Supersonic aviation. Supersonic aircraft: history of development. Supersonic combat aircraft

An important parameter for an airplane is its speed. This is an indicator that concerns both aviators, air traffic controllers, and, above all, passengers. Ordinary people who use aircraft services are always interested in how fast they will fly.

Modern airliners easily reach 600-800 km/h. And this is far from the limit. Indicators for overcoming airspace can be either lower or much higher. In general, science has been able to make a huge leap forward over the century. For example, “Ilya Muromets” at the beginning of the 20th century could stably maintain only a little more than 100 km/h.

What parameters affect speed?

The speed of an aircraft depends on several basic values. These are the characteristics of the aircraft, the magnitude of its aerodynamic forces and those moments that act from the outside: air density, pressure, wind strength and direction.

From a physics point of view, the speed of an airplane is equal to the ratio of distance to time. Typically, average indicators are considered and small intervals are taken for calculations - most often it is customary to measure speed in meters per second, which is then easily converted to kilometers per hour (multiplying by 3.6).

There are several types of speeds:

track - an indicator of the movement of the aircraft relative to the earth's surface
true – speed relative to the air; may coincide with the track in the absence of wind
instrument - an indicator determined using several pressure measurements using special tubes

Classification of aircraft by speed

Experts divide existing aircraft models into the following types:

Subsonic. Main area civil aviation. The characteristics of the models are different, but the highest speed of a modern airliner is approximately 1035 km/h, which is already approaching the next type of aircraft.
Transonic. Here the acceleration is equal to the speed of sound or as close as possible to it. For example, at an altitude of 8 thousand meters, the speed of sound is 1109 km/h. Accordingly, all aircraft capable of reaching this limit can be classified as transonic.
Supersonic. They exceed the sound barrier and are actively used in military aviation. Fighters, attack aircraft, and drones accelerate to 3-4 thousand km/h.
Hypersonic. They are rarely used, but today engineers are working on the development of new hypersonic aircraft. different countries. The speed of sound is 5-6 times higher. The experimental American X-43A can accelerate to 11,200 km/h.

Passenger planes and their speed

Civil airliners with passengers on board exhaust on average 60-80% of their service life. Therefore, cruising speeds and maximum speeds are distinguished. The technical documentation indicates two values, and the average speed is calculated by the designers based on the maximum possible.

Main speed characteristics of liners

IL-62. Long-haul aircraft, accommodates 198 passengers, normal speed – 850 km/h.
IL-86. A very large airliner, capable of carrying 314 people, 950 km/h.
IL-96. Designed for long-haul flights and for 300 seats on board maximum, the norm is up to 900 km/h.
Tu-134. Designed for short flights, up to 96 people, 850 km/h.
Tu-154. Up to 180 passengers and average speed – 900-930 km/h.
Tu-204. The average speed is 850 km/h, the number of people is up to 214.
Yak-40. Up to 36 passengers, normal speed – 510 km/h, maximum – 550.
Boeing-747. For long distances up to 298 people, the standard during flight is 915-917 km/h.
Boeing-777. Also designed for long flights, but only 148 passengers and 891 km/h.
Airbus A310. Routes of different lengths. Standard performance: 183 seats, 858 km/h.
Airbus A320. The Airbus can cover medium distances at a speed of 853 km/h and with 149 passengers on board.
Airbus A330. Designed for long flights. Designed for 398 people. And the average speed is 925 km/h.
Airbus A380. The world's largest passenger airliner. Capacity - 700, normal speed - 890-900 km/h with maximum speed - 1019.

The fastest passenger ships

As you can see, the performance of civil vessels in operation today varies between 600-900 km/h. However, history knows cases of supersonic passenger airliners. The first is the famous Tu-144, released in 1968 and capable of reaching speeds of up to 2,500 km/h. It stopped being used in 1978. The second is the French-English Concorde, which flew until 2003.

On video short excursion into the history of the legendary supersonic passenger aircraft. A review of the reasons why the world abandoned ultra-high-speed civil flights.

Hypersuk airliners have not been invented, but work in this direction is being carried out by both Russian and foreign designers. The most famous today is the European project Zehst, which will be able to develop 5 thousand km/h. Similar domestic projects - Tu-444 and Tu-244 - are currently frozen.

Reasons for abandoning supersonic speeds

Lack of airfields. The number of runways on which it is possible to land supersonic airliners is very limited. As a rule, these are military airfields.
Design difficulties. High-speed aircraft have a streamlined shape and strict limits on the length of the side. Thus, structurally, the vessels are poorly suited to the dimensions of passenger vessels.
Excessive fuel consumption. The cost of tickets for such flights would be a very impressive amount, which is economically unprofitable for both consumers and carriers.
Repair work and maintenance. After almost every flight, it is necessary to carry out a full maintenance of the aircraft. This is a check of rivet fastenings, fuselage, etc.

