The illusion of opportunity: why a supersonic passenger aircraft is needed. The fate of the “supersonic”. Does Russia need a new supersonic passenger aircraft Supersonic civil aviation

Fly around the Earth in a couple of hours. This is not a myth, this is the reality of being a passenger on a super fast plane.

Boeing X-43

The X-43A hypersonic aircraft is the fastest aircraft in the world. The drone showed fantastic results during testing; it flew at a speed of 11,230 kilometers per hour. This is approximately 9.6 times faster than the speed of sound.

The X-43A was designed and created by specialists from NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation and MicroCraft Inc. For the record holder to be born, it took about ten years of research in the field of supersonic ramjet engines, which are capable of accelerating aircraft to supersonic speeds. The project cost a quarter of a billion dollars.

The fastest plane on the planet is not very large. Its wingspan is only one and a half meters, and its length is only 3.6 meters. The fastest aircraft was equipped with an experimental ramjet supersonic combustion engine Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRamjet). And its main feature is that there are no rubbing parts. Well, the fuel on which the record holder flies is a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. The creators did not allocate space for special tanks for oxygen; it is taken directly from the atmosphere. This made it possible to reduce the weight of the aircraft. As a result, as a result of using oxygen with hydrogen, the engine emits ordinary water vapor.

The fastest plane in the world, Boeing X-43, flies at a speed of 11,230 km/h

It is worth noting that the fastest aircraft in the world was developed specifically for testing latest technology, namely a hypersonic alternative to modern turbojet engines. Scientists believe that hypersonic aircraft will be able to fly to any point on Earth in just 3-4 hours.

Orbital Sciences Corporation X-34

The X-34 is also the fastest aircraft. Moreover, it can reach even higher speeds than the previous one, namely 12,144 kilometers per hour. However, he is still in second place in the list of the fastest. This is because in experiments he was able to reach a speed of less than 11,230 kilometers per hour. The aircraft receives acceleration using a solid-fuel Pegasus rocket, which is attached to the aircraft.

This fastest aircraft in the world was first tested in the spring of 2001. And it took 7 years and 250 million dollars to create and test the engine of the Hyper-X device. Tests of the X-34 ended in success only in the spring of 2004. Then during startup Pacific Ocean near the island of St. Nicholas, the car accelerated to 11 thousand kilometers per hour. This plane is more than a record holder. The length of the aircraft is 17.78 meters, the wingspan is 8.85 meters, the height is already 3.5 meters. Although the aircraft flies quickly, it weighs an impressive 1270 kilograms. The maximum height it can rise to is 75 kilometers.

North American X-15

The X-15 is already an experimental American rocket plane, it is equipped with rocket engines. The X-15 is the first and, for forty years, the only manned hypersonic aircraft in history to make suborbital space flights with pilots. This aircraft’s main task is to study flight conditions at hypersonic speeds, as well as to study the conditions for the re-entry of winged vehicles into the atmosphere. It is designed to evaluate new design solutions, coatings, and psychophysical aspects of control in the upper atmosphere. The concept of the project was approved in 1954. And during the flight an unofficial altitude record was recorded, which stood from 1963 until 2004. This aircraft is capable of flying at a speed of 7274 kilometers per hour.

However, despite the impressive speed, the plane weighs quite decently - more than 15 thousand kilograms. But this takes into account the mass of fuel. When landing, the aircraft weighs half as much. The height to which the X-15 can rise is almost 110 kilometers. Well, the flight range is 543.4 kilometers.

SR-71 ("Blackbird")

The SR-71 is a strategic supersonic reconnaissance aircraft for the US Air Force. And this is the fastest aircraft, and also the highest-flying production aircraft. It has remained that way for the past 25 years. It has fairly compact dimensions: length 32.76 meters, height 5.64 meters, and wingspan 16.95 meters. Given such data, the weight of the aircraft is impressive; at takeoff it is more than 77 thousand kilograms, however, the empty aircraft weighs about 27 thousand kilograms. Well, the maximum speed at which the SR-71 is capable of flying is 3,715 kilometers per hour.

Mig-25 ("Bat")

But this is the fastest military jet on the planet. It was there that exactly 29 world records were set. Two varieties of this aircraft were developed and built: interceptor and reconnaissance. The length of the aircraft is 23.82 meters, the height is almost 6 meters, the wingspan is 13.95 for the reconnaissance aircraft and 14.015 for the interceptor. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 41,200 kilograms, and upon landing it is 18,800 kilograms. The Mig-25 flies at a speed of 3395 kilometers per hour.

