).
For the creation of the Tu-104 in 1957, A.N. Tupolev, A.A. Arkhangelsky, N.I. Bazenkov, D.S. Markov, S.M. Eger, A.R. Bonin, A.E. Sterlin, L.L. Kerber, K. V. Minkner, A. M. Cheremukhin were awarded the Lenin Prize. More than 400 employees of the design bureau and production have been awarded government awards.


Modifications:
Tu-104 The first serial 50-seat version of the aircraft, produced from 1955 to 1957, 29 aircraft were built.

Tu-104A 70-seat modification of the aircraft, produced from 1957 to 1959, 80 aircraft were built. Later, from 85 to 100 or more seats were installed in the salons, 70-seat options were used only on foreign flights.

Tu-104B 100-seat modification of the aircraft with a lengthened fuselage and unchanged wing mechanization, produced from 1958 to 1960, 95 aircraft were built, during operation they were converted into Tu-104B-115 for 115 passenger seats and under the new navigation, flight and radio equipment.

Tu-104 2NK-8 In 1960, a project was considered to re-equip the Tu-104 fleet (simultaneously with the Tu-16) for NK-8 engines.

Aircraft "107" (Tu-107) Military transport version of the Tu-104, created by order of the Air Force. It was a truck with a lowered ladder in the rear of the fuselage, an unpressurized cargo compartment, designed for 100 people per train or 10 tons of cargo. Built one prototype with the head. No. 76600302. Passed factory, state and military tests. It was not accepted for the series due to incomplete compliance with the requirements for the military-technical cooperation aircraft. At the end of September 1965, he participated in setting world records in parachuting in Saratov, 13 world records were set. Upon completion of operation, it was in long-term storage on the territory of the UATB Ryazan School.

Tu-104LL-1 and Tu-154LL-2 Two vehicles: SSSR-42454 and SSSR-42324 were converted for work on the Barrier theme (MiG-31 interceptor). Both aircraft were equipped with a radar with a phased array "Zaslon" developed by NPO Fazotron and target equipment. The aircraft SSSR-42454 (under the name LL-2) was equipped for the suspension of K-33 missiles, two launches were made. In the history of aviation, this is a rather unique case - launches of heavy V-V missiles from an essentially passenger airliner. The USSR-42454 aircraft, after finishing work on fine-tuning the Barrier radar station, was converted into a meteorological laboratory on the Thunderstorm theme.

Tu-104AK A flying laboratory for training cosmonauts under conditions of short-term weightlessness. Two aircraft were converted - onboard No. 46 and No. 47 red, based at the Chkalovsky airfield.

Aircraft "110" (Tu-110) Modification of the Tu-104 aircraft with four AL-7P engines. Intended for export, but the program was curtailed due to lack of orders. The series consists of: the leader vehicle (prototype) Tu-110 No. SSSR-L5600, in 1961 it was transferred for storage to the Kiev AI GA; the Tu-110A vehicle, tail number USSR-L5511, was converted to D-20P engines, then transferred to the Vzlyot NPO of the Ministry of Radio Industry, where the Sapphire-23 radar for the MiG-23 was tested on it; Tu-110A USSR-L5512 converted to D-20P engines (and became Tu-110B), transferred to NPO Vzlyot MRP, where for some time it was used as a target aircraft on the Sapphire theme; the USSR-L5513 aircraft was also converted into a Tu-110B and was used as an LL on the Sapphire theme, the aircraft was equipped with a selection of moving targets against the background of the ground, and was also equipped with APU-25-21-110

Tu-104V Unrealized serial project for 117 passengers.

Tu-104D 3NK-8 One of the first OKB projects on the Tu-154, which was based on the design of the Tu-104, adapted to the new power plant.

Tu-104E An experimental modification of the aircraft for more economical RD-16-15 engines (thrust 11300 kg) and with changes in the design of the airframe and aircraft systems. Two machines were built under the number SSSR-42441 and SSSR-42443 with different wings.

Tu-104Sh Passenger aircraft alteration head. No. 6350104, board. No. 001 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force in the training aircraft for navigators. After the alteration, tentatively in 1965, it was transferred to the 43rd pulp and paper mill and PLS DA (Dyagilevo). The aircraft was intended for practical training in bombing techniques, the combat load was 12 practical (i.e. training) P-50-75 bombs.