Takeoff - how it happens and at what speeds

Each aircraft has individual technical characteristics, in accordance with which it is operated. The process of lifting the airliner into the air is carried out in stages.

Engine speed set. At approximately 800-820 rpm, the aircraft begins to move along the runway.
Acceleration and acceleration. The pilot controls the aircraft on the ground, achieving the required speed while being in a stable position on three wheels.
Lift-off and climb. To actually take off, you need to accelerate the plane to 185 km/h and smoothly raise the nose by pulling the handle. As a result, the ship continues to move on two wheels and lifts off the ground, reaching a speed of 225 km/h.

The above are approximate figures for the Boeing 737 model. The higher the mass of the airliner, the greater the speed it must develop on the ground. In addition, external factors also play a role during takeoff and climb. These are the direction and strength of the wind, air flow density, humidity, quality and condition of the runway.

In cases where there is a strong wind against the movement of the aircraft, indicators that are twice as high as the standard may be needed. Moreover, in the opposite situation, when the wind is fair, minimal effort will be needed.

Airplane landing

Landing an aircraft is the opposite of taking off. Accordingly, all stages are performed in reverse order: smooth descent, approach and straightening, holding the aircraft and touching down on the runway.

On February 6, 1950, during another test, the Soviet jet fighter MiG-17 exceeded the speed of sound in horizontal flight, accelerating to almost 1070 km/h. This turned it into the first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. The developers Mikoyan and Gurevich were clearly proud of their brainchild.

For combat flights, the MiG-17 was considered transonic, since its cruising speed did not exceed 861 km/h. But this did not stop the fighter from becoming one of the most common in the world. At various times it was in service with Germany, China, Korea, Poland, Pakistan and dozens of other countries. This monster even took part in the fighting in the Vietnam War.

The MiG-17 is far from the only representative of the supersonic aircraft genre. We will tell you about a dozen more airliners that also outpaced the sound wave and became famous throughout the world.

Bell X-1

The US Air Force specially equipped the Bell X-1 with a rocket engine because they wanted to use it to study the problems of supersonic flight. On October 14, 1947, the device accelerated to 1541 km/h (Mach number 1.26), overcame a given barrier and turned into a star in the sky. Today, the record-breaking model rests in the Smithsonian Museum in the States.

Source: NASA

North American X-15

The North American X-15 is also equipped with rocket engines. But, unlike its American counterpart Bell X-1, this aircraft reached a speed of 6167 km/h (Mach number 5.58), becoming the first and for 40 years the only manned hypersonic aircraft in human history (since 1959). who performed suborbital manned space flights. With its help, they even studied the reaction of the atmosphere to the entry of winged bodies into it. A total of three units of X-15 type rocket planes were produced.

Source: NASA

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

It would be a sin not to use supersonic aircraft for military purposes. Therefore, the US Air Force designed the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a strategic reconnaissance aircraft with a maximum speed of 3,700 km/h (Mach number 3.5). The main advantages are fast acceleration and high maneuverability, which allowed it to evade missiles. The SR-71 was also the first aircraft to be equipped with radar signature reduction technologies.

Only 32 units were built, 12 of which crashed. In 1998 it was withdrawn from service.

Source: af.mil

MiG-25

We cannot help but recall the domestic MiG-25 - a 3rd generation supersonic high-altitude fighter-interceptor with a maximum speed of 3000 km/h (Mach number 2.83). The plane was so cool that even the Japanese coveted it. Therefore, on September 6, 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko had to hijack a MiG-25. After this, for many years in many parts of the Union, aircraft began to be incompletely refueled. The goal is to prevent them from flying to the nearest foreign airport.

Source: Alexey Beltyukov

MiG-31

Soviet scientists did not stop working for the aerial benefit of the fatherland. Therefore, in 1968, the design of the MiG-31 began. And on September 16, 1975, he was in the sky for the first time. This two-seat supersonic all-weather long-range fighter-interceptor accelerated to a speed of 2500 km/h (Mach number 2.35) and became the first Soviet fourth-generation combat aircraft.

The MiG-31 is designed to intercept and destroy air targets at extremely low, low, medium and high altitudes, day and night, in simple and adverse weather conditions, with active and passive radar interference, as well as false thermal targets. Four MiG-31s can control airspace up to 900 kilometers long. This is not an airplane, but the pride of the Union, which is still in service with Russia and Kazakhstan.

Source: Vitaly Kuzmin

Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor

The most expensive supersonic aircraft were built by the Americans. They modeled a fifth-generation multirole fighter, which became the most expensive among their colleagues. The Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor is currently the only fifth-generation fighter in service and the first production fighter with a supersonic cruising speed of 1,890 km/h (Mach 1.78). Top speed 2570 km/h (Mach 2.42). No one has ever surpassed him in the air.