The MIG-25 interceptor fighter is the fastest aircraft in Russia

MiG-31

It is a two-seat supersonic fighter-interceptor that is designed to fly in all weather conditions and is a long-range aircraft. The MiG-31 is the first Soviet 4th generation combat aircraft. It is necessary to intercept and destroy targets in the air at high, medium, low and extremely low altitudes, night and day, in different weather conditions, with active and passive radar interference from the enemy, even false thermal targets. Four MiG-31 aircraft can control an airspace of 800-900 kilometers. One aircraft has a length of 21.62 meters, a height of 6.5 meters and a wingspan of 13.45 meters. A car flies at a speed of 3 thousand kilometers per hour.

McDonnell-Douglas F-15 (Eagle)

And this is an all-weather American tactical fighter of the 4th generation. He is capable of gaining air superiority. The Eagle entered service in 1976. There are 22 modifications of the aircraft in total. F-15s were used in Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia and the Middle East. The fighter has a maximum speed of 2,650 kilometers per hour.

General Dynamics F-111 ("Aardvark" or "Pig")

The F-111 is a two-seat tactical bomber. In 1996, he was withdrawn from combat service by the US Air Force. Its speed of movement is 2645 kilometers per hour.
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On December 31, 1968, the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft, the Tu-144, made a test flight. Three years later, in the summer of 1971, he made an incredible impression on the organizers and guests of the International Aviation Exhibition in Paris. To demonstrate the capabilities of the “Soviet bird,” the developers sent the plane from Moscow at 9 a.m. and at the same time - at 9 a.m. - it landed in the capital of Bulgaria.

Design of the supersonic aircraft Tu - 144.

Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic aircraft developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. Along with Concorde, it is one of only two supersonic airliners ever used by airlines for commercial travel.
In the 60s, projects to create a passenger supersonic aircraft with a maximum speed of 2500-3000 km/h and a flight range of at least 6-8 thousand km were actively discussed in aviation circles in the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR. In November 1962, France and Great Britain signed an agreement on the joint development and construction of Concorde (Concord).

Creators of a supersonic aircraft.

In the Soviet Union, the design bureau of academician Andrei Tupolev was involved in the creation of a supersonic aircraft. At a preliminary meeting of the Design Bureau in January 1963, Tupolev stated:
“Reflecting on the future of air transportation of people from one continent to another, you come to a clear conclusion: supersonic airliners are undoubtedly needed, and I have no doubt that they will come into practice...”
The academician's son, Alexey Tupolev, was appointed as the lead designer of the project. More than a thousand specialists from other organizations worked closely with his design bureau. The creation was preceded by extensive theoretical and experimental work, which included numerous tests in wind tunnels and natural conditions during analogue flights.

Concorde and Tu-144.

The developers had to rack their brains to find the optimal design for the machine. The speed of the designed airliner is fundamentally important - 2500 or 3000 km/h. The Americans, having learned that the Concorde is designed for 2500 km/h, announced that just six months later they would release their passenger Boeing 2707, made of steel and titanium. Only these materials could withstand the heating of the structure when in contact with air flow at speeds of 3000 km/h and above without destructive consequences. However, solid steel and titanium structures still have to undergo serious technological and operational testing. This will take a lot of time, and Tupolev decides to build a supersonic aircraft from duralumin, designed for a speed of 2500 km/h. The American Boeing project was subsequently completely closed.
In June 1965, the model was shown at the annual Paris Air Show. Concorde and Tu-144 turned out to be strikingly similar to each other. Soviet designers said - nothing surprising: the general shape is determined by the laws of aerodynamics and the requirements for a certain type of machine.

Supersonic aircraft wing shape.

But what should the wing shape be? We settled on a thin delta wing with the front edge shaped like the letter “8”. The tailless design - inevitable with such a design of the load-bearing plane - made the supersonic airliner stable and well controllable in all flight modes. Four engines were located under the fuselage, closer to the axis. The fuel is placed in coffered wing tanks. The trim tanks, located in the rear fuselage and wing swells, are designed to change the position of the center of gravity during the transition from subsonic to supersonic flight speeds. The nose was made sharp and smooth. But how can pilots have forward visibility in this case? They found a solution - the “bowing nose.” The fuselage had a circular cross-section and had a cockpit nose cone that tilted downward at an angle of 12 degrees during takeoff and 17 degrees during landing.

A supersonic plane takes to the sky.

The first supersonic aircraft took to the skies on the last day of 1968. The car was flown by test pilot E. Elyan. As a passenger aircraft, it was the first in the world to overcome the speed of sound in early June 1969, at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The supersonic aircraft reached the second speed of sound (2M) in mid-1970, at an altitude of 16.3 kilometers. The supersonic aircraft incorporates many design and technical innovations. Here I would like to note such a solution as the front horizontal tail. When using PGO, flight maneuverability was improved and speed was reduced during landing. The domestic supersonic aircraft could be operated from two dozen airports, while the French-English Concorde, having a high landing speed, could land only at a certified airport. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau did a colossal job. Take, for example, full-scale tests of a wing. They took place on a flying laboratory - the MiG-21I, modified specifically for testing the design and equipment of the wing of the future supersonic aircraft.

