Tupolev Tu-144
Tupolev · Soviet Union · first flew 1968 · airliner
The Soviet supersonic transport and the world's first SST to fly, beating Concorde into the air by two months.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, delta |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 4 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Four engines grouped close together under the fuselage centreline |
| T — Tail | No tailplane |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Ogival (double-curve) delta wing with no horizontal tailplane
- Retractable canard foreplanes deploy behind the cockpit at low speed (note)
- Four engines grouped close together under the fuselage centreline
An ogival delta SST with no tailplane; tell it from Concorde by the four engines bunched together under the centre fuselage (Concorde spreads them in two widely separated pairs) and by the deployable nose canards.
Specifications
- The Tupolev Tu-144 has a length of 65.7 m (216 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 28.8 m (94 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 2300 km/h (1429 mph).
- Typical crew: 3 flight crew.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown on 31 December 1968, the Tu-144 cruised above Mach 2 at around 16,000 m. It introduced retractable canard foreplanes to improve low-speed handling and visually resembled Concorde closely enough to earn the nickname 'Concordski'. A prototype broke up at the 1973 Paris Air Show, denting confidence in the programme.
Variants
The original prototype was followed by the production Tu-144S and the improved, re-engined Tu-144D. In the 1990s one airframe was rebuilt as the Tu-144LL flying laboratory for NASA supersonic research.
Where you'll see it
Passenger service ran only briefly in 1977-78 before being abandoned. None are preserved in the UK; surviving examples are in museums in Germany, Russia and Ukraine, while Britain keeps its own SST heritage in preserved Concordes at Brooklands, Duxford and elsewhere.
Related aircraft
- Tupolev Tu-154
- Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire
- Tupolev Tu-134
- Tu-128 Fiddler
- BAC One-Eleven 500
- Boeing 727-200
- Boeing 737-100
- Boeing 737-200
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