Source: af.mil

Su-100/T-4

The Su-100/T-4 (“weaving”) was developed as an aircraft carrier fighter. But the engineers of the Sukhoi Design Bureau managed not only to achieve their goal, but to model a cool strike and reconnaissance bomber-missile carrier, which they later even wanted to use as a passenger aircraft and booster for the Spiral aerospace system. The maximum speed of the T-4 is 3200 km/h (Mach 3).

M = 1.2-5).

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Nowadays, new aircraft are appearing, including those made using Stealth technology to reduce visibility.

Passenger supersonic aircraft

There are only two known mass-produced passenger supersonic aircraft that performed regular flights: the Soviet Tu-144 aircraft, which made its first flight on December 31, 1968 and was in operation from 1978 to 1978 and performed its first English flight two months later - on March 2, 1969. French "Concord" (French Concorde - "agreement"), which made transatlantic flights from to 2003 . Their operation made it possible not only to significantly reduce flight time on long-distance flights, but also to use uncongested airspace at high altitudes (≈18 km), while the main airspace used by airliners (altitudes 9-12 km) was already in those years loaded. Also supersonic aircraft made flights along straight routes (outside air routes).

Despite the failure of several other former and existing projects of passenger supersonic and transonic aircraft (Boeing 2707, Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Douglas 2229, Lockheed L-2000, Tu-244, Tu-344, Tu-444, SSBJ, etc.) and withdrawal from operation of aircraft of two implemented projects, were developed earlier and there are modern projects of hypersonic (including suborbital) passenger airliners (for example, ZEHST, SpaceLiner) and military transport (landing) rapid response aircraft. A firm order for 20 units was placed in November 2015 for the Aerion AS2 passenger business jet under development, with a total cost of $2.4 billion, with deliveries to begin in 2023.

Theoretical problems

Flight at supersonic speed, in contrast to subsonic speed, takes place under different aerodynamic conditions, since when the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, the aerodynamics of the flow change qualitatively, due to which the aerodynamic drag sharply increases, and the kinetic heating of the structure from the friction of the oncoming air also increases. high speed air flow, the aerodynamic focus shifts, which leads to a loss of stability and controllability of the aircraft. In addition, something unknown before the creation of the first supersonic aircraft phenomenon as “wave resistance”.

Therefore, achieving the speed of sound and effective stable flight at near- and supersonic speeds were impossible by simply increasing engine power - new design solutions were required. As a result, the appearance of the aircraft changed: characteristic straight lines and sharp corners appeared, in contrast to the “smooth” shapes of subsonic aircraft.

It should be noted that the problem of creating an effective supersonic aircraft cannot still be considered resolved. The creators have to make a compromise between the requirement to increase speed and maintain acceptable takeoff and landing characteristics. Thus, the conquest of new frontiers in speed and altitude by aviation is associated not only with the use of a more advanced or fundamentally new propulsion system and a new structural layout of aircraft, but also with changes in their geometry in flight. Such changes, while improving the aircraft's performance at high speeds, should not degrade their performance at low speeds, and vice versa. Recently, creators have abandoned reducing the wing area and the relative thickness of their profiles, as well as increasing the wing sweep angle of aircraft with variable geometry, returning to wings with low sweep and large relative thickness, if satisfactory values have already been achieved maximum speed and practical ceiling. In this case, it is considered important that a supersonic aircraft have good performance at low speeds and low drag at high speeds, especially at low altitudes.

A typical passenger plane flies at a speed of about 900 km/h. A military fighter jet can reach approximately three times the speed. However, modern engineers from the Russian Federation and other countries of the world are actively developing even faster machines - hypersonic aircraft. What are the specifics of the relevant concepts?

Criteria for a hypersonic aircraft

What is a hypersonic aircraft? This is usually understood as a device capable of flying at a speed many times higher than that of sound. Researchers' approaches to determining its specific indicator vary. There is a widespread methodology according to which an aircraft should be considered hypersonic if it is a multiple of the speed indicators of the fastest modern ones. supersonic vehicles. Which are about 3-4 thousand km/h. That is, a hypersonic aircraft, if you adhere to this methodology, must reach a speed of 6 thousand km/h.

Unmanned and controlled vehicles

The approaches of researchers may also differ in terms of determining the criteria for classifying a particular device as an aircraft. There is a version that only those machines that are controlled by a person can be classified as such. There is a point of view according to which an unmanned vehicle can also be considered an aircraft. Therefore, some analysts classify machines of this type into those that are subject to human control and those that function autonomously. Such a division may be justified, since unmanned vehicles can have much more impressive technical characteristics, for example, in terms of overload and speed.

