Tupolev Tu-144

The Tupolev Tu-144 (NATO name: "Charger") was the world's first supersonic transport aircraft (SST, with its first flight preceding that of Concorde), constructed under the direction of the Soviet Tupolev design bureau headed by Alexei Tupolev. A prototype first flew on 31 December 1968 near Moscow, two months before the similar Aérospatiale / British Aircraft Corporation Concorde. The Tu-144 first broke the speed of sound on 5 June 1969, and on ... more

The Tupolev Tu-144 (NATO name: "Charger") was the world's first supersonic transport aircraft (SST, with its first flight preceding that of Concorde), constructed under the direction of the Soviet Tupolev design bureau headed by Alexei Tupolev. A prototype first flew on 31 December 1968 near Moscow, two months before the similar Aérospatiale / British Aircraft Corporation Concorde. The Tu-144 first broke the speed of sound on 5 June 1969, and on 15 July 1969 it became the first commercial transport to exceed Mach two, and it remains the fastest ever airliner. The Tu-144 was Tupolev's only supersonic commercial airliner venture. Tupolev's other large supersonic aircraft were designed and built to military specifications. All these aircraft benefited from technical and scientific input from TsAGI, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Although the Tu-144 was technically broadly comparable to Concorde, while Concorde was at least operated (mostly) profitably for 25 years, the Tu-144... less