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Tupolev Tu-144
The Tupolev Tu-144, nicknamed Concordski, as the Sinsheim museum notes, was the Soviet supersonic airliner. Its prototype flew on December 31, 1968, about two months before Concorde. It carried scheduled passengers for Aeroflot from November 1, 1977, but only on one route, Moscow to Alma-Ata, and Aeroflot decided on June 1, 1978 to stop passenger flights for good. The Kazan Aviation Institute counts 16 built, while NASA counts 17. In the 1990s one aircraft was rebuilt as the Tu-144LL, a research aircraft flown with NASA.
The variants side by side
| Variant | Range | Seats | Length | First flight | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tu-144S | – | – | 215 ft 7 in (65.70 m) | – | Retired in 1978 |