At the same time, many researchers consider hypersonic aircraft as a single concept, for which the key indicator is speed. It doesn’t matter whether a person sits at the helm of the device or the machine is controlled by a robot - the main thing is that the plane is fast enough.

Take off - independently or with outside help?

There is a widespread classification of hypersonic aircraft, which is based on classifying them into the category of those that are capable of taking off on their own, or those that require placement on a more powerful carrier - a rocket or a cargo plane. There is a point of view according to which it is right to include mainly those that are capable of taking off independently or with minimal involvement of other types of equipment as devices of the type under consideration. However, those researchers who believe that the main criterion characterizing a hypersonic aircraft, speed, should be paramount in any classification. Whether the aircraft is classified as unmanned, controlled, capable of taking off on its own or with the help of other machines - if the corresponding indicator reaches the above values, then it means that we are talking about a hypersonic aircraft.

Main problems of hypersonic solutions

The concepts of hypersonic solutions are many decades old. Throughout the years of development of the corresponding type of devices, world engineers have been solving a number of significant problems that objectively prevent the production of “hypersonics” from being put into production - similar to organizing the production of turboprop aircraft.

The main difficulty in designing hypersonic aircraft is creating an engine that can be sufficiently energy efficient. Another problem is lining up the necessary apparatus. The fact is that the speed of a hypersonic aircraft in the values that we discussed above implies strong heating of the body due to friction with the atmosphere.

Today we will look at several examples of successful prototypes of aircraft of the corresponding type, the developers of which were able to make significant progress in successfully solving the noted problems. Let us now study the most famous world developments in terms of creating hypersonic aircraft of the type in question.

from Boeing

The fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world, according to some experts, is the American Boeing X-43A. Thus, during testing of this device, it was recorded that it reached speeds exceeding 11 thousand km/h. That is approximately 9.6 times faster

What is especially remarkable about the X-43A hypersonic aircraft? The characteristics of this aircraft are as follows:

The maximum speed recorded in tests is 11,230 km/h;

Wingspan - 1.5 m;

Body length - 3.6 m;

Engine - direct-flow, Supersonic Combustion Ramjet;

Fuel - atmospheric oxygen, hydrogen.

It can be noted that the device in question is one of the most environmentally friendly. The fact is that the fuel used practically does not emit harmful combustion products.

The X-43A hypersonic aircraft was developed jointly by NASA engineers, as well as Orbical Science Corporation and Minocraft. was created about 10 years ago. About $250 million was invested in its development. The conceptual novelty of the aircraft in question is that it was conceived for the purpose of testing latest technology ensuring the operation of motor traction.

Development from Orbital Science

The Orbital Science company, which, as we noted above, took part in the creation of the X-43A, also managed to create its own hypersonic aircraft - the X-34.

Its top speed is more than 12 thousand km/h. True, during practical tests it was not achieved - moreover, it was not possible to achieve the indicator shown by the X43-A aircraft. The aircraft in question is accelerated when the Pegasus rocket, which operates on solid fuel, is activated. The X-34 was first tested in 2001. The aircraft in question is significantly larger than the Boeing aircraft - its length is 17.78 m, its wingspan is 8.85 m. The maximum flight altitude of the hypersonic vehicle from Orbical Science is 75 kilometers.

Aircraft from North American

Another famous hypersonic aircraft is the X-15, produced by North American. Analysts classify this apparatus as experimental.

It is equipped, which gives some experts a reason not to classify it, in fact, as an aircraft. However, the presence of rocket engines allows the device, in particular, to perform So, during one of the tests in this mode, it was tested by pilots. The purpose of the X-15 device is to study the specifics of hypersonic flights, evaluate certain design solutions, new materials, and control features of such machines in various layers of the atmosphere. It is noteworthy that it was approved back in 1954. The X-15 flies at a speed of more than 7 thousand km/hour. Its flight range is more than 500 km, its altitude exceeds 100 km.

The fastest production aircraft

The hypersonic vehicles we studied above actually belong to the research category. It will be useful to consider some production models of aircraft that are close in characteristics to hypersonic ones or are (according to one methodology or another) hypersonic ones.

Among such machines is the American development of the SR-71. Some researchers are not inclined to classify this aircraft as hypersonic, since its maximum speed is about 3.7 thousand km/h. Among its most notable characteristics is its take-off weight, which exceeds 77 tons. The length of the device is more than 23 m, the wingspan is more than 13 m.

The Russian MiG-25 is considered one of the fastest military aircraft. The device can reach speeds of more than 3.3 thousand km/h. Maximum take-off weight Russian plane- 41 tons.

Thus, in the market for serial solutions with characteristics close to hypersonic ones, the Russian Federation is among the leaders. But what can be said about Russian developments in terms of “classic” hypersonic aircraft? Are engineers from the Russian Federation capable of creating a solution that is competitive with machines from Boeing and Orbital Scence?