Tu-104Sh-1 Reconstruction of three production aircraft No. CCCP-42330, No. CCCP-42342 and CCCP-42347 into a navigational training aircraft for training navigators of Tu-16K-10 missile carriers. Aircraft No. CCCP-42330 belonged to the 143rd Air Division of the Pacific Fleet (Kamenny Ruchey), aircraft No. 42342 was operated by the 987th Naval Missile Regiment at the airfield. Severomorsk-3 of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, aircraft No. 42347 was transferred to the 33rd PPI and PLS Av. Navy in Nikolaev (Kulbakino). The aircraft were distinguished by a long nose radome of the EN radar antenna from the Tu-16K-10. Subsequently, two of the three aircraft were modified to the Tu-104Sh-2 variant.

Tu-104Sh-2 Conversion of two Tu-104Sh-1s into a navigational training aircraft for training navigators of Tu-22M2 missile carriers: aircraft No. CCCP-42347 and No. CCCP-42342. Outwardly, they differed in a long nose cone from the EN radar, but the PNA radar, the 015-T optical-television bombsight, the NK-45 navigation system with the Orbita on-board computer, and wing missile beam holders for missile simulators were mounted. The aircraft were re-equipped at the 20th ARZ in Pushkin.

Tu-104A-TS Conversion of mass-produced vehicles into transport and sanitary ones (conversion in service was provided for in the design of the base aircraft). It is known about two machines: the CCCP-42360 aircraft (Khabarovsk GA detachment) and the red air force board No. 48 (Aer. Chkalovsky). The latter was briefly used as a truck and was adapted for training cosmonauts like the Tu-104AK.

Tu-104B-TS Conversion of mass-produced aircraft into transport and sanitary aircraft (conversion in service was provided for in the design of base aircraft). Six machines: CCCP-L5412, CCCP-42468, CCCP-42479, CCCP-42482, CCCP-42494, CCCP-42496, all based in Tolmachev.

Tu-104D Alteration of Tu-104A for 85 seats. The name was used until 1962, then these aircraft began to be referred to as the Tu-104V.
aircraft "118" Project Tu-104 with four theaters.

Tu-104G Aircraft No. SSSR-L5411. Built as a Tu-16 in 1955, two years later it was converted into a civilian version, and under the designation Tu-104G was used to train Tu-104 crews for Aeroflot at the Novosibirsk Training Center, after decommissioning it was transferred as a model to the Kiev AI GA.

Tu-104V Tu-104A aircraft re-equipped by the Civil Air Fleet for 85 or 100 passenger seats due to the increased demand for air transportation. Several cars were compacted for 110 and 115 passengers, but due to the huge inconvenience of such an arrangement, since 1972 it was officially forbidden to mount more than 100 seats, and from that moment the Tu-104V index ceased to be used in the documentation. Aircraft flew only on domestic flights.

Tu-104LL Tu-104 CCCP-42326, converted into a flying laboratory for the MiG Design Bureau, for testing the Zaslon complex, air-to-air missiles, etc. It was operated until 1977, then transferred to the radio range of the Flight Research Institute.

Tu-104 CSA Six Tu-104A aircraft built for the airline Czech Airlines(Czechoslovakia). All cars had their own names. Three aircraft were destroyed in service.


LTH:
Tu-104 modification
Wingspan, m 34.54
Aircraft length, m 38.85
Aircraft height, m ​​11.90
Wing area, m2 174.40
Weight, kg
empty plane 42800
maximum takeoff 75500
fuel 26500
Engine type 2 TRD Mikulin AM-3
Thrust, kgf 2 x 8750
Maximum speed, km/h 950
Cruising speed, km/h 850
Practical range, km 2750
Practical ceiling, m 11500
Crew, people 5
Payload: up to 50 passengers or 5200 kg of cargo

And now photos from the quadcopter:

general form

back view

front view

Photo 23.

on the other side

general views of the museum.

Exactly 60 years ago, in the fall of 1957 in New York international airport LaGuardia landed Soviet passenger airliner. By this time regular passenger flights on the route Moscow - Prague, Moscow - Berlin and Moscow - Helsinki. New international lines served the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft Tu 104. The arrival of a Soviet passenger airliner in the United States, of course, played into the hands of the image of the Soviet Union as a country capable of building large and modern aircraft. The entry of the USSR into the international market of passenger air transportation was a real breakthrough for the Soviet aircraft industry, even though the Tupolev machine actually turned out to be an extremely unsuccessful development.

The Tu 104 aircraft, built at the Andrey Tupolev Design Bureau, became the first jet machine in the domestic civil aircraft industry. With the beginning of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was again forced to become a participant in the arms race that the countries of the West imposed on it. In these difficult conditions, the Soviet leadership is taking a number of steps aimed at the development of civil aviation. Design bureaus receive tasks to create air passenger ships able to work regularly on domestic and international routes. At this moment, there is an intense and stubborn struggle between the supporters of two concepts:

• the first concept involved the construction of passenger ships equipped with piston engines;
• the second concept involved the creation of a jet passenger liner.

