Supersonic passenger. Supersonic passenger aircraft: from the president's idea to reality 1 supersonic aircraft

Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic aircraft developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. Along with the Concorde, it is one of only two supersonic airliners ever to be used by airlines for commercial purposes.

In the 60s, aviation circles in the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR actively discussed projects for the creation of a passenger supersonic aircraft with a maximum speed of 2500-3000 km / h, a flight range of at least 6-8 thousand km. In November 1962, France and Great Britain signed an agreement on the joint development and construction of the Concorde (Consent).

The creators of the supersonic aircraft

In the Soviet Union, the design bureau of academician Andrey Tupolev was engaged in the creation of a supersonic aircraft. At a preliminary meeting of the Design Bureau in January 1963, Tupolev stated:

“Thinking about the future of air transportation of people from one continent to another, you come to an unequivocal conclusion: supersonic airliners are undoubtedly needed, and I have no doubt that they will come into life ...”

The son of the academician, Alexei Tupolev, was appointed the lead designer of the project. More than a thousand specialists from other organizations closely cooperated with his design bureau. The creation was preceded by extensive theoretical and experimental work, including numerous tests in wind tunnels and natural conditions during analogue flights.

Concorde and Tu-144

The developers had to rack their brains to find the optimal machine layout. The speed of the designed liner is of fundamental importance - 2500 or 3000 km/h. The Americans, having learned that the Concorde is designed for 2500 km / h, said that they would release their passenger Boeing 2707, made of steel and titanium, only six months later. Only these materials withstood the heating of the structure in contact with the air flow at speeds of 3000 km/h and above without destructive consequences. However, solid steel and titanium structures still have to undergo serious technological and operational testing. This will take a long time, and Tupolev decides to build a supersonic aircraft from duralumin, based on a speed of 2500 km / h. The American Boeing project was subsequently closed altogether.

In June 1965, the model was shown at the annual Paris Air Show. Concorde and Tu-144 turned out to be strikingly similar to each other. Soviet designers said - nothing surprising: the general shape is determined by the laws of aerodynamics and the requirements for a certain type of machine.

supersonic aircraft wing shape

But what should be the shape of the wing? We settled on a thin triangular wing with an outline of the leading edge in the form of the letter "8". The tailless scheme - inevitable with such a design of the carrier plane - made the supersonic liner stable and well controlled in all flight modes. Four engines were located under the fuselage, closer to the axis. Fuel is placed in caisson wing tanks. Balance tanks, located at the rear of the fuselage and wing bulges, are designed to change the position of the center of gravity during the transition from subsonic flight speed to supersonic. The nose was made sharp and smooth. But how in this case to provide pilots with a forward view? They found a way out - “bowing nose”. The circular fuselage had a cockpit nose cone deflecting downward at an angle of 12 degrees during takeoff and 17 degrees during landing.

Supersonic aircraft takes to the sky

The first supersonic aircraft takes to the skies on the last day of 1968. The machine was driven by test pilot E. Yelyan. As a passenger aircraft, he was the first in the world to overcome the speed of sound in early June 1969, being at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The supersonic aircraft took the second speed of sound (2M) in the middle of 1970, being at an altitude of 16.3 kilometers. The supersonic aircraft incorporated many design and technical innovations. Here I would like to note such a decision as the front horizontal tail. When using the PGO, the flight maneuverability was improved and the speed was extinguished during the landing approach. The domestic supersonic aircraft could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English Concorde, having a high landing speed, could land only at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a tremendous job. Take, for example, field tests of the wing. They took place on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I, specially converted for testing the design and equipment of the wing of the future supersonic aircraft.

Development and modification

Work on the development of the basic design "044" went in two directions: the creation of a new economical non-afterburning turbojet engine of the RD-36-51 type and a significant improvement in the aerodynamics and design of a supersonic aircraft. The result of this was to meet the requirements for the range of supersonic flight. The decision of the commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the variant of a supersonic aircraft with RD-36-51 was adopted in 1969. At the same time, at the suggestion of the MAP - MGA, a decision is made, until the creation of RD-36-51 and their installation on a supersonic aircraft, on the construction of six supersonic aircraft with NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial supersonic aircraft with the NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, to carry out significant changes in aerodynamics, having received Kmax more than 8 in supersonic cruising mode. series on RD-36-51.

Construction of a modernized supersonic aircraft

The construction of the pre-production modernized Tu-144 ("004") began at the MMZ "Experience" in 1968. According to the calculated data with NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the expected supersonic range should have been 3275 km, and with NK-144A (Cp = 1.91) it should have exceeded 3500 km. In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics in cruising mode M = 2.2, the wing shape in plan was changed (the sweep of the inflow part along the leading edge was reduced to 76 °, and the base one was increased to 57 °), the wing shape became closer to the "Gothic". Compared to the "044", the wing area has increased, a more intense conical twist of the wing end parts has been introduced. However, the most important innovation in aerodynamics of the wing was the change in the middle part of the wing, which provided self-balancing in cruise mode with minimal losses quality, taking into account optimization for flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased to accommodate 150 passengers, the shape of the bow was improved, which also had a positive effect on aerodynamics.

Unlike the "044", each pair of engines in twin engine nacelles with air intakes was moved apart, freeing the lower part of the fuselage from them, unloading it from increased temperature and vibration loads, while changing the lower surface of the wing in the place of the calculated flow compression area, increasing the gap between the lower surface of the wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of preloading the flow at the inlet to the air intakes at Kmax than it was possible to get on "044". The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes in the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with their cleaning inside between the air channels of the engines, they switched to an eight-wheeled bogie, and the cleaning scheme of the nose landing gear also changed. An important difference between “004” and “044” was the introduction of a front multi-section destabilizer wing retractable in flight, which was extended from the fuselage in takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to provide the required balancing with deflected elevon flaps. Design improvements, an increase in the payload and fuel supply led to an increase in take-off weight, which exceeded 190 tons (for "044" - 150 tons).

Pre-production Tu-144

The construction of the pre-production supersonic aircraft No. 01-1 (tail number 77101) was completed at the beginning of 1971, on June 1, 1971 it made its first flight. According to the factory test program, the machine completed 231 flights, lasting 338 hours, of which 55 hours flew supersonic. On this machine, complex issues were worked out - questions of the interaction of the power plant in various flight modes. On September 20, 1972, the car made a flight along the Moscow-Tashkent route, while the route was completed in 1 hour 50 minutes, cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km / h. The pre-production machine became the basis for the deployment of mass production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which, by decision of the government, was entrusted with the development of a supersonic aircraft in a series.

The first flight of the serial Tu-144

The first flight of a serial supersonic aircraft No. 01-2 (tail number 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, according to the results of tests of the pre-production machine, the aerodynamics of the wing was corrected and its area was slightly increased again. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. The specific fuel consumption of NK-144A by the time of operational testing of serial machines was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg / kgf hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and later up to 1.57 kg / kgf hour, while the flight range should was to increase to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km respectively. In fact, by 1977, during tests and refinements of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, Cp = 1.81 kg / kgf hour in supersonic cruising mode of thrust 5000 kgf, Cp = 1.65 kg / kgf hour in takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20,000 kgf, Cp=0.92 kg/kgf hour in cruising subsonic thrust mode of 3000 kgf and in maximum afterburner mode in transonic mode received 11800 kgf. Fragment of a supersonic aircraft.

Flights and tests of supersonic aircraft

First stage of testing

In a short period of time, in strict accordance with the program, 395 flights were performed with a total flight time of 739 hours, including more than 430 hours in supersonic modes.

