Cessation of Tu-144D production Tupolev Tu-144

1 cessation of tu-144d production

1.1 external factors contributing project cancellation
1.2 after project cancellation
1.3 tu-144da

cessation of tu-144d production

the decision cease tu-144d production issued on 7 january 1982, followed ussr government decree dated 1 july 1983 cease whole tu-144 programme , use produced tu-144 aircraft flying laboratories.

in retrospect, apparent tu-144 suffered rush in design process detriment of thoroughness , quality, , rush airborne exacted heavy penalty later. rush apparent in outward timing: 1963 government decree launching tu-144 programme defined tu-144 should fly in 1968; first flew on last day of 1968 (31 december) fulfill government goals set 5 years earlier. (by way of comparison, concorde s first flight scheduled february 1968, pushed several times until march 1969 in order iron out problems , test components more thoroughly). unlike concorde development, tu-144 project driven ideologically , politically motivated haste of soviet self-imposed racing against concorde; aleksei poukhov, 1 of tupolev s designers, reminiscences: soviet union allow west ahead , leave behind @ time quite unthinkable. not had prevent west getting ahead, had compete , leapfrog them, if necessary. task khrushchev set us... knew when concorde s maiden flight had been set february or march, 1969, have our plane , flying end of 1968.

the introduction of tu-144 passenger service timed 60th anniversary of communist revolution, duly noted in soviet officials speeches delivered @ airport before inaugural flight – whether aircraft ready passenger service deemed of secondary importance. outward details of inaugural tu-144 flight betrayed haste of introduction service: several ceiling panels ajar, service trays stuck, window shades dropped without being pulled, reading lights did not work, not toilets worked , broken ramp delayed departure half hour. on arrival alma-ata, tu-144 towed , forth 25 minutes before aligned exit ramp. equally telling number of hours spent on flight testing. whereas concorde had been subjected 5,000 hours of testing time certified passenger flight, making tested aircraft ever, total flight testing time of tu-144 time of introduction passenger service fewer 800 hours. flight testing time logged on prototype (68001) 180 hours; flight testing time tu-144s until completion of state acceptance tests 408 hours; service tests until commencement of passenger service 96 hours of flight time; altogether totalling 756 hours. unclear why minister of aviation industry , minister of civil aviation did not endorse protocols of state acceptance tests 4 months after tests completion. 1 reason change of guard – minister dementiev, 1 of chief backers of tu-144, died day before tests completed – might had aircraft reliability record uncovered during tests no better subsequent dismal service record.

external factors contributing project cancellation

fridlyander points out in addition tu-144, tupolev s bureau had work on other projects, including tu-154 passenger aircraft , tu-22m bomber. despite large , high-priority resource investment in tu-144 development programme , fact large part of whole soviet r&d infrastructure subordinated tu-144 project, parallel project development overwhelmed bureau causing lose focus , make design errors. (design errors affected not tu-144, tu-154 well). first batch of 120 tu-154s suffered wing destruction due excessive structural load , had withdrawn.

the rushed introduction service of poorly tested aircraft happened tupolev project had high political visibility , prestige: tu-104 passenger jet liner first successful passenger jet airliner in service (the de havilland comet 1 not considered successful because 4 of original 9 aircraft crashed). in decision-making similar tu-144 story, soviet government introduced tu-104 passenger service before satisfactory stability , controllability had been achieved. during high-altitude , high-speed flight aircraft prone longitudinal instability, , @ high altitudes, had narrow range of angle of attack separating aircraft stalls known coffin corner (aerodynamics). these problems created preconditions spin dives, happened twice before tu-104 tested , problem resolved.

this politically motivated rush, along fact project ideologically motivated rather driven intrinsic needs of soviet society, , general technological insufficiencies of soviet industrial base, contributed final undoing of tu-144 project. (alexander poukhov, 1 of tu-144 design engineers subsequently rose 1 of bureau s senior designers, estimated in 1998 tu-144 project 10–15 years beyond ussr s capabilities @ time).

moon suggests subordination of available soviet r&d resource allocation tu-144 programme slowed down development of other soviet aircraft projects, such il-86 wide-body jet, , stagnated soviet aviation development decade.

after project cancellation

after ceasing tu-144 programme, tu-144d no. 77114 (aircraft 101 or 08-2) carried out test flights between 13–20 july 1983 establish 13 world records registered fédération aéronautique internationale (fai). these records established altitude of 18,200 metres (59,700 ft) range of loads 30 tonnes, , sustained speed of 2,032 km/h (1,263 mph; 1,097 kn) on closed circuit of 2,000 km (1,200 mi; 1,100 nmi) similar loads.

to put numbers in perspective, concorde s service ceiling under typical transatlantic flight payload of 10 tonnes 18,290 m (60,000 ft), , higher record set tu-144d. according unverified sources, during 26 march 1974 test flight concorde reached maximum speed ever of 2,370 km/h (1,470 mph; 1,280 kn) (mach 2.23) @ altitude of 19,415 m (63,700 ft), , during subsequent test flights reached maximum altitude of 20,700 m (67,900 ft). unclear why tu-144d s maximum achievable altitude lower concorde s regular flight altitude, given tupolev s data claim better lift-to-drag ratio tu-144 (over 8.0 tu-144d vs concorde s 7.3–7.7 @ mach 2.x) , thrust of tu-144d s rd-36-51 engines higher concorde s olympus 593 engines.

concorde designed cruising speeds mach 2.2, regular service speed limited mach 2.02 reduce fuel consumption, extend airframe life , provide higher safety margin. 1 of tupolev s web site pages states tu-144 , tu-160 aircraft operation has demonstrated expediency of limitation of cruise supersonic speed of m=2.0 provide structure service life , limit cruising altitude .

materials

the aircraft designed 30,000 hour service life on 15 years. airframe heating , high temperature properties of primary structural materials, aluminum alloys, set maximum speed @ m2.2. 15% weight titanium , 23% non-metallic materials. titanium or stainless steel used leading edges, elevons, rudder , rear fuselage engine-exhaust heat shield.

tu-144da

a project study, assigned number tu-144da, increased wing area, take-off weight , replaced engines rd-36-61 had 5% more thrust. tu-144da increased fuel capacity 98,000 kg 125,000 kg higher maximum certified take-off weight (mctow) of 235,000 kg. , range 7,500 km.

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