Why You Wouldn't Want to Fly On The Soviet Concorde - The TU-144 Story

While the Concorde is often hailed as a triumph of modern engineering, the first supersonic transport to ever fly was actually Soviet-built. The Tupolev TU-144 flew even faster than the Concorde and it carried more passengers. What happened to this aircraft and why have so few heard about it?

Getting the TU-144 built before the Concorde (and therefore proving Soviet superiority to the world) was allegedly a high priority for the Soviets. The plane was developed under a tight schedule and relied on a few less advanced aviation technologies. The TU-144 suffered three known crashes, the most famous being at the 1973 Paris Air Show (there are conflicting theories on the cause of the 1973 crash). In regular passenger service, the TU-144 proved unreliable. Only one flight a week was permitted on a single route between Moscow and Almaty, Kazakhstan. It is rumoured that Soviet leaders were nervous about the 144's airworthiness and ordered it's chief designer Alexei Tupolev to personally inspect every 144.

Supersonic travel proved expensive and could only be offered as a 'premium' product in commercial airline travel. In west, the Concorde could be marketed as a luxury product to serve the wealthy and airfares could be sold at prices well beyond typical airfares. In the communist Soviet Union, where egalitarian principles demanded that displays of wealth or class be subdued, the TU-144 airfare had to be set similar to the typical Soviet airfare. This meant that the 144 had to be operated at a loss for Aeroflot, and Aeroflot couldn't wait to stop flying it.

The TU-144 was removed from regular passenger service less than a year after it began (although cargo service was offered for a couple more years). In the 1990's, a modified version of Tu-144 was utilized by Tupolev, NASA, and other aerospace conglomerates as a research testbed for a second-generation supersonic jetliner. #Tu144 #Tupolev #Supersonic #Airplanes

[lostindixie]

The Technik Museum Sinsheim in Germany has both the Concorde and the Russian Tupolev Tu-144 displayed on poles. You can look at them from a distance next to one another, from underneath close up, or climb the stairs and go inside. The entire museum is worth the visit.

[spaghetti]

Concorde: we have to be fancy

Tupolev: if it goes supersonic then it goes supersonic.

[johnvalentine]

I have flown on both the Concorde and the Tu144. The interior of the Tu-144 was loud, sure, but it was quite possible to carry on conversations and the plane was quite comfortable. The windows were much larger than the tiny Concord widows and made for quite a view when at altitude.

[rgmidhb]

The irony of fate is that both air crashes of two planes are separated by 2 kilometers from each other the Tu-144 crash near Paris was an aviation disaster that occurred on Sunday, June 3, 1973 at the 30th Le Bourget International Air Show. The Concorde disaster near Paris was a major aviation accident that occurred on Tuesday, July 25, 2000 Gonesse, 4 km from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

[rookincharge]

"Passengers couldn't talk to each other."

Me: Good. This is the flight for me.

[neighborscomplaint]

In Russia, passenger is silent and airplane does the talking.

[kingsman]

"Passengers can't even talk to each other"

Soviet government: sorry...I miss the part where this is a problem...

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

The Cold War is definitely my favorite period of history. Yes the Cold War was filled with conflict, division, and bloodshed but it gave superpowers an excuse to advance in technology. To outdo each other. It's like watching a tennis match seeing two countries go back and forth between each other. I mean just look at the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics as an example of the Cold War. The Moscow 1980 emblem had a communist star, the mascot was the national animal, and we boycotted the games. Then Los Angeles 1984 came around and the US went all "AMERICA, F YEAH" on it with an emblem with stars in the most patriotic way possible, a mascot that was the national animal in the most patriotic way possible with a Lady Liberty torch and Uncle Sam hat, and the Soviets boycotted the games.

Being of both Russian and Cuban descent (my mom's side left Cuba years before the revolution because of Batista and his treatment of the lower classes), I've made it a goal to learn about the cultures/histories of the countries of my heritage and two of those countries being Cuba and Russia, I learned a lot about the Cold War. Whether you like history or not, can't help but admit that it's incredible to go back in time in a certain period, learn of achievements at the time, and see how much we've changed since then.

[onlyrushb]

This takes "Rush B" to a _whole_ new level.

[denisdrc]

"Development of the plane was rushed, airworthiness was in serious question"...
Boeing 737 MAX Engineers: Take notes

[duckback]

I would really like to know the sources of information where it says that Soviet spies "stole" about 90 thousand documents related to Concord? As far as I know, the prototypes of the Tu-144 were laid in 1965 and for Tupolev it was not entirely new technologies, since they already had the supersonic Tu-22, which had been in operation since 1962.

[airraid]

isnt that crazy? in the beginning of the century there was the first flight of an airplane ever. 40 years later jetengines had been developed and 60 years after the first aeroplane ever there were supersonic planes that carried passangers already. crazy how fast that developed.

[anelalc]

"It was loud, uncofortable, dangerous..."
Russians: whats wrong?

[faisalhashim]

"Making a brutally hard landing"

RYANAIR HAS JOINED THE CHAT

[Pavelkozhin]

It is strange to hear the author's story about "brutal landings" because of the speed when the landing speed of the Tu-144 (270 km / h) was lower than that of the Concorde (300 km / h). The Tu-144 needed a parachute due to the lack of suitable airfields and for emergency situations.
Also, the author did not mention the reason for the crash of the Tu-144 in 1983 in Paris - this was not the cause of a malfunction, but a forced maneuver due to an unexpected flight interference.
In general, the Tu-144 was simply not needed by the USSR, so its operation was curtailed, and not because it was "backward, " as the author says.
So, the USSR has not existed for 30 years, and Western propaganda, denigrating its achievements, is still working. Applause.

[prash]

TU 144 remained in commercial business till 1983 and for research purposes till 1999. It is not as bad it sounds in this video. Infact, NASA chose TU144 over Concord for its Eclipse mission. The engineering and maneuverability was much better of TU144 than the Concord.

[quinty]

Fun fact- The NK-32 engines are still being used in the supersonic bomber TU-160. The fastest bomber in history.

[candeo]

When it goes supersonic, you hear a loud *BLYAT* intead of a Sonic boom

[Mikey]

Was on board of a TU-144 3 or 4 years ago in Kazan, Russia. Beautiful plane.

[reagzlynax]

Your ending animation screen with the smoke, continues to bring us back to this Mustard story. (Fan of you and your Bros work) 100%