Second stage of testing

At the second stage of operational testing, in accordance with the joint order of the ministers of the aviation industry and civil aviation dated September 13, 1977 No. 149-223, there was a more active connection of civil aviation facilities and services. A new testing commission was formed, headed by Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation B.D. Rough. By decision of the commission, then confirmed by a joint order of September 30 - October 5, 1977, crews were appointed to conduct operational tests:

1. First crew: pilots B.F. Kuznetsov (Moscow Transport Administration of the Civil Aviation), S.T. Agapov (ZhLIiDB), navigator S.P. Khramov (MTU GA), flight engineers Yu.N. Avaev (MTU GA), Yu.T. Seliverstov (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer S.P. Avakimov (ZhLIiDB).
2. The second crew: pilots V.P. Voronin (MGU GA), I.K. Vedernikov (ZhLIiDB), navigator A.A. Senyuk (MTU GA), flight engineers E.A. Trebuntsov (MTU GA) and V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), lead engineer V.V. Isaev (GosNIIGA).
3. The third crew: pilots M.S. Kuznetsov (GosNIIGA), G.V. Voronchenko (ZhLIiDB), navigator V.V. Vyazigin (GosNIIGA), flight engineers M.P. Isaev (MTU GA), V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer V.N. Poklad (ZhLIiDB).
4. The fourth crew: pilots N.I. Yurskov (GosNIIGA), V.A. Sevankaev (ZhLIiDB), navigator Yu.A. Vasiliev (GosNIIGA), flight engineer V.L. Venediktov (GosNIIGA), leading engineer I.S. Mayboroda (GosNIIGA).

Before the start of the tests, it was carried out big job to review all received materials with a view to using them “for offsetting” the fulfillment of specific requirements. However, despite this, some civil aviation experts insisted on the implementation of the "Program of operational tests of a supersonic aircraft", developed at GosNIIGA back in 1975 under the leadership of the lead engineer A.M. Teteryukov. This program required, in fact, the repetition of previously completed flights in the amount of 750 flights (1200 flight hours) on the MGA routes.

The total volume of operational flights and tests for both stages will amount to 445 flights with 835 flight hours, of which 475 hours are in supersonic modes. 128 paired flights were performed on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.

The final stage

The final stage of testing was not strenuous from a technical point of view. Rhythmic work on schedule was provided without serious failures and major defects. The engineering and technical staff "had fun" assessing household equipment, preparing for passenger transportation. The flight attendants involved in the tests and the relevant specialists of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation began to conduct ground training to work out the technology of servicing passengers in flight. The so-called. "jokes" and two technical flights with passengers. The "Raffle" was held on October 16, 1977, with a complete simulation of the ticket check-in, baggage check-in, passenger boarding, flight of real duration, passenger disembarkation, baggage check-in at the destination airport. From the "passengers" (the best employees of the Design Bureau, ZhLIiDB, GosNIIGA and other organizations) there was no end. The diet during the "flight" was at the highest level, since it was approved by the first class menu, everyone enjoyed it very much. The "draw" made it possible to clarify many important elements and details of passenger service. On October 20 and 21, 1977, two technical flights were made along the Moscow-Alma-Ata route with passengers. The first passengers were employees of many organizations who were directly involved in the creation and testing of a supersonic aircraft. Today it is even difficult to imagine the atmosphere on board: there was a sense of joy and pride, great hope for development against the backdrop of first-class service, to which technical people are absolutely not accustomed. In the first flights, all the heads of leading institutions and organizations were on board.

The road for passenger traffic is open

The technical flights passed without serious remarks and showed the full readiness of the supersonic aircraft and all ground services for regular transportation. On October 25, 1977, the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR B.P. Bugaev and Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR V.A. Kazakov approved the main document: “Act on the results of operational tests of a supersonic aircraft with NK-144 engines” with a positive conclusion and conclusions.

Based on the presented tables of Tu-144 compliance with the requirements of the Interim Airworthiness Standards for civilian Tu-144s of the USSR, the full amount of evidence presented, including acts on state and operational tests, on October 29, 1977, the chairman of the State Aviation Register of the USSR I.K. Mulkidzhanov approved the conclusion and signed the USSR's first airworthiness certificate type No. 03-144 for a supersonic aircraft with NK-144A engines.

The road for passenger traffic was open.

The supersonic aircraft could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% faster, required a separate landing certificate for each airport. According to some experts, if the Concorde engines were placed in the same way as those of the Tu-144, then the accident on July 25, 2000 would not have happened.

According to experts, the design of the Tu-144 airframe was perfect, but the flaws concerned engines and various systems.

The second serial copy of the supersonic aircraft

In June 1973, the 30th International Paris Air Show took place in France. The interest caused by the Soviet liner Tu-144, the world's first supersonic aircraft, was enormous. On June 2, thousands of visitors to the air show in the suburbs of Paris, Le Bourget, watched the second serial copy of the supersonic aircraft take to the runway. The roar of four engines, a powerful takeoff - and now the car is in the air. The sharp nose of the liner straightened and aimed at the sky. The supersonic Tu, piloted by Captain Kozlov, made its first demonstration flight over Paris: having gained the necessary height, the car went beyond the horizon, then returned and made a circle over the airfield. The flight took place in normal mode, no technical problems were noted.

The next day, the Soviet crew decided to show everything that the new one was capable of.

Disaster during demonstration

The sunny morning of June 3 did not seem to portend trouble. At first, everything went according to plan, - the audience, raising their heads, applauded in unison. The supersonic aircraft, having shown the "highest class", went down. At that moment, a French Mirage fighter appeared in the air (as it turned out later, he was filming an air show). A collision seemed inevitable. In order not to crash into the airfield and the spectators, the crew commander decided to climb higher and pulled the steering wheel towards himself. However, the height was already lost, large loads were created on the structure; as a result right wing cracked and fell off. A fire started there, and a few seconds later, a blazing supersonic aircraft rushed to the ground. A terrible landing occurred on one of the streets of the Parisian suburb of Goosenville. The giant machine, destroying everything in its path, crashed to the ground and exploded. The entire crew - six people - and eight Frenchmen on the ground were killed. Goosenville also suffered - several buildings were destroyed. What led to the tragedy? According to most experts, the cause of the disaster was an attempt by the crew of a supersonic aircraft to avoid a collision with the Mirage. When landing, the Tu got into a wake from the French Mirage fighter.

Video: Tu-144 crash in 1973: how it was

This version is given in Gene Alexander's book "Russian Aircraft Since 1944" and in a June 11, 1973 article in Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, written in fresh pursuit. The authors believe that pilot Mikhail Kozlov landed on the wrong runway - either by mistake of the flight director, or by the carelessness of the pilots. The controller noticed the mistake in time and warned the Soviet pilots. But instead of going to the second circle, Kozlov laid a sharp turn - and ended up right in front of the nose of the French Air Force fighter. The co-pilot at that time was filming a story about the crew of the Tu for French television with a movie camera and therefore was not wearing a seat belt. During the maneuver, he fell on the center console, and by the time he returned to his place, he had already lost height. Kozlov sharply pulled the steering wheel towards himself - overload: the right wing could not stand it. And here is another explanation for the terrible tragedy. Kozlov was ordered to squeeze the maximum out of the car. Even during takeoff, at low speed, he took almost a vertical angle. For a liner with such a configuration, this is fraught with huge overloads. As a result, one of the external nodes could not stand it and fell off.

According to A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau employees, the cause of the disaster was the connection of a poorly tuned analog control system unit, which led to a destructive overload.

The spy version belongs to the writer James Ahlberg. In short, it is. The Soviets tried to "furnish" the Concorde. Group N.D. Kuznetsova created good engines, but they could not work at low temperatures, unlike the Concorde ones. Then the Soviet intelligence officers got involved. Penkovsky, through his agent Greville Wine, obtained some of the drawings for the Concorde and sent them to Moscow through an East German trade representative. British counterintelligence thus established the leak, but instead of arresting the spy, they decided to let misinformation into Moscow through his own channels. As a result, the Tu-144 was born, very similar to the Concorde. It is difficult to establish the truth, since the "black boxes" did not clarify anything. One was found in Bourges, at the crash site, however, judging by reports, damaged. The second was never found. There is an opinion that the "black box" of the supersonic aircraft has become the subject of contention between the KGB and the GRU.

