May 09, 2007

Supersonic Flight


Supersonic Flight

The Concorde is not the world's only supersonic commercial jet travel effort. On December 3, 1968, the Soviet TU-144 made its first flight. This was three months prior to the first flight of the Franco-British Concorde.

Unlike the Concorde, the TU-144 did not enjoy aviation success. On June 3, 1973, a Tupolev crashed while taking part in the Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport. The pilot lost control during a steep climb and the canard (stabilizing wing) tore and put a hole in a fuel tank which was housed in the plane's wing. The plane turned into a fireball, crashing in Goussainville, just four miles from the July 25, 2000, crash of the Concorde. The six Soviet crewmen perished, along with eight people on the ground. All totaled, 60 people were injured and 15 houses were utterly destroyed. Officially, the cause of the mishap was never determined.

The future of the TU-144 as a commercial aircraft came to an abrupt end. In 1975, the Soviet Union was using the plane for cargo flights between Moscow and Almaty, Kazakstan. For a brief time, passengers were added to this 1,800 mile run (1977), but the entire program was scrapped in 1985. A total of 17 Tupolevs were made by the Soviets.

NASA and Russia joined together, in 1996, to begin testing the possibility of using a TU-144 as a flying laboratory. Known as the TU-144LL, the craft is part of NASA's High-Speed Research Program (HSCT) whose goal is to develope the TU-144 for future passenger travel. Boeing contracted to use a TU-144D for the experiments. Also involved in the project are McDonnell Douglas, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.

The experimental flights ended in February, 1998, with seven follow-up flights which concluded in April, 1999, just one month after the 30th anniversary of the Concorde.

The original goal was to create a supersonic passenger craft that could carry 250-300 passengers; Concorde carries 100; and make the flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo in only 4.5 hours. The plan was to make the ticket price on this transport only 20 percent more than slower, commercial airliners. Three things have always caused problems for supersonic flight; cost, noise and pollution.

Due to mounting costs, Boeing pulled out of the TU-144LL program in 1999. NASA tabled the program, as a result, and channeled the funds into the ISS. Nevertheless, NASA and the HSCT gained much from this venture in the form of research data. Special metallic materials designed for the new supersonic craft are being tested for space use. These materials are reported to be able to tolerate temperatures of 350 degrees for up to 20 years of flight. The TU-144LL program also developed cleaner burning engines which are being tested for conventional airliners. A computer which regulates and adjusts the airflow around the plane's wings and body is being considered for use with Boeing's supersonic fighter jet technology.

It's anyone's guess when or if the TU-144LL program will be resumed. Regardless, Russia's contributions to supersonic air and space flight have been invaluable.

Aircraft designer, Alexei Tupolev, died in Moscow on Saturday, May 12, 2001. During the Soviet era, Tupolev supervised the design, construction and testing of the Tu-144 supersonic jet (1963 - 1968) and the Tu-2000, the Soviet version of a space shuttle Buran (1988). Alexei was the son of Soviet aircraft pioneer Andrei Tupolev, who died in 1972. Andrei developed over 100 military and civilian aircrafts including the Antonov-25 and the Tu-104, the Soviet Union's first passenger jet. Father and son worked side by side on the Tu-144.


Other Tupolev aircraft:
TU-95 Bear | TU-126 Moses | TU-160 Blackjack |
TU-22 Blinder | TU-22M Backfire | TU-16 Badger |
TU-128 Fiddler | TU-2000 | TU-160 |
TU-154 Passenger
| TU-134 Passenger

Photographic image courtesy of NASA.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955