The outside of the Tu-144 was finished, but work has not yet started on the aircraft inside.
The first phase of the restoration of the Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport aircraft (SST) was finished, according to News in Flight. In Russia’s Chetaeva Street, the Kazan Aviation Institute (KAI) building, which will be on display for educational purposes, is seen in the background of the photo in this post, which shows the aircraft standing close to it.
The work on the aircraft exterior has been finished, but work on the aircraft cabin has not yet started, as stated by a spokeswoman for the business in charge of the project during the ceremony that marked the conclusion of the first stage of the restoration.
The Tupolev Tu-144 (Russian: Tyолев y-144; NATO reporting name: Charger) is a decommissioned jet aircraft and commercial SST. The Anglo-French Concorde is the other of the two SSTs that have entered commercial service. The Alexei Tupolev by Tupolev design bureau created the plane during the Cold War, and the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh, Russia, built it. At an average operating height of 16,000 meters (52,000 ft), it flew 55 passenger flights while traveling at a speed of about 2,000 kph (1,200 mph, or Mach 1.6).
Two months before the Concorde’s inaugural flight, on December 31, 1968, the prototype made its first flight close to Moscow. On June 5, 1969, the Tu-144 achieved supersonic flight for the first time, and on May 26, 1970, it became the first commercial vehicle to reach Mach 2. The development of the Tu-144 was halted when one crashed at the Paris Air Show in 1973. On November 1, 1977, the aircraft entered passenger service, nearly two years after Concorde.
After only 55 planned flights, the passenger fleet of the Tu-144 was permanently grounded in May 1978 due to the crash of another Tu-144 (an enhanced version known as Tu-144D). Up until 1983, the plane was still in use as a cargo carrier. Later, the Tu-144 was employed by NASA for supersonic research and by the Soviet space program to train Buran spacecraft pilots.
The Tu-144 had a wingspan of 94 feet, 6 inches, and measured 215 feet, 6 inches long, and 42 feet, 2 inches high. The majority of the aircraft’s structure was made of a light aluminum alloy, with titanium and stainless steel used for the rudder, elevons, and underside of the rear fuselage.
Photo by News in Flight