According to the pilots, emergency situations occurred in almost every flight. On May 23, 1978, the second crash of a supersonic aircraft occurred. An improved experimental version of the liner, Tu-144D (No. 77111), after a fuel fire in the area of ​​​​the engine nacelle of the 3rd power plant due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cabin and the shutdown of two engines by the crew, made an emergency landing in a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city Yegoryevsk.

After landing, the crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin left the liner through the cockpit window. Engineers V. M. Kulesh, V. A. Isaev, V. N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the liner through the front entrance door. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov were caught in the workplace by structures deformed during landing and died. (The deflected nose cone touched the ground first, worked like a bulldozer knife, gaining ground, and turned under the belly, entering the fuselage.) On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot permanently stopped supersonic passenger flights.

Improvement of the supersonic aircraft

Work on improving the supersonic aircraft continued for several more years. Five serial aircraft produced; five more were under construction. A new modification has been developed - Tu-144D (long-range). However, the choice of a new engine (more economical), RD-36-51, required a significant redesign of the aircraft, especially the power plant. Serious design gaps in this area led to a delay in the release of the new liner. Only in November 1974 did the serial Tu-144D (tail number 77105) take off, and nine (!) years after its first flight, on November 1, 1977, the supersonic aircraft received an airworthiness certificate. On the same day, passenger flights were opened. During their short operation, the liners carried 3194 passengers. On May 31, 1978, flights were stopped: a fire broke out on one of the serial Tu-144Ds, and the liner crashed, crashing during an emergency landing.

The catastrophes in Paris and Yegorievsk led to the fact that the state's interest in the project decreased. From 1977 to 1978, 600 problems were identified. As a result, already in the 80s, it was decided to remove the supersonic aircraft, explaining this by "bad effects on people's health when crossing the sound barrier." Nevertheless, four of the five Tu-144Ds that were in production were nevertheless completed. Later they were based in Zhukovsky and took to the air as flying laboratories. In total, 16 supersonic aircraft were built (including long-range modifications), which made a total of 2556 sorties. By the mid-90s, ten of them had survived: four in museums (Monino, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk); one remained at the plant in Voronezh, where it was built; another was in Zhukovsky along with four Tu-144Ds.

Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for cargo transportation between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the supersonic aircraft made 102 flights under the flag of Aeroflot, of which 55 were passenger flights (3,194 passengers were carried).

Later, supersonic aircraft made only test flights and a few flights with the goal of setting world records.

On the Tu-144LL, NK-32 engines were installed due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and test control and recording equipment.

A total of 16 Tu-144 liners were built, which made a total of 2,556 sorties and flew 4,110 hours (among them, 77144 flew the most, 432 hours). The construction of four more liners was never completed.

What happened to the planes

A total of 16 were built - boards 68001, 77101, 77102, 77105, 77106, 77107, 77108, 77109, 77110, 77111, 77112, 77113, 77114, 77115, 77116 and 77144.

Those remaining in flying condition do not currently exist. The sides of Tu-144LL No. 77114 and Tu-144D No. 77115 are almost fully equipped with parts and can be restored to flight condition.

TU-144LL No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored in a recoverable state at the airfield in Zhukovsky.

TU-144D No. 77115 is also stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2007, both liners were repainted and put on public display at the MAKS-2007 air show.

No. 77114 and No. 77115 will most likely be installed as monuments or exhibited at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2004-2005, some deals were made with them to sell them for scrap, but the protests of the aviation community led to their preservation. The danger of selling them for scrap has not been completely eliminated. Questions about whose ownership they will pass are not finally resolved.

The photo shows the signature of the first cosmonaut who landed on the moon Neil Armstrong, pilot cosmonaut Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy and all the dead crew members. Supersonic aircraft No. 77102 crashed during a demonstration flight at the Le Bourget air show. All 6 crew members (Honoured Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Test Pilot V.M. Molchanov, Navigator G.N. Bazhenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer Major General V.N. Benderov, Leading Engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Dralin) died.

From left to right. Six crew members onboard supersonic aircraft No. 77102: Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Test Pilot V.M. Molchanov, Navigator G.N. Bazhenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer Major General V.N. Benderov, lead engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Next, the pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy, behind him on the left Lavrov Vladimir Alexandrovich, then the first American cosmonaut who landed on the moon Neil Armstrong, then (standing behind the Nile) - Stepan Gavrilovich Korneev (head of the UVS from the department of external relations Presidium of the Academy of Sciences), in the center Tupolev Andrei Nikolaevich - Soviet aircraft designer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Colonel General, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Labor of the RSFSR, then Alexander Alexandrovich Arkhangelsky, chief designer of the plant, Soviet aircraft designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Honored Scientist and technicians of the RSFSR, Hero of Socialist Labor. Tupolev Aleksey Andreevich (son of A.N. Tupolev) on the far right is a Russian aircraft designer, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences since 1984, Hero of Socialist Labor. The picture was taken in 1970. Signatures on the photo of G.T. Beregovoy and Neil Armstrong.

Concord

Concord accident.

Currently, the liner is not in operation due to the disaster on July 25, 2000. On April 10, 2003, British Airways and Air France announced their decision to cease commercial operation of their fleet of Conchords. Latest flights took place on 24 October. The last flight of the Concorde took place on November 26, 2003, the G-BOAF (the last aircraft built) took off from Heathrow, flew over the Bay of Biscay, made a pass over Bristol, and landed at Filton Airport.

Why supersonic aircraft are no longer operated

Tupolev's supersonic aircraft is often referred to as the "lost generation". Intercontinental flights are recognized as uneconomical: in an hour of flight, a supersonic aircraft burned eight times more fuel than a conventional passenger one. For the same reason, long-distance flights to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok did not justify themselves. It is impractical to use the supersonic "Tu" as a transport liner due to its small carrying capacity. True, passenger transportation on it nevertheless became a prestigious and profitable business for Aeroflot, although tickets were considered very expensive at that time. Even after the official closure of the project, in August 1984, the head of the Zhukovsky flight test base, Klimov, the head of the design department, Pukhov, and the deputy chief designer, Popov, with the support of supersonic flight enthusiasts, restored and commissioned two aircraft, and in 1985 obtained permission to fly for setting world records. The crews of Aganov and Veremey set more than 18 world records in the class of supersonic aircraft - in speed, rate of climb and range with a load.

On March 16, 1996, a series of Tu-144LL research flights began in Zhukovsky, which marked the beginning of the development of the second generation of supersonic passenger liners.

95-99 years. The supersonic aircraft with tail number 77114 was used by the American NASA as a flying laboratory. Received the name Tu-144LL. The main purpose is research and testing of American developments to create our own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger transportation.

The idea of ​​Russian President Vladimir Putin, inspired by the flight of the new "White Swan", to create a supersonic aircraft made not only the employees of the Kazan Aircraft Building Plant think, but many other observers as well. Can a missile carrier inspire designers to create new types of supersonic aircraft?

The largest and most powerful supersonic aircraft Tu-160 in the history of military aviation, known to many by the nickname "White Swan", has recently received new life. For the first time in many years, the Kazan Aircraft Building Plant presented to the public an updated Tu-160M ​​bomber named after the first Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Pyotr Deinekin.

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the RF Armed Forces and Russian President Vladimir Putin personally observed the first flight of the missile carrier. The head of state was deeply impressed by the flight of the new White Swan and highly appreciated the professionalism of the pilots who performed the maneuver, asking them to thank the pilots even before the aircraft landed. There was nothing surprising in the president's emotions, since Putin himself piloted the Tu-160 missile carrier back in 2005.

Upon completion of the flight, the president proposed to Kazan aircraft designers to create a version of the passenger supersonic Lebed for civil aviation based on the new Tu-160M.

But in order to understand how realistic it is to implement the idea of ​​Vladimir Putin, one should turn to the history of Russian aviation and remember what steps aircraft designers have already taken in this direction.

