France and Great Britain, when creating their aircraft, copied the idea of the forward canard for the Soviet supersonic airliner. We are talking about small wings that extended during takeoff and landing, and then retracted into the fuselage, explained RAS Vice President Sergey Chernyshev.
This was a brilliant solution by the designer Tupolev, it allowed for greater stability at low speeds. By the way, France and Britain don't talk about it. They literally attached these wings to their aircraft two or three years later, simply copied from us.
The Tu-144 program was eventually shut down. The aircraft turned out to be complex, required special fuel and careful inspection after each flight, and civil aviation was not ready for such requirements at that time.
In creating a new supersonic aircraft in Russia, Chernyshev noted, it is necessary to carefully approach the shape of the fuselage.
The task of the designers is to create a shape for the aircraft so that, on the one hand, it has a high lift force, and on the other hand, the wave drag is not too great. So that it can carry cargo or passengers.
As a reminder, the Tu-144 is a supersonic passenger aircraft capable of speeds up to 2500 km/h and carrying up to 150 passengers over a range of about 3000 km, with a cruising speed of 2300 km/h at an altitude of up to 20 km.
Testing of the aircraft began in 1968, and operation was completed due to economic unprofitability, technical problems and high engine noise. At the same time, the Zhukovsky National Research Center considers the Tu-144 precisely as a base for the supersonic airliner of the future.