Russian hypersonic vehicles

IN at the moment Russian hypersonic aircraft is under development. But it is going quite actively. We are talking about the Yu-71 aircraft. Its first tests, judging by media reports, were carried out in February 2015 near Orenburg.

It is assumed that the aircraft will be used for military purposes. Thus, a hypersonic vehicle will be able, if necessary, to deliver destructive weapons over considerable distances, monitor the territory, and also be used as an element of attack aircraft. Some researchers believe that in 2020-2025. The Strategic Missile Forces will receive about 20 aircraft of the corresponding type.

There is information in the media that the Russian hypersonic aircraft in question will be mounted on the Sarmat ballistic missile, which is also at the design stage. Some analysts believe that the Yu-71 hypersonic vehicle being developed is nothing more than a warhead that will have to be separated from the ballistic missile at the final stage of flight, and then, thanks to the high maneuverability characteristic of the aircraft, overcome missile defense systems.

Project "Ajax"

Among the most notable projects related to the development of hypersonic aircraft is Ajax. Let's study it in more detail. The Ajax hypersonic aircraft is a conceptual development of Soviet engineers. In the scientific community, conversations about it began back in the 80s. Among the most notable characteristics is the presence of a thermal protection system, which is designed to protect the case from overheating. Thus, the developers of the Ajax apparatus proposed a solution to one of the “hypersonic” problems we identified above.

The traditional thermal protection scheme for aircraft involves placing special materials on the body. The Ajax developers proposed a different concept, according to which it was supposed not to protect the device from external heat, but to let heat inside the machine, while simultaneously increasing its energy resource. The main competitor of the Soviet aircraft was considered the hypersonic aircraft “Aurora”, created in the USA. However, due to the fact that designers from the USSR significantly expanded the capabilities of the concept, the new development was assigned a wide range of tasks, in particular research ones. We can say that the Ajax is a hypersonic multi-purpose aircraft.

Let's take a closer look at the technological innovations proposed by engineers from the USSR.

So, the Soviet developers of Ajax proposed using the heat generated as a result of friction of the aircraft body with the atmosphere and converting it into useful energy. Technically, this could be realized by placing additional shells on the device. As a result, something like a second corps was formed. Its cavity was supposed to be filled with some kind of catalyst, for example, a mixture of flammable material and water. The heat-insulating layer made of solid material in Ajax was supposed to be replaced with a liquid one, which, on the one hand, was supposed to protect the engine, on the other hand, would promote a catalytic reaction, which, meanwhile, could be accompanied by an endothermic effect - the movement of heat from the outside body parts inward. Theoretically, the cooling of the external parts of the device could be anything. The excess heat, in turn, was supposed to be used to increase the efficiency of the aircraft engine. At the same time, this technology would make it possible to generate free hydrogen as a result of the reaction of the fuel.

At the moment, there is no information available to the general public about the continued development of Ajax, but researchers consider the implementation of Soviet concepts into practice to be very promising.

Chinese hypersonic vehicles

China is becoming a competitor to Russia and the United States in the hypersonic solutions market. Among the most famous developments of engineers from China is the WU-14 aircraft. It is a hypersonic controlled glider mounted on a ballistic missile.

An ICBM launches an aircraft into space, from where the vehicle sharply dives down, developing hypersonic speed. The Chinese device can be mounted on various ICBMs with a range from 2 to 12 thousand km. It was found that during tests, the WU-14 was able to reach a speed exceeding 12 thousand km/h, thus becoming the fastest hypersonic aircraft according to some analysts.

At the same time, many researchers believe that it is not entirely legitimate to classify the Chinese development as an aircraft. Thus, there is a widespread version according to which the device should be classified specifically as a warhead. And very effective. When flying downward at the specified speed, even the most modern missile defense systems will not be able to guarantee interception of the corresponding target.

It can be noted that Russia and the United States are also developing hypersonic vehicles used for military purposes. At the same time, the Russian concept, according to which it is supposed to create machines of the appropriate type, differs significantly, as evidenced by data in some media, from the technological principles implemented by the Americans and the Chinese. Thus, developers from the Russian Federation are concentrating their efforts in the field of creating aircraft equipped with a ramjet engine that can be launched from the ground. Russia plans to cooperate in this direction with India. Hypersonic vehicles created according to the Russian concept, according to some analysts, are characterized by lower cost and more wide area applications.

At the same time, the Russian hypersonic aircraft, which we mentioned above (Yu-71), suggests, as some analysts believe, deployment on ICBMs. If this thesis turns out to be correct, then we can say that engineers from the Russian Federation are working simultaneously in two popular conceptual directions in the construction of hypersonic aircraft.