Tu-144

One of the biggest industrial successes in the history of Russia was the creation of the Tu-144 aircraft. It was made long before the Tu-160 and became the first supersonic passenger airliner in the history of mankind. In addition, the Tu-144 is still one of the two types of supersonic passenger aircraft known to history.

The airliner was created on the instructions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, issued on July 19, 1963. Serious demands were placed on the first supersonic passenger aircraft. The aircraft had to be capable of flying at a cruising speed of 2,300 to 2,700 km/h for a distance of up to 4,500 kilometers, while carrying up to 100 passengers on board.

The Tupolev Design Bureau created the first prototype of the aircraft in 1965. Three years later, the aircraft took to the skies for the first time, two months ahead of its main and only competitor, the famous British-French Concorde.

The Tu-144 had a number of design features that even externally markedly distinguished it from other aircraft. There were no flaps and slats on its wings: the aircraft slowed down due to the deviating nose of the fuselage. In addition, the ancestor of modern GPS navigators was installed on the airliner - the PINO system (Projection indicator of the navigation situation), which projected the necessary coordinates onto the screen from the filmstrip.

However, due to the too high costs of operating and maintaining the airliner, the Soviet Union abandoned the further production of the Tu-144. By the time production was abandoned, only 16 aircraft survived, two of which were later destroyed as a result of the infamous accident at the international air show in Le Bourget in 1973 and in the crash over Yegoryevsk in 1978. On the this moment there are only eight assembled aircraft left in the world, three of which can be fully restored and are ready for further use.

SPS-2 and Tu-244

Photo: Stahlkocher / wikimedia.org

Another project on which serious expectations were placed was the SPS-2, which was later given the promising name Tu-244 by the developer, the Tupolev Design Bureau.

The first information about the work on the second generation supersonic passenger airliner dates back to approximately 1971 - 1973 of the last century.

When developing the Tu-224, the designers took into account both the experience of creating and operating its predecessors - the Tu-144 and Concorde, and the Tu-160, as well as American projects of supersonic aircraft.

As conceived by the developers of the SPS-2, the new airliner was supposed to lose the main "calling card" of its predecessor - the forward fuselage deflected downward. In addition, the cockpit glazing area had to be reduced to a minimum sufficient for review. For takeoff and landing of the aircraft, it was planned to use an optical-electronic review system.

Also, the designed aircraft had to rise to a height of up to 20 kilometers and fit on board about 300 passengers. To achieve such parameters, it was necessary to dramatically increase its size in all respects, which was planned to be done: with a fuselage length of almost 90 meters and a wingspan of about 50 meters, the Tu-244 would look like a giant against the background of any existing analogues.

But the maximum speed of the airliner, in comparison with its predecessors, practically remained the same: the speed limit of the SPS-2 did not exceed 2500 km / h. In contrast, it was planned to increase the maximum flight distance to about 9000 kilometers by reducing fuel consumption.

However, the production of such a supersonic heavyweight in the realities of the modern world turned out to be economically impractical. Due to the increased requirements for environmental standards, the cost of operating such a Tu-244 aircraft at the moment is unbearable both for the aircraft manufacturer itself and for the country's economy as a whole.

Tu-344 and Tu-444

These aircraft were developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau (later Tupolev JSC, now Tupolev PJSC) as a response to the growing global demand for fast and small business class aircraft. So there were various projects of SBS - supersonic business aircraft.

Such aircraft were supposed to be small in size and able to carry about 10 passengers. The first SBS project from Tupolev - Tu-344 - was planned to be manufactured back in the 90s of the last century on the basis of the Tu-22M3 military supersonic bomber. But its development turned out to be a failure in the initial stages, since for international flights the aircraft also had to meet high requirements in the field, which it did not meet already in the early stages of project development. Therefore, the designer refused further work on the creation of the Tu-344.

Work on the project of his successor - the Tu-444 - began in the early 2000s, its development reached the stage of the first sketches. Despite the fact that the problems in the field of ecology were solved, the implementation of the project required the attraction of large financial investments, but Tupolev failed to find investors interested in this.

S-21 (SSBJ)

Photo: Slangcamm / wikimedia.org

The only domestic project to create a supersonic aircraft for civil aviation, which was not developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau, was the project of the S-21 aircraft, also known as the Sukhoi Supersonic Business Jet (SSBJ).

Work on this project of the Sukhoi Design Bureau began in the 80s. The design bureau understood that the demand for large supersonic airliners had fallen since the time of the Concorde and Tu-144 and would only decrease in the future for reasons of economy. Therefore, Sukhoi designers were among the first to come up with the idea of ​​creating a supersonic business aircraft designed for non-stop flights between world capitals.

But the development of the S-21 was prevented by the collapse of the USSR, with which state funding for the project ceased.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sukhoi tried for many years to attract private investors to the project in Russia and abroad. The volume of incoming investments made it possible to conduct the first tests of engines for the S-21 in 1993.

But to complete the creation and start the serial production of the aircraft, according to the statement of Mikhail Simonov, who was at that time the head of Sukhoi, another one billion US dollars was required, but the company could not find new investors.

Success in the creation of supersonic combat aircraft in the 1950s, including the heavy class, created a favorable environment for studying the possibility of creating a supersonic aircraft. passenger aircraft(THX). The history of the appearance of the first SPS projects goes back to the first post-war years, when several hypothetical projects were proposed in the USA and Great Britain, which were very far from practical implementation in terms of their technical solutions. In the second half of the 1950s, first experimental and then serial supersonic heavy military aircraft appeared on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and, almost immediately, on their basis, the world's leading aviation firms prepared projects of ATP of various aerodynamic and layout schemes. A detailed analysis and further study of the proposed ATP projects based on the first supersonic bombers showed that the creation of an effective competitive ATP by modifying a military prototype is an extremely difficult task (in contrast to the process of creating the first jet passenger aircraft based on subsonic heavy combat aircraft).

The first supersonic combat heavy aircraft, in terms of their design solutions, basically met the requirements of a relatively short-term supersonic flight. For ATP, it was required to ensure a long cruising flight at speeds corresponding to at least M = 2, plus the specifics of the task of transporting passengers required a significant increase in the reliability of all elements of the aircraft structure, subject to more intensive operation, taking into account the increase in the duration of flights in supersonic modes. Gradually, analyzing all possible options for technical solutions, aviation specialists, both in the USSR and in the West, came to the firm opinion that an economically efficient SPS should be designed as a fundamentally new type of aircraft.

Andrey Nikolaevich decided to entrust the design of the Tu-144 to Department "K", which had previously dealt with unmanned vehicles and had sufficient experience in the development of long-term flight at speeds exceeding M = 2 (Tu-121 strike unmanned aircraft, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft - serial Tu-123 and experienced Tu-139). Andrey Nikolayevich appointed A.A. Tupolev as the chief designer and head of work on the Tu-144. It was under his leadership, with the involvement of the best forces of domestic aviation science and technology, that the ideology and future appearance of the Tu-144 was born in the K Department. In the future, after the death of A.N. Tupolev and the appointment of A.A. Tupolev as the head of the enterprise, the topic of the Tu-144 was led by Yu.N. Popov and B.A. Gantsevsky. Soon, the Tu-144 becomes one of the main and priority topics in the activities of the Design Bureau and the entire MAP for the next 10 years.

The aerodynamic appearance of the Tu-144 was determined mainly by obtaining a long range of flight in supersonic cruising mode, provided that the required stability and controllability characteristics and the specified take-off and landing characteristics were obtained. Based on the promised specific costs of the NK-144, at the initial design stage, the task was set to obtain Kmax = 7 in the cruising supersonic flight mode. According to the total economic, technological, weight considerations, the number M of a cruise flight was taken to be 2.2. During the study of the aerodynamic layout of the Tu-144 in the Design Bureau and TsAGI, several dozen possible options were considered. The "normal" scheme with horizontal tail in the rear fuselage was studied, it was abandoned, since such tail gave up to 20% in the overall balance of the aircraft's drag. They also abandoned the "duck" scheme, evaluating the problem of the influence of the destabilizer on the main wing. Finally, based on the conditions for obtaining the required aerodynamic quality and obtaining minimal focus differences at subsonic and supersonic speeds, we settled on a low-wing scheme - “tailless” with a composite delta wing of an ogive shape (the wing was formed by two triangular surfaces with a sweep angle along the leading edge of 78 ° - for the front influx parts and 55 ° - for the rear base part), with four DTRDFs located under the wing, with vertical tail located along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and a tricycle retractable landing gear.

