\"Tupolev\" to Restore Tu-144 Supersonic Aircraft for Experimental Flights: What is Known About It?

The legend of Soviet aviation will still serve as a flying laboratory

\"Tupolev\" may put the Soviet supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 back on its wings, according to Konstantin Timofeev, First Deputy General Director of UAC and Managing Director of Tupolev PJSC.

According to Timofeev, this is technically possible. Restoring the airworthiness of the Tu-144 supersonic passenger airliner could be a step towards reviving supersonic air travel in our country, the specialist emphasized.

This is not a primary task for Tupolev; we are currently focused on launching the serial production of the Tu-214, but looking to the future, a supersonic passenger aircraft laboratory could be very useful.

Konstantin Timofeev, Managing Director of Tupolev PJSC

What is the Tu-144 and What is it Famous For

Apparently, we are talking about the Tu-144D with tail number USSR-77115, which became the penultimate machine produced in 1981. It was this aircraft that was used to train test pilots for the Buran.

Unlike its earlier models, this machine with tail number USSR-77115 is equipped with relatively modern NK-32 engines, which are currently used on the Tu-160 strategic missile carrier. Moreover, the line of these engines has been re-produced serially since 2018.

Museum Exhibit

The Tu-144D with registration number USSR-77115 first took to the sky on October 4, 1984. In early July 1983, the government issued a decree to terminate work on the Tu-144. Moreover, the last Tu-144D with tail number USSR-77116 never took off, and in the mid-1990s it was dismantled.

The machine with tail number USSR-77115 was not transferred to Aeroflot for operation on long-haul lines as planned and was later transferred under the program for preparing for flights on the Buran reusable spacecraft. The last flight of board 77115 was made on May 12, 1986 in Zhukovsky, where it is located as a museum exhibit.

But Powerful Engines

At the same time, the NK-32-02 power plant, developed by UEC-Kuznetsov, is the most powerful among serially produced turbojet engines. According to UEC, the NK-32-02 version is actually a next-generation high-power turbojet engine.

The Tu-144 was intended to carry 130 passengers on domestic and international routes at a speed of 2200 km/h.

Main Characteristics of the Tu-144:

Cruising speed - 2300 km/h

Maximum speed - 2430 km/h

Practical ceiling - 20,000 m

Crew - 4 people

Number of passengers - 120 people

Flight range - 2920 km.

Given these circumstances, in the event of the resumption of work on a supersonic passenger airliner of domestic production, the restored Tu-114, as a flying laboratory, is likely to receive avionics unified with the Tu-160M, duplicating the electronic wing mechanization control system, as well as a number of solutions applied during the modernization of the supersonic strategist.

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