Resume

So, probably the fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world, if we talk about aircraft regardless of their classification, is still the Chinese WU-14. Although you need to understand that real information about it, including those related to tests, may be classified. This is quite consistent with the principles of Chinese developers, who often strive to keep their military technologies secret at all costs. The speed of the fastest hypersonic aircraft is more than 12 thousand km/h. The American development of the X-43A is “catching up” with it - many experts consider it to be the fastest. Theoretically, the hypersonic aircraft X-43A, as well as the Chinese WU-14, can catch up with the development from Orbical Science, designed for a speed of more than 12 thousand km/h.

The characteristics of the Russian Yu-71 aircraft are not yet known to the general public. It is quite possible that they will be close to the parameters of the Chinese aircraft. Russian engineers are also developing a hypersonic aircraft capable of taking off independently, rather than based on an ICBM.

Current projects of researchers from Russia, China and the United States are in one way or another related to the military sphere. Hypersonic aircraft, regardless of their possible classification, are considered primarily as carriers of weapons, most likely nuclear. However, in the works of researchers from different countries of the world, there are theses that “hypersonic”, like nuclear technologies, may well be peaceful.

The issue is the emergence of affordable and reliable solutions that make it possible to organize mass production of machines of the appropriate type. The use of such devices is possible in the most wide range branches of economic development. Hypersonic aircraft are likely to find greatest demand in the space and research industries.

As production technologies for the corresponding vehicles become cheaper, transport businesses may begin to show interest in investing in such projects. Industrial corporations and providers of various services may begin to consider “hypersonic” as a tool for increasing business competitiveness in terms of organizing international communications.

In the early 60s, it became clear that the USSR needed a supersonic passenger aircraft, because The main jet airliner of that time, the Tu-104, flew from Moscow to Khabarovsk with two intermediate landings for refueling. The Tu-114 turboprop operated non-stop flights on this route, but was in flight for as long as 14 hours. And the supersonic Tu-144 would cover a distance of 8,500 kilometers in 3.5 hours! To ensure growing passenger flows on long transcontinental routes, the Soviet Union needed a new modern supersonic passenger aircraft (SPS).

However, a detailed analysis and study of the proposed SPS projects based on the first supersonic bombers showed that creating an effective competitive SPS by modifying a military prototype is an extremely difficult task. The first supersonic heavy combat aircraft, in their design solutions, mainly met the requirements of a relatively short-term supersonic flight. For the SPS, it was necessary to ensure a long cruising flight at speeds of at least two speeds of sound - a Mach number equal to 2 (M = 2). The specifics of the task of transporting passengers additionally 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 flight duration in supersonic modes. Analyzing all possible options for technical solutions, aviation specialists both in the USSR and in the West came to the firm opinion that a cost-effective ATP must be designed as a matter of principle new type aircraft.

During the creation of the Soviet SPS, domestic aviation science and industry were faced with a number of scientific and technical problems that our subsonic passenger and military supersonic aviation had not encountered. First of all, to ensure the required flight performance characteristics of the SPS, this flight at a speed of M = 2 at a distance of up to 6500 km with 100-120 passengers, in combination with acceptable takeoff and landing data, it was necessary to significantly improve the aerodynamic quality of the aircraft at cruising flight speeds. It was necessary to solve the issues of stability and controllability of a heavy aircraft when flying in subsonic, transonic and supersonic regions, to develop practical methods for balancing the aircraft in all these modes, taking into account minimizing aerodynamic losses. A long flight at speed M=2 was associated with research and ensuring the strength of the airframe structure and components at elevated temperatures close to 100-120 degrees C, it was necessary to create heat-resistant structural materials, lubricants, sealants, as well as develop types of structures capable of long time work under conditions of cyclic aerodynamic heating.

The aerodynamic appearance of the Tu-144 was determined mainly by obtaining a long flight range in supersonic cruising mode, subject to obtaining the required stability and controllability characteristics, as well as the specified take-off and landing characteristics. The aerodynamic quality of the Tu-144 at double the speed of sound was 8.1, on the Concorde - 7.7, and for most supersonic MiGs of the mid-60s of the last century, the aerodynamic quality did not exceed a coefficient of 3.4. The airframe design of the first SPS mainly used traditional aluminum alloys; 20% of it was made of titanium, which can withstand heat up to 200 degrees C. The only aircraft in the world that also used titanium was the SR-71, the famous “Blackbird” ", American supersonic reconnaissance aircraft.

TU-144D No. 77115 at the MAKS 2015 air show / Photo (c) Andrey Velichko

Based on the conditions for obtaining the required aerodynamic quality and optimal operating modes of the airframe, aircraft systems and assemblies at subsonic and supersonic speeds, we settled on the design of a tailless low-wing aircraft 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° and 55° for the rear base part. Four turbofans were placed under the wing. The vertical tail was located along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The airframe's design mainly used traditional aluminum alloys. The wing was formed from symmetrical profiles and had a complex twist in two directions: longitudinal and transverse. This achieved the best flow around the wing surface in supersonic mode; in addition, such a twist helped improve the longitudinal balancing in this mode.