The design of the airframe mainly used traditional aluminum alloys. The wing was formed from symmetrical profiles and had a complex twist in two directions: in the longitudinal and transverse. This achieved the best flow around the wing surface in supersonic mode, in addition, such a twist contributed to the improvement of longitudinal balancing in this mode. Elevons were placed along the entire trailing edge of the wing, consisting of four sections on each half-wing. The wing structure is multi-spar, with a powerful working skin made of solid plates made of aluminum alloys, the central part of the wing and elevons were made of titanium alloys. The elevon sections were powered by two irreversible boosters. The rudder was also deflected with the help of irreversible boosters and consisted of two independent sections. The aerodynamic shape of the fuselage was chosen from the conditions for obtaining the minimum drag in supersonic mode. In order to achieve this, they even went to some complication of the design of the aircraft.

A characteristic feature of the Tu-144 was the descending, well-glazed forward fuselage in front of the pilot's cabin, which provided good visibility at high takeoff and landing angles of attack, inherent in an aircraft with a small aspect ratio wing. The lowering and lifting of the forward fuselage was carried out using a hydraulic drive. When designing the deviating non-pressurized part and its units, it was possible to maintain the smoothness of the skin at the joints of the movable part with the pressurized cabin and the rest of the fuselage surface. The shape of the engine nacelles was determined mainly by layout considerations and the conditions for the reliability of the operation of the power plant. Four DTRDF NK-144 were placed under the wing close to each other. Each engine had its own air intake, and two adjacent air intakes were combined into a common unit. Underwing air intakes - flat with a horizontal wedge. The flow deceleration at supersonic flight speeds was carried out in three oblique shocks, in a direct closing shock, and in a subsonic diffuser. The operation of each air intake was provided by an automatic control system that changed the position of the wedge panels and the bypass flap depending on the operating mode of the NK-144 engine. The length of the engine nacelles was determined by the size of the engines and the requirements of TsAGI and CIAM to ensure the necessary length of the air intake channels for the normal operation of the engines. It should be noted that, in contrast to the design of the air intakes and engines of the Concorde, where this process went as a whole, the design of the NK-144 and engine nacelles with air intakes went as two largely independent processes, which led to some extent to oversized engine nacelles and in the future to many mutual inconsistencies in the operation of engines and air intake systems.

It was supposed, as on the Concorde, to introduce a landing braking system due to the engine reverse, it was planned to install the reverse on the two extreme engines (the reverse system was not completed, as a result, the experimental and production vehicles were operated with a braking parachute). The main landing gear retracted into the wing, the front landing gear retracted into the front of the fuselage in the space between the two air intake blocks. The small construction height of the wing required a reduction in the size of the wheels; as a result, a twelve-wheeled bogie with relatively small diameter wheels was used in the main landing gear. The main fuel supply was located in the wing caisson tanks. The front caisson tanks of the wing and an additional keel tank served to balance the aircraft. The main work on the choice of the optimal aerodynamic scheme of the Tu-144 in the Design Bureau was headed by G.A. Cheremukhin, the unit headed by V.M. In particular, the steering units of the drive of the aircraft controls worked out the signals of the system for improving stability and controllability along the longitudinal and track channels. In some modes, this measure made it possible to fly with static instability.

The choice of the ideology of the Tu-144 control system is largely the merit of G.F. Naboyshchikov. In creating and bringing this fundamentally new system L.M. Rodnyansky, who previously worked on control systems at the OKB of P.O. The cockpit was designed taking into account the requirements of modern ergonomics, it was carried out for four: the first and second pilots occupied the two front seats, the flight engineer was placed behind them, the fourth place on the first experimental machine was intended for the experimental engineer. In the future, it was supposed to limit the crew to three pilots. The decoration and layout of the Tu-144 passenger compartment corresponded to the world requirements for modern design and comfort; the latest finishing materials were used in their decoration. The flight and navigation equipment of the Tu-144 was equipped with the most advanced systems that domestic avionics could give at that time: a perfect autopilot and on-board electronic computer automatically maintained the course; the pilots could see on the screen located on the dashboard where the aircraft was currently located and how many kilometers were left to the destination; landing approach was carried out automatically at any time of the day under difficult weather conditions, etc. - all this was a serious leap forward for our aviation.

The construction of the first experimental aircraft Tu-144 ("044") began in 1965, at the same time a second copy was built for static tests. The experimental "044" was originally designed for 98 passengers, later this figure was increased to 120. Accordingly, the estimated take-off weight increased from 130 tons to 150 tons. The experimental machine was built in Moscow in the workshops of the MMZ "Experience", some of the units were manufactured at its branches. In 1967, the assembly of the main elements of the aircraft was completed. At the end of 1967, the experimental "044" was transported to ZHLI and DB, where throughout 1968 finishing work was carried out and the machine was completed with the missing systems and assemblies.

At the same time, flights of the MiG-21I analogue aircraft (A-144, "21-11"), created on the basis of the MiG-21S fighter, began at the LII airfield. The analogue was created in the Design Bureau of A.I. Mikoyan and had a wing geometrically and aerodynamically similar to the wing of the experimental "044". In total, two 21-11 machines were built, many test pilots flew them, including those who were to test the Tu-144, in particular E.V. Elyan. An analogue aircraft was successfully flown up to a speed of 2500 km/h and the materials of these flights served as the basis for the final adjustment of the Tu-144 wing, and also allowed the test pilots to prepare for the behavior of an aircraft with such a wing.

At the end of 1968, the experimental "044" (tail number 68001) was ready for the first flight. A crew was appointed to the car, consisting of: the commander of the ship, Honored Test Pilot E.V.E-lyan (who later received the Hero of the Soviet Union for the Tu-144); co-pilot - Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov; lead test engineer V.N. Benderov and flight engineer Yu.T. Seliverstov. Taking into account the novelty and unusualness of the new car, the Design Bureau made an extraordinary decision: for the first time, it was decided to install ejection seats for the crew on an experimental passenger car. During the month, there were engine races, runs, final ground checks of systems. From the beginning of the third decade of December 1968, "044" was in pre-launch readiness, the car and crew were completely ready for the first flight, during all these ten days there was no weather over the LII airfield and the experimental Tu-144 remained on the ground. Finally, on the last day of the outgoing 1968, 25 seconds after the moment of launch, "044" for the first time broke away from runway airfield LII and quickly gained altitude. The first flight lasted 37 minutes, in flight the car was accompanied by an analogue aircraft "21-11".

A supersonic passenger aircraft, and it was an aircraft built in the USSR, the first Concorde would fly only on March 2, 1969. It has been proven in practice that heavy tailless aircraft have citizenship rights in the USSR (before this flight, everything was limited to a large number of heavy tailless aircraft projects). On June 5, 1969, the prototype aircraft exceeded supersonic speed for the first time at an altitude of 11,000 m; by May 1970, the aircraft flew at speeds of M = 1.25-1.6 at altitudes up to 15,000 m. half an hour at a speed exceeding 2000 km / h, at an altitude of 16960 m, a maximum speed of 2430 km / h was reached. , where she first "met" with the Anglo-French Concorde. The 044 was powered by experimental NK-144 engines with a specific fuel consumption in supersonic cruising mode of 2.23 kg / kgf hour, with such specific costs in tests, the Tu-144 managed to reach a supersonic flight range of 2920 km, which was significantly less than the required range . In addition, during the tests, they encountered some design flaws: during flights, increased vibration and heating of the rear fuselage from a quad engine package were observed, even titanium structures did not help out. Having completed the test flight program "044" (about 150 flights in total), it remained in one prototype. Nothing more was required of her; she fulfilled her task of proving the technical feasibility of creating a supersonic passenger aircraft in the USSR. It was necessary to move further, improving the design of the aircraft and engines.