Supporters of the first option relied on large capacity, efficiency and reliability. Indeed, building a passenger airliner with piston engines capable of carrying 35-100 passengers over long distances was a real task. In the future, the Soviet IL 14 and IL 18 only confirmed the correctness of the supporters of the first concept. For supporters of the second concept, the task was daunting. It was necessary to create an aircraft with jet engines capable of lifting the car to great heights and accelerating it to supersonic speed. At the same time, it was necessary to take into account a sufficiently high passenger capacity of the aircraft, a certain level of comfort and flight safety. Andrei Tupolev and his team of designers took it upon themselves to create the first jet-powered passenger aircraft in the USSR.

It should be noted that Tupolev's idea of ​​building a high-speed passenger car was not alone. In the West, they have already managed to lift the De Havilland DH.106 Comet passenger airliner into the sky. The aircraft, which could accommodate 30-40 passengers, served from May 1952 commercial flights between London and Johannesburg (South Africa). In the Soviet Union, they watched with particular interest the operation of the British machine and looked with envy at the success of the Americans in this field. Their first jet passenger aircraft, the Boeing 707, had already received its outlines on sketches and drawings in the early 50s. The Soviet Union urgently needed to create its own development, a machine capable of competing with Western counterparts, so Tupolev's idea had significant and serious support at the very top.

How was the problem with the first jet passenger airliner solved?

Tupolev did not have to work from scratch. When creating the first aircraft carrier for an atomic bomb, the Tu-16 jet long-range bomber, the idea was in the head of the designer - to create a long-range passenger aircraft on the basis of the received technological base. After the situation with the bomber became clear, the Tupolev Design Bureau set to work on the passenger version of the aircraft. The first sketches and sketches of the new aircraft were already ready at the beginning of the 50s. The aircraft received the designation T2-2AM-3-200. In this aspect, Soviet aircraft designers were ahead of their overseas counterparts. The Americans were just working out their concept of a passenger jet airliner.

At the turn of 1952-53, the first working drawings of the new machine began to emerge from Soviet aircraft designers. Having a positive test result for the Tu-16 strategic bomber, Andrey Tupolev proposed at the base military machine start creating a passenger version. In this situation, the basic principle of Soviet engineering and design thought of that time was clearly visible - first we build military equipment, and then, if possible, we adapt it for civilian needs. So it was with the helicopters of the Mil family, so it was with the launch vehicles of Sergei Korolev, so it was with the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft.

Although the attitude to the creation of the first passenger aircraft was serious and competent. D.S. became the chief designer of the aircraft. Markov, who insisted on abandoning the stupid and blind copying of the Tu-16 bomber with an eye to the passenger version. A bet was made on the reliability of the machine. This has become especially relevant in the light of the latest air crashes that occurred with the English jet airliner "Comet".

Such a pragmatic approach to the creation of a passenger aircraft made it possible to kill two birds with one stone - to obtain a ready-made production base for the construction of mass-produced aircraft and the ability to train flight personnel for a new aircraft. In addition, using the high performance characteristics of the bomber, Tupolev made strong arguments in favor of his offspring. Passenger aircraft will be able to fly high altitudes, overcoming height horizons with difficult climatic conditions. High speed ensured fast coverage of long distances, reducing the time spent in flight. There was real savings in the preparation of maintenance and technical services and the subsequent operation of the machine. However, behind all these advantages, there were also serious design flaws in the machine, which became known much later.

Creation of the Tu 104 aircraft. Design features

After Tupolev and the company presented the finished drawings to the high leadership, in June 1954 the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on the creation in the USSR of a passenger jet aircraft based on the Tu-16 military bomber. It was supposed in the process of creating the machine to develop a new, more spacious and roomy fuselage, which was supposed to accommodate a hermetic passenger compartment. The main components, including the sweep and mechanics of the wing, landing gear and tail were taken from the military version. The cockpit has not changed either, in which the layout of a military aircraft has been preserved.

Subject to flights at altitudes above 10 thousand meters, the aircraft had to have a sealed fuselage throughout from the navigator's cockpit to the tail compartment. In addition, the diameter of the fuselage increased significantly - from 2.9 meters to 3.5 meters. All this led to the fact that the design of the aircraft has changed significantly. Previously, the Tu-16 bomber was a mid-wing aircraft. The passenger car became a low-wing, i.e. the wing of the aircraft was lowered down along with the jet engines. Initially, the aircraft fuselage was designed for a passenger cabin with a capacity of 50 people. Later it was decided to increase the capacity of the passenger compartment by half.