Construction of the first prototype Tu-144 (“044”) began in 1965, while a second prototype was being built for static testing. The experimental "044" was initially designed for 98 passengers, later this figure was increased to 120. Accordingly, the estimated take-off weight increased from 130 to 150 tons. The prototype 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 the Zhukovsky flight test and development base, where throughout 1968, development work was carried out and the vehicle was equipped with missing systems and units.

At the same time, flights of an analogue of the MiG-21I (A-144, “21-11”), created on the basis of the MiG-21S fighter, began at the LII airfield. An 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”. A total of two "21-11" aircraft were built; many test pilots flew on them, including those who were to test the Tu-144. The analogue aircraft successfully reached a speed of 2500 km/h; the materials from these flights served as the basis for the final development of the Tu-144 wing, and also allowed test pilots to prepare for the peculiarities of the behavior of an aircraft with such a wing.

December 31, 1968 - first flight of the Tu-144

At the end of 1968, the experimental "044" (tail number 68001) was ready for its first flight. A crew was assigned to the vehicle, consisting of: the ship's commander, Honored Test Pilot E.V. Elyan (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; leading test engineer V.N. Benderov and flight engineer Yu.T. Seliverstov. Considering the novelty of the aircraft, the design bureau made an extraordinary decision: for the first time, they decided to install ejection crew seats on an experimental passenger aircraft.

During the month, engine races, jogging, and ground system checks were carried out. From the beginning of the third ten days of December 1968, “044” was in pre-launch readiness, the vehicle and crew were completely ready for the first flight, during all these ten days there was no weather over the LII airfield, and the experienced Tu-144 remained on the ground. Finally, on the last day of the year 1968, 25 seconds after the start, “044” took off for the first time from the runway of the LII airfield and quickly gained altitude. The first flight lasted 37 minutes, during the flight the car was accompanied by an analogue aircraft "21-11". The Tu-144 managed to take off two months earlier than its Anglo-French “colleague” - the Concorde airliner, which made its first flight on March 2, 1969.

According to the crew's reviews, the vehicle proved to be obedient and "flyable." The first flight was attended by A. N. Tupolev, A. A. Tupolev, and many heads of OKB departments. The first flight of the Tu-144 became an event of world significance and an important moment in the history of domestic and world aviation. For the first time, a supersonic passenger plane took off.

On June 3, 1973, the first production vehicle crashed during a demonstration flight in Le Bourget. Commander test pilot 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 were killed. A commission was created to investigate the disaster, in which specialists from the USSR and France took part. Based on the results of the investigation, the French noted that there was no failure in the technical part of the aircraft, 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 crew, the presence of a movie camera in the hands of one of the crew members, which If it fell, the control wheel could become jammed. E.V. Elyan spoke most succinctly and accurately about the Tu-144 crash at Le Bourget in the 90s: “This disaster is a bitter example of how a confluence of small, at first glance, insignificant negligence, in this case on the part of the French flight control services, led to tragic consequences."

However, the Tu-144 began to make regular flights. The first operational flight was carried out on December 26, 1975 on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route, where the plane transported mail and parcels, and in November 1977, passenger transportation began on the same route.

The flights were carried out by only two aircraft - No. 77108 and No. 77109. Aeroflot pilots flew only as co-pilots, while the crew commanders were always test pilots from the Tupolev Design Bureau. A ticket cost a lot of money at that time - 82 rubles, and for a regular Il-18 or Tu-114 flight on the same route - 48 rubles.

From an economic point of view, after some time it became clear that the operation of the Tu-144 was unprofitable - supersonic aircraft flew half empty, and after 7 months the Tu-144 was removed from regular flights. Concorde experienced similar problems: only 14 aircraft flew from Europe to America, and even expensive tickets could not compensate airlines for huge fuel costs. Unlike the Tu-144, Concorde flights were subsidized by the governments of France and Great Britain almost until the beginning of the 90s. The cost of a ticket on the London-New York route in 1986 was 2,745 USD. Only very wealthy people could afford such expensive flights, for whom the formula “time is money” is the main credo of their existence. There were such people in the West, and for them, flying on Concordes was a natural saving of time and money, which is confirmed by their total flight time on intercontinental routes in 1989 of 325,000 flight hours. Therefore, we can assume that the Concorde program for the British and French was quite commercial, and subsidies were allocated to maintain prestige in relation to the Americans.