Work on the development of the basic design of the 044 aircraft went in two directions: the creation of a new economical non-afterburning turbojet engine of the RD-36-51 type and a significant improvement in the aerodynamics and design of the Tu-144. The result of this was to meet the requirements for the range of supersonic flight. The decision of the commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the Tu-144 version with RD-36-51 was adopted in 1969. At the same time, at the suggestion of the MAP-MGA, a decision is made, until the creation of the RD-36-51 and their installation on the Tu-144, to build six Tu-144s with the NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial Tu-144s with NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, to make significant changes in the aerodynamics of the aircraft, having received Kmax over 8 in supersonic cruising mode. This modernization was supposed to ensure that the requirements of the first stage in terms of range (4000-4500 km), were later transition in the series to RD-36-51.

The construction of the pre-production modernized aircraft Tu-144 ("004") began at the MMZ "Experience" in 1968. According to the calculated data with NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the expected supersonic range should have been 3275 km, and with NK-144A (Cp = 1.91) it should have exceeded 3500 km. In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft in cruising mode M = 2.2, the shape of the wing in plan was changed (the swept part of the flowing part along the leading edge was reduced to 76 degrees, and the base was increased to 57 degrees), the shape of the wing became closer to the "Gothic". Compared to the "044", the wing area has increased, a more intense conical twist of the wing end parts has been introduced. However, the most important innovation in aerodynamics of the wing was the change in the middle part of the wing, which provided self-balancing in cruise mode with minimal loss of quality, taking into account optimization for flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased, taking into account the accommodation of 150 passengers, the shape of the nose was improved, which also had a positive effect on the aerodynamics of the aircraft.

In contrast to the "044", each pair of engines in twin engine nacelles with air intakes was moved apart, freeing the lower part of the fuselage from them, unloading it from increased temperature and vibration loads, while changing the lower surface of the wing in the place of the calculated flow compression area, increasing the gap between the lower surface of the wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of preloading the flow at the inlet to the air intakes at Kmax than it was possible to get on "044". The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes in the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with their cleaning inside between the air channels of the engines, they switched to an eight-wheeled bogie, and the cleaning scheme of the nose landing gear also changed. An important difference between "004" and "044" was the introduction of a front multi-section retractable in flight wing-ka-destabilizer, which was extended from the fuselage in takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to provide the required balancing of the aircraft with deflected elevons-flaps. Design improvements, an increase in the payload and fuel supply led to an increase in the take-off weight of the aircraft, which exceeded 190 tons (for the "044" - 150 tons).

The construction of the pre-production Tu-144 No. 01-1 (tail number 77101) was completed at the beginning of 1971, on June 1, 1971 the aircraft made its first flight. According to the program of factory tests, the machine performed 231 flights, lasting 338 hours, of which 55 hours the aircraft flew at supersonic speed. On this machine, complex issues were worked out - issues of interaction between the power plant and the aircraft in various flight modes. On September 20, 1972, the car made a flight along the Moscow-Tashkent route, while the route was completed in 1 hour 50 minutes, cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km / h. The pre-production machine became the basis for the deployment of mass production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which, by decision of the government, was entrusted with the development of the Tu-144 series.

The first flight of serial Tu-144 No. 01-2 (tail number 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, according to the results of tests of the pre-production machine, the aerodynamics of the wing was corrected and its area was slightly increased again. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. The specific fuel consumption of NK-144A by the time of operational testing of serial machines was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg / kgf hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and later up to 1.57 kg / kgf hour, while the flight range should was to increase to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km respectively. In fact, by 1977, during tests and refinements of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, Cp = 1.81 kg / kgf hour in supersonic cruising mode of thrust 5000 kgf, Cp = 1.65 kg / kgf hour in takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20,000 kgf, Ср=0.92 kg/kgf hour in cruising subsonic thrust mode of 3000 kgf and in maximum afterburner mode in transonic mode received 11800 kgf.

On June 3, 1973, the first production car crashed during a demonstration flight at Le Bourget. The crew led by test pilot M.V. Kozlov died (in addition to M.V. Kozlov, co-pilot V.M. Molchanov, Deputy chief designer V.N. Benderov, flight engineer A.I. Dralin, navigator G. N. Bazhenov, engineer B.A. Pervukhin). To investigate the disaster, a commission was created, in which specialists from the USSR and France took part. According to the results of the investigation, the French noted that there was no failure in the technical part of the aircraft, and the cause of the disaster was: the presence of unfastened crew members in the cockpit, the sudden appearance of the Mirage aircraft in the field of view of the Tu-144 aircraft crew, the presence of a movie camera in the hands of one of the crew members , which, when falling, could jam the steering wheel. Apparently, at that moment, such a conclusion suited everyone. Perhaps E.V. Elyan spoke most succinctly and accurately about the Tu-144 crash in Le Bourget in the 90s: “This disaster is a bitter example of how a combination of small at first glance, insignificant negligence, in this French flight control services, led to tragic consequences.

Production of Tu-144 with NK-144A continued in Voronezh until early 1977. On these machines, a large amount of flight tests were carried out and flights with passengers were started. On Tu-144 No. 02-1 (tail number 77103), the first flight was made on December 13, 1973, the NPK-144 flight and navigation complex, the power supply system were worked out, tests were carried out in the rejected takeoff modes, technical flights were made around the cities of the USSR.

On the Tu-144 No. 02-2 (tail number 77144), first flight on June 14, 1974, studies were carried out on aerodynamics, strength, behavior at high angles of attack, the operation of aircraft systems and equipment in emergency flight situations was checked, in 1975 the car flew at Le Bourget.

Tu-144 No. 03-1 (tail number 77105) was built in 1973 and immediately converted into Tu-144D with RD-36-51A engines.

Tu-144 No. 04-1 (tail number 77106), the first flight on March 4, 1975, was used to evaluate the efficiency of the ACS, it solved some problems with the fuel system. December 26, 1975 on this machine was made the first operational flight on the route Moscow - Alma-Ata. By this time, in addition to the MAP pilots, the MGA pilots had already begun to fly the Tu-144. The aircraft carried cargo, mail along the route, flights took place at altitudes of 18,000 m and at speeds of 2,200 km/h. Currently, Tu-144 No. 04-1 can be seen in the exposition of the Museum in Monino.

Tu-144 No. 04-2 (tail number 77108), first flight on December 12, 1975, finishing work was carried out on navigation equipment systems, on ABS-144, on the director approach system, on autothrottle.

Tu-144 No. 05-1 (tail number 77107), the first flight on August 20, 1975, after factory tests and tests under various programs, was presented in 1977 as a complex object for joint state tests. According to the results of these tests, it was noted that the aircraft performance characteristics, with the exception of the practical flight range with a given number of passengers, take-off weight, correspond to the requirements specified for the Tu-144 (during tests, we obtained a practical supersonic flight range with a take-off weight of 195 tons at a commercial load 15 tons 3080 km, with 7 tons - 3600 km It was emphasized that the flight range of 4000-4500 km, with a payload of 14-15 tons on Tu-144 with NK-144A cannot be implemented and it was noted that obtaining the required range is possible with engines RD-36-51A.

