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Tupolev Tu-144S
The Tu-144S is the production model that carried passengers. It is 65.7 m long with a 28 m wingspan, a height of 12.5 m and a maximum take-off weight of 195,000 kg, and four Kuznetsov NK-144A engines power it. In service it flew about 2,000 km/h at 16,000 to 17,000 m. The drawing on this page shows the later Tu-144LL research aircraft, a rebuilt Tu-144D, not the passenger Tu-144S. The photo shows a preserved Aeroflot aircraft in the museum at Ulyanovsk.
- Cruise speed
- 1,080 knots (2,000 km/h)
- Engines
- Four Kuznetsov NK-144A engines under the wings
- Max takeoff weight
- 430,000 lb (195,000 kg)
Photos from members
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Specifications
| Length | 215 ft 7 in (65.70 m) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 91 ft 10 in (28.00 m) |
| Height | 41 ft 0 in (12.50 m) |
| Entry into service | November 1, 1977 |
| Status | Retired in 1978 |
History
Passenger service began on November 1, 1977, after the airworthiness certificate was issued on October 29, 1977. Aeroflot flew once a week from Moscow to Alma-Ata, up to 3,260 km, with no more than 80 passengers on board. The Kazan Aviation Institute says only two aircraft, 77109 and 77110, flew passengers, and that Aeroflot crews made 55 flights carrying 3,284 passengers; NASA counts 102 passenger flights. A crash at the Paris Air Show in 1973 had already damaged the program. Aeroflot management decided on June 1, 1978 to stop passenger flights permanently. In the 1990s a Tu-144D was rebuilt with Kuznetsov NK-321 engines from the Tu-160 bomber as the Tu-144LL, which flew NASA research from June 1996 to April 1999 near Moscow.
Last operators
- Aeroflot