On May 23, 1978, the second Tu-144 crash occurred. An improved experimental version of the Tu-144D aircraft (No. 77111) after a fuel fire in the engine nacelle area of the 3rd power plant Due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cabin and the crew turning off two engines, it made an emergency landing on a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city of Yegoryevsk. Crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin were able to leave the plane through the cockpit window. Engineers V.M. Kulesh, V.A. Isaev, V.N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the plane through the front entrance door. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov found themselves trapped in their workplace by structures that were deformed during landing and died. The deflected nose cone touched the ground first, it worked like a bulldozer knife, entering the ground, turned under the bottom and entered the fuselage. On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot permanently stopped supersonic passenger flights.

Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for freight transport between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the Tu-144 made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, of which 55 were passenger flights, in which 3,194 passengers were transported.

Photo: Tu-144 board USSR-77115 / (c) Baskakov V.D.

Later, the Tu-144 only flew test flights and several flights to set world records. From 1995 to 1999, one significantly modified Tu-144D (No. 77114) called Tu-144LL was used by the American space agency NASA for research in the field of high-speed commercial flights in order to develop a plan for the creation of a new, modern supersonic passenger plane. Due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51 engines, the Tu-144LL was equipped with NK-32, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and monitoring and recording equipment.

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

Tu-144 board USSR-77114 parked at the Flight Research Institute named after. Gromov, airfield in Zhukovsky / Photo (c) Andrey Velichko, MAKS 2003

There are currently no aircraft that remain in flying condition. Only the Tu-144LL aircraft No. 77114 and TU-144D No. 77115 are almost completely complete with parts and can be restored to flight condition. Aircraft No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. TU-144D No. 77115 is also stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. Once every two years, these machines are shown in a static parking lot during the MAKS international aerospace show.

	Tu-144 of various modifications				Concorde
	Tu-144 (“044”)	Tu-144S	Tu-144D	Tu-144LL	Concorde
Specifications
Crew, people	4				3
Length, m	59,40	65,70			61,66
Height, m	12,25	12,50			12,2
Wingspan, m	27,65	28,00	28,80		25,60
Wing area, m²	438	503	507		358,6
Maximum take-off weight, kg	180 000	195 000	207 000	203 000	185 000
Payload weight, kg	12 000	15 000			13 380
Fuel weight, kg	70 000	98 000		95 000	95 680
Engines
Quantity	4
	NK-144	NK-144A	RD-36-51A	NK-32-1	Olympus 593
Thrust, maximum, kN	171,6	178,0	196,1	245,0	170,0
Supersonic thrust, kN	127,5	147,0		137,5
Flight characteristics
Maximum speed, km/h	2 443	2 500	2 285	2 500	2 330
Cruising speed (supersonic), km/h	2 300	2 200	2 120	2 300	2 150
Landing speed, km/h	270				295
Practical range (fully loaded), km	2 920	3 080	5 330	4 000	6 470
Service ceiling, m			20 000		18 300
Run length, m			2 930
Run length, m			2 570

It is interesting to compare the fate of the Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde - machines similar in purpose, design and time of creation. First of all, it should be noted that Concorde was designed mainly for supersonic flights over uninhabited spaces Atlantic Ocean. According to the conditions of sonic boom, this is a choice of lower altitudes of cruising supersonic flight and, as a result, a smaller wing area, a smaller take-off weight, a lower required cruising thrust of the power plant and specific fuel consumption.

The Tu-144 had to fly mainly over land, so high flight altitudes and corresponding aircraft parameters, as well as the required thrust of the power plant, were required. This should include less advanced engines. In terms of their specific parameters, the Tu-144 engines came close to the Olympus only in the latest versions, plus the worst specific parameters of domestic equipment and aircraft components compared to Western ones. All these negative initial aspects were largely compensated by the high perfection of the aerodynamics of the Tu-144 - in terms of the aerodynamic quality obtained when flying in supersonic cruising mode, the Tu-144 was superior to the Concorde. This was due to the complication of the aircraft design and a decrease in the level of manufacturability in production.

In the USSR the rich business people there was no, therefore there was no natural market for services that was supposed to satisfy the Tu-144. The aircraft obviously had to become largely subsidized and unprofitable in operation, which is why the program for creating the Tu-144 should be attributed to the concept of the country’s prestige. There were no real economic prerequisites for the use of ATP in the aviation services market of the USSR in the 60-70s of the twentieth century. As a result, on the one hand, the heroic efforts of the A. N. Tupolev Design Bureau and other enterprises and organizations of MAP to develop the Tu-144, and on the other, the initial emotional uplift and support from the country’s leadership, which gradually turned into indifference and, to a large extent, inhibition on the part of the Aeroflot management, which, by and large, simply did not need the low-income headache of mastering the complex Tu-144 complex. Therefore, in the early 80s, when the features of the coming economic and political crisis began to clearly appear in the USSR, the Tu-144 program was one of the first to suffer.