After the completion of joint tests, the MAP-MGA decision is made to start passenger transportation on Tu-144 aircraft with NK-144A. Tu-144 No. 05-2 (tail number 77109), first flight on April 29, 1976, and Tu-144 No. 06-1 (tail number 77110), first flight on February 14, 1977, were used for regular passenger transportation along the Moscow - Alma-Ata. Tu-144 went on its first passenger flight on November 1, 1977. Flights over a distance of 3260 km at an altitude of 16000-17000 m at a speed of 2000 km / h were carried out once a week, the number of passengers on board did not exceed 80 people. Until the termination of regular operation with passengers in May 1978, Aeroflot crews on the Tu-144 performed 55 flights, carrying 3284 passengers. Tu-144 with NK-144A became the first passenger aircraft in the USSR to receive a national airworthiness certificate for the safety of passenger transportation, other Aeroflot aircraft at that time did not have such a certificate (the exception was the Tu-134, which was certified in Poland according to English standards airworthiness).

Modification: Tu-144
Wingspan, m: 28.80
Aircraft length, m: 65.70
Aircraft height, m: 12.85
Wing area, m2: 507.00
Weight, kg
- empty aircraft: 91800
-normal takeoff: 150000
-maximum takeoff: 195000
Engine type: 4 x turbofan NK-144A
Thrust, kgf
- normal: 4 x 15000
- forced: 4 x 20000
Maximum speed, km/h: 2500 (M=2.35)
Cruise speed, km/h: 2200
Practical range, km: 6500
Supersonic flight range, km: 2920
Practical ceiling, m: 18000-20000
Crew, people: 3
Payload 150 passengers or 15,000 kg of cargo.

Tu-144 before the first flight.

Tu-144 after takeoff.

The speed of a sound wave is not a constant value, even if the sound propagation medium under consideration is air. The speed of sound at a fixed air temperature and atmospheric pressure changes with height above sea level.

As altitude increases, the speed of sound decreases. The conditional reference point of the value is the zero sea level. So, the speed with which the sound wave spreads along the water surface is 340.29 m/s, provided that the ambient temperature is 15 0 С and the atmospheric pressure is 760 mm. Hg So, aircraft flying at a speed higher than the speed of sound are called supersonic.

First achievement of supersonic speed

Aircraft are called supersonic aircraft based on their physical ability to travel at speeds higher than sound waves. In our usual kilometers per hour, this figure is roughly equal to 1200 km / h.

Even World War II aircraft with reciprocating internal combustion engines and propellers that create airflow during a dive already reached the speed mark of 1000 km / h. True, according to the stories of the pilots, at these moments the plane began to shake terribly due to strong vibration. The feeling was that the wings could simply come off the fuselage of the aircraft.

Subsequently, when creating supersonic aircraft, design engineers took into account the effect of air currents on the design of aircraft when the speed of sound was reached.

Overcoming the supersonic barrier by aircraft

When an aircraft moves among air masses, it literally cuts through the air in all directions, creating a noise effect and air pressure waves diverging in all directions. When the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, there is a moment when the sound wave is not able to overtake the aircraft. Because of this, a shock wave appears in front of the frontal part of the aircraft in the form of a dense barrier of air.

The layer of air that has arisen in front of the aircraft at the moment the aircraft reaches the speed of sound creates a sharp increase in resistance, which serves as a source of changes in the stability characteristics of the aircraft.

When an airplane flies, sound waves propagate from it in all directions at the speed of sound. When the aircraft reaches a speed of M=1, that is, the speed of sound, sound waves accumulate in front of it and form a layer of compacted air. At speeds above the speed of sound, these waves form a shock wave that reaches the ground. The shock wave is perceived as a sonic boom, acoustically perceived by the human ear down on the earth's surface as a dull explosion.

This effect can be constantly observed during exercises of supersonic aircraft by the civilian population in the area of ​​flights.

Another interesting physical phenomenon in the flight of supersonic aircraft is the visual advance of aircraft of their own sound. The sound is observed with some delay behind the tail of the aircraft.

Mach number in aviation

A theory with a confirming experimental process of the formation of shock waves was demonstrated long before the first flight of a supersonic aircraft by the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach (1838 - 1916). The value expressing the ratio of the speed of an aircraft to the speed of a sound wave is called today in honor of the scientist - Mach.

As we have already mentioned in the water part, the speed of sound in air is affected by meteorological conditions such as air pressure, humidity and temperature. The temperature, depending on the height of the aircraft flight, varies from +50 on the Earth's surfaces to -50 in the stratosphere. Therefore, local weather conditions must be taken into account at different altitudes to achieve supersonic speeds.

For comparison, above zero sea level, the speed of sound is 1240 km / h, while at an altitude of more than 13 thousand km. this speed is reduced to 1060 km / h.

If we take the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of sound as M, then with a value of M> 1, it will always be supersonic speed.

Subsonic aircraft have M = 0.8. A fork of Mach values ​​from 0.8 to 1.2 sets the transonic speed. But hypersonic aircraft have a Mach number of more than 5. Of the well-known Russian military supersonic aircraft, one can single out the SU-27 - an interceptor fighter, the Tu-22M - a missile carrier bomber. From the American known SR-71 - reconnaissance aircraft. The first supersonic aircraft in mass production was the American F-100 fighter in 1953.

Model of the space shuttle during testing in a supersonic wind tunnel. A special technique of shadow photography made it possible to capture where shock waves originate.

First supersonic aircraft

For 30 years from 1940 to 1970, the speed of aircraft increased several times. The first transonic flight was made on October 14, 1947 on an American Bell XS-1 aircraft in California over an air base.

The Bell XS-1 jet was piloted by US Air Force Captain Chuck Yige. He managed to accelerate the device to a speed of 1066 km / h. During this test, a significant slice of data was obtained to further push the development of supersonic aircraft.

Wing design for supersonic aircraft

Lift and drag increase with speed, so the wings become smaller, thinner and swept, improving streamlining.

In aircraft adapted for supersonic flight, the wings, unlike conventional subsonic aircraft, were pulled back at an acute angle, resembling an arrowhead. Externally, the wings formed a triangle in a single plane with its acute-angled top at the front of the aircraft. The triangular geometry of the wing made it possible to control the aircraft predictably at the moment of crossing the sound barrier and, as a result, to avoid vibrations.

There are models in which wings with variable geometry were used. At the time of takeoff and landing, the angle of the wing relative to the aircraft was 90 degrees, that is, perpendicular. This is necessary to create maximum lift at the moment of takeoff and landing, that is, at the moment when the speed decreases and the lift at an acute angle with unchanged geometry reaches its critical minimum. As the speed increases, the geometry of the wing changes to the most acute angle at the base of the triangle.

Aircraft-record holders

In the race for record speeds in the sky, a rocket-powered Bell-X15 aircraft achieved a record speed of 6.72 or 7200 km/h in 1967. This record could not be beaten after a long time.

And only in 2004, the NASA X-43 unmanned hypersonic aircraft, which was designed to fly at hypersonic speeds, was able to accelerate to a record 11,850 km / h as part of its third flight.

The first two flights ended unsuccessfully. To date, this is the highest figure for aircraft speed.

Supersonic vehicle testing

This Thrust SSC jet supersonic vehicle is powered by 2 aircraft engines. In 1997, it became the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier. As in supersonic flight, there is a shock wave in front of the car.

The approach of the car is silent, because all the noise created is concentrated in the shock wave following it.

Supersonic aircraft in civil aviation

As for civilian supersonic aircraft, there are only 2 serial aircraft that perform regular flights: the Soviet TU-144 and the French Concorde. TU-144 made its debut flight in 1968. These devices were designed for long-distance transatlantic flights. Flight times were significantly reduced compared to subsonic vehicles by increasing the flight altitude to 18 km, where the aircraft used an unloaded air corridor and bypassed cloud loading.

The first civilian supersonic aircraft of the USSR TU-144 completed its flights in 1978 due to their unprofitability. The final point in the decision to refuse to operate on regular flights was made due to the crash of the prototype TU-144D during its testing. Although it is worth noting that outside of civil aviation, the TU-144 aircraft continued to be used for urgent postal and cargo delivery from Moscow to Khabarovsk until 1991.

