December 31, 1968. The first flight of the Soviet-copied Concorde (VIDEO)

On July 15, 1969, the Tu-144 became the first passenger aircraft to exceed Mach 2

Dec 31, 2024 03:13 65

December 31, 1968. The first flight of the Soviet-copied Concorde (VIDEO) - 1

On December 31, 1968, the Soviet supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 made its first flight. This happened two months before the similar European aircraft Concorde.

The Tupolev Tu-144 is the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft, designed by the Tupolev design bureau, under the leadership of aircraft designer Alexei Tupolev.

Outwardly, the two aircraft are very similar, although they differ in their design. The creators of the Concorde accused the USSR of technical espionage, as evidenced by technical plans and documentation for the aircraft found years later by Russian spies. In response, Russian designers stated that their similar goal had led to similar results. Due to its resemblance to Concorde, Western media dubbed the aircraft "Concordsky". The Tu-144 broke the speed of sound for the first time on June 5, 1969, and on July 15 of the same year became the first passenger aircraft to exceed Mach 2.

In 1973, a Tu-144 participating in the Paris Air Show. Unfortunately, it crashed, killing the crew and 9 people on the ground.

The Tu-144 entered service on regular passenger routes in November 1977. High fuel consumption, some technical imperfections, and another crash during a test flight in May 1978 led to the aircraft being prematurely retired from service.

The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was on June 1, 1978, less than a year after the first. The total number of aircraft produced is 16.

The characteristics are of the Tu-144D:

crew - 3

capacity - 120-140 passengers, but usually 70~80 passengers

length - 65.50 m

span - 28.80 m

height - 10.50 m

area - 438.0 m²

empty weight - 85,000 kg

maximum take-off weight - 180,000 kg

fuel capacity - 70,000 kg (154 000 lb)

jet engine - RD-36-51