In addition to the technical side of the issue, in parallel, work was underway on the design of the machine, both external and internal. The passenger car was supposed to not even from a distance resemble a military bomber, although this could not be hidden for experienced experts in the future. If outwardly the changes were minor, then inside the plane was supposed to be exemplary. Comfort on board was one of the conditions of the project. It should be noted that in this aspect, the Soviet designers managed to achieve a lot. The first prototype turned out to be pompous and luxurious inside. Further interior decoration became more democratic, if not ascetic.

The developers of the new passenger liner had to solve new problems along the way. This especially affected the creation of an autonomous air conditioning system and on-board power supply used for consumer services. Full lighting of the interior of the cabin and complete radio equipment of the aircraft were assumed. The finished layout was presented to the State Commission in December 1954. The first flight of an experimental machine under the T-16P index (project name of the Tu 104 aircraft) was carried out the following year, in June 1955. As in other cases, when there were still flight tests, at the Kharkov aviation enterprise began to prepare the production base. Here, the production of the first large units of subsequent serial machines began. The new passenger aircraft had the following design characteristics:

• takeoff weight 75.5 tons;
• fuselage length 38.85 meters;
• the wingspan was 35 meters;
• two AM-3 turbojet engines with a total thrust of 17,500 kg;
• payload in normal mode was 5200 kgf.

The car could fly at a speed of 850-900 km / h at an altitude of up to 11,500 meters. The maximum flight range was 2750 km. Not every passenger aircraft could boast of such characteristics. Propeller-driven aircraft were more economical, but they had a lower speed and flew at low altitude. The aircraft of the Tupolev Design Bureau was produced at once at three aircraft factories of the Soviet Union, in Kharkov, in Omsk and in Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan).

Beginning in 1956, the new aircraft began to be supplied to Aeroflot, the only civilian airline in the USSR. In the same year, a Soviet airliner delivered the Soviet leader, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, to London. Despite the rapid start, and the cloudless future of the first Soviet jet aircraft, the following years became a black page in the history of the Tupolev brainchild. In 1958, there were two crashes of Tu 104 aircraft, which cost the lives of 169 people. As a result of a thorough analysis of what happened, it became clear that the cause of the air accident in both the first and second cases was the disturbed proportions in the rear alignment of the airliner. Design improvements were urgently made, which included anti-spin protection. Emergency escape systems were installed on the liners.

The difficult fate of the first passenger jet liner

Despite serious accidents, the Tu 104 aircraft continued to be produced. Officially, the production of machines was discontinued in 1960, due to the high percentage of accidents in flying machines of this type. For 5 years, Soviet aircraft factories produced 201 aircraft in various modifications. Tu 104A with a capacity of 70 people and Tu 104B with a cabin designed to carry 100 passengers flew on passenger routes.

In count accidents Soviet passenger liner The Tu 104 was second only to the British Comet aircraft. For all the years of operation, 37 serious accidents and catastrophes occurred, resulting in the death of 1140 people.

The Soviet aircraft was the first in many aspects. For the first time in the Soviet Union, a car appeared on the line that could offer passengers a high level of comfort. Following the appearance of the Tu 104 in aircraft fleet Aeroflot began to radically change the infrastructure of the airfield. To service aircraft of this class, special maintenance equipment, powerful tractors, tankers and self-propelled ladders were required. To maintain the aircraft, new personnel were required, including highly qualified pilots and on-board maintenance personnel.

The car, of course, has become a breakthrough in the field of civil passenger air travel. However, the most important principles for passenger traffic- reliability and safety, for this aircraft were unusual. The reason for the weak reliability of the design of the airliner lies in the technical miscalculations made in the process of designing the machine. The work was carried out in an emergency mode, so it was not necessary to talk about all the calculated options.

The main flaw that the machine suffered and the designers could not eliminate was the instability of the aircraft during the flight. High speed, which Soviet aircraft designers were initially proud of, became the main obstacle to improving safety. At low speeds, the aircraft easily fell into a tailspin. During landing, great pilot skill was required to land the car at high speeds. Flight safety was affected by the imperfection of radio navigation equipment. With so many serious shortcomings that Tupolev's car had, there was no need to talk about successful and long-term operation. The Tu 104 was the first Soviet passenger aircraft in its class, but far from being the best.