Meanwhile, despite expensive tickets, the French supersonic aircraft Concorde continued to provide flight services for its European customers until 2003. But in the end, despite the richer social stratum of European residents, the issue of unprofitability was still inevitable.

Consider building a supersonic passenger aircraft. In his opinion, the liner could be built on the basis of the Tu-160 military strategic bomber.

At the beginning of 2018, Putin already proposed to return to the construction of such aircraft in Russia. However, at that time, experts were skeptical about the president's idea, considering the project too expensive. Later in the Tupolev company that the new aircraft could make its first flight no earlier than 2027. The cost of all work on the creation of a serial aircraft in the company was estimated at 105 billion rubles.

Info24 I spoke with aviation experts and found out whether Russia still needs a new supersonic passenger aircraft.

Bad experience

In the history of world aircraft construction, there were two supersonic passenger liners: the Franco-British Concorde and the Soviet Tu-144. These aircraft could reach speeds of more than 2.4 thousand km / h, while the maximum speed of the Airbus A320 is 840 km / h. At the same time, the cost of a flight, for example, from Europe to the USA reached 7 thousand dollars. The flights were popular with businessmen.

The Tu-144 was developed at the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. It began to be used in passenger transportation in 1977, but after several accidents, the design bureau management decided to freeze the project.

Supersonic passenger aircraft TU-144. Photo: RIA Novosti, wikimedia.org

Around the same time, the French company Aérospatiale and the British BAC developed a joint project called "Concorde". In total, 20 supersonic aircraft were produced, which were divided between British Airways and Air France. Over 3 million passengers have used supersonic flights in 27 years of scheduled and charter flights.

On July 5, 2000, one of the Concorde aircraft crashed on takeoff at Paris airport"Charles de Gaulle". Then 113 people died. After that, flights of supersonic aircraft were suspended for a year and a half. In 2003, they were completely stopped due to high fuel prices.

Since then, the world no longer uses passenger supersonic aircraft.

"Not economy, but prestige"

Maxim Pyadushkin, Managing Director of the Air Transport Review magazine, told Info24 that the production of supersonic airliners faces not only technical, but also other obstacles.

“The same Concorde was operated at supersonic speeds only over the Atlantic Ocean, because, for example, in the USA, due to the shock wave, it is forbidden to fly over land at supersonic speeds. These aircraft have had very limited use and the problem is still unresolved. The last "Concordes" were supplied almost for nothing, for a symbolic price, there the conversation was not about the economy, but about prestige. But they were no longer used shortly after the accident in Paris,” said Pyadushkin.

Franco-British supersonic airliner Concorde of British Airways. Photo: Les Chatfield, Flickr

Why is the state

Aleksey Sinitsky, editor-in-chief of the Air Transport Review magazine, believes that by developing its own supersonic aircraft, Russia can stimulate the development of other industries.

“In the production of such liners, there are a large number of issues that have not been resolved or are not yet resolved. Of course, work on these issues is important, necessary and interesting for the creation of a new generation of highly efficient engines, so work needs to be done. But, in my opinion, this is not the main and not the strategic direction of civil aviation. There are much more mundane issues that, although they sound less romantic, still need to be addressed. But it is a completely different matter if we consider civil aviation as an opportunity to stimulate the development of the economy.

the development of aircraft construction entails improvements in other industries. therefore, it is strategically important for Russia, especially if it is not limited to import substitution, but, for example, to find its own areas of specialization and choose areas where it would be possible to act with competitive products on a global scale.

This does not necessarily apply to the whole aircraft, but, for example, to some node that we would do better than anyone else in the world,” Sinitsky said in a conversation with Info24.

Although the Concorde aircraft were sold to airlines at a ridiculous price, the expert does not believe that the money was lost: there were serious studies, the industry gained knowledge and technology. In addition, it was one of the first experiences of international cooperation, which subsequently led to a unified system of European aircraft construction.

Unprofitable and inconvenient

At the same time, Sinitsky does not deny that it is extremely difficult to make flights on supersonic liners pay off.

“If the country's leadership needs to improve transport accessibility, then this is one thing. But at the same time, world experience shows that efficiency wins over speed. The same Concorde program proved that in many respects economical flights turned out to be much more in demand, while supersonic flight, due to the generation of a compression wave under the aircraft, is uneconomical by definition. There are many questions about the economy of supersonic transportation, including how convenient it will be for passengers. For example, flying from Vladivostok to Moscow will be inconvenient in time due to the change in time zones - you will either need to fly out at an inconvenient time or arrive at an inconvenient time. In addition, if you have some comfort in a conventional aircraft, then it will be more crowded in a supersonic one, ”the expert said.

Illustration: Info24

The expert of the portal Avia.ru Vladimir Karnozov, however, is sure that it is possible to make flights profitable. True, for this it is “critically important” for them to fly not only across the Atlantic, but also through Pacific Ocean- for example, from Japan, China and Australia to the USA and Canada.

“It is believed that Concorde was unprofitable, but this is not entirely true. The project turned out to be unprofitable due to strong US opposition [on environmental regulations], which turned out to be effective, among other things, because the income from the commercial operation of the Concorde was formed mainly from ticket sales for flights to airports in New York and other large American metropolitan areas. . "Concorde" flew with stopovers from France to latin america and from England to the Middle East and beyond to South East Asia, but these routes brought significantly less revenue. As a result of US opposition, Western European industry produced fewer aircraft than planned, and the program was canceled ahead of schedule,” the aviation expert said.

For those who talk about free deliveries of Concorde to airlines and build an argument about the insolvency of the liners on this, Karnozov offers to compare the cost of the first aircraft and the prices for subsonic airliners of that era. According to him, this is a huge amount of money that the airlines planned to return due to many years of operation on flights from Europe to the United States, where the machine worked profitably.

Supersonic aircraft Concorde. Photo: nara.getarchive.net

“If you open foreign aviation publications, then for the last 7-10 years this topic (the creation of supersonic passenger aircraft - approx. Info24) is constantly discussed, mainly in relation to business aircraft. But the problems in the development of such aircraft are not related to technology. Just under the influence of the United States, the aviation authorities of countries Western world put forward excessive requirements for the environmental parameters of "supersonics" (supersonic aircraft, from the English supersonic - supersonic - approx. Info24), in particular, the noise level in the area and the magnitude of the sonic boom. There are no opportunities to influence the States, and certification requirements are put forward for the next generation of "supersonics" at their suggestion. If a solution is not found at the political level, then none of the idea to create a supersonic passenger aircraft will work. And if the requirements are softened, then a very interesting project will turn out, ”said Karnozov.

He added that the cost of creating such an aircraft is highly dependent on what requirements it will be created for. According to the expert, if the requirements are "reasonable", then the cost of the project will be several billion dollars, but if the creation of a supersonic liner is "customized" to the requirements of the United States, then "a budget of tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars will be insufficient."

Who can fly these planes

Flights on supersonic liners are extremely expensive - for example, the journey from London to New York can cost 7 thousand dollars. All experts agree that if such flights are in demand, then only among businessmen.

“If we are talking about the business transportation segment, then there may be a demand for speed here. But the fuel consumption in such aircraft will be very high, which is why even for wealthy people the cost can be quite high, ”said Info24 Fyodor Borisov, Leading Research Fellow at the Institute of Transport and Transport Policy, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Illustration: Info24

Vladimir Karnozov agrees with him. According to the expert, supersonic aircraft are needed for "the upper segment, those who fly business class and first class today."

Attempts to create a new "supersonic"

Maxim Pyadushkin said that there are people and companies that are trying to enter the supersonic aircraft market, but they are focusing on business aviation, and a very limited circle of people will buy their aircraft.

Illustration: Info24

“Such projects started as startups, enthusiasts gathered and made blueprints. But no startup can build an airplane alone. For example, Aerion, which was supported by Boeing and other major manufacturers. This project has moved, perhaps, the furthest. This gives hope that once large manufacturers believe in it, the aircraft will be able to bring it to testing, a prototype and, in fact, a flight,” the aviation expert said.