Development and modification.

Work on the development of the basic design of "044" went in two directions: the creation of a new economical afterburning turbojet engine of the RD-36-51 type and a significant improvement in the aerodynamics and design of the supersonic aircraft. The result of this was to meet the requirements for supersonic flight range. The decision of the commission of the USSR Council of Ministers on the version of the supersonic aircraft with the RD-36-51 was made in 1969. At the same time, at the proposal of the MAP - MGA, a decision is made, before the creation of the RD-36-51 and their installation on a supersonic aircraft, on the construction of six supersonic aircraft with the NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial supersonic aircraft with the NK-144A was supposed to be significantly modernized, significant changes in aerodynamics would be carried out, obtaining a Kmax of more than 8 in supersonic cruising mode. This modernization was supposed to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of the first stage in terms of range (4000-4500 km), in the future it was planned to transition to series on RD-36-51.

Construction of a modernized supersonic aircraft.

Construction of the pre-production modernized Tu-144 (“004”) began at MMZ “Experience” in 1968. According to calculated data with NK-144 engines (Cp = 2.01), the estimated supersonic range was supposed to be 3275 km, and with NK-144A ( Av = 1.91) exceed 3500 km. In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics in cruising mode M = 2.2, the wing planform was changed (the sweep of the floating part along the leading edge was reduced to 76°, and the base one was increased to 57°), the shape of the wing became closer to the “Gothic” one. Compared to the “044”, the wing area increased, a more intense conical twist of the wing ends was introduced. However, the most important innovation in the aerodynamics of the wing was the change in the middle part of the wing, which ensured self-balancing in cruising mode with minimal loss of quality, taking into account the optimization of flight deformations of the wing in this mode, the length of the fuselage was increased to accommodate 150 passengers, the shape of the nose was improved, which also had a positive effect on the aerodynamics.

Unlike "044", each pair of engines in paired engine nacelles with air intakes was moved apart, freeing the lower part of the fuselage from them, unloading it from increased temperature and vibration loads, while changing the lower surface of the wing in the place of the calculated area of flow compression, increasing the gap between the lower surface wing and the upper surface of the air intake - all this made it possible to more intensively use the effect of compressing the flow at the entrance to the air intakes on the Kmax than was possible to achieve on the "044". The new layout of the engine nacelles required changes to the chassis: the main landing gear was placed under the engine nacelles, with them retracted inside between the air ducts of the engines, they switched to an eight-wheeled trolley, and the scheme for retracting the nose landing gear also changed. An important difference between “004” and “044” was the introduction of a front multi-section destabilizer wing retractable in flight, which extended from the fuselage during takeoff and landing modes, and made it possible to ensure the required balancing when the elevons-flaps were deflected. Design improvements, an increase in payload and fuel reserves led to an increase in take-off weight, which exceeded 190 tons (for "044" - 150 tons).

Pre-production Tu-144.

Construction of pre-production supersonic aircraft No. 01-1 (tail No. 77101) was completed at the beginning of 1971, and made its first flight on June 1, 1971. According to the factory test program, the vehicle completed 231 flights, lasting 338 hours, of which 55 hours flew at supersonic speed. On this machine, complex issues of interaction of the power plant in various flight modes were worked out. On September 20, 1972, the car flew along the Moscow-Tashkent highway, while the route was covered in 1 hour 50 minutes, the cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km/h. The pre-production vehicle became the basis for the deployment of serial production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which, by decision of the government, was entrusted with the development of a supersonic aircraft in a series.

First flight of the production Tu-144.

The first flight of serial supersonic aircraft No. 01-2 (tail No. 77102) with NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, based on the results of tests of the pre-production vehicle, the aerodynamics of the wing were adjusted and its area was once again slightly increased. The take-off weight in the series reached 195 tons. By the time of operational testing of production vehicles, the specific fuel consumption of the NK-144A was intended to be increased to 1.65-1.67 kg/kgf/hour by optimizing the engine nozzle, and subsequently to 1.57 kg/kgf/hour, while the flight range should was increased to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km, respectively. In reality, they were able to achieve by 1977, during testing and development of the Tu-144 and NK-144A series, Average = 1.81 kg/kgf hour in cruising supersonic thrust mode 5000 kgf, Average = 1.65 kg/kgf hour in takeoff afterburner thrust mode 20000 kgf, Av = 0.92 kg/kgf hour in the cruising subsonic mode of thrust 3000 kgf and in the maximum afterburning mode in the transonic mode we received 11800 kgf. A fragment of a supersonic aircraft.

First stage of testing.

In a short period of time, in strict accordance with the program, 395 flights were completed with a total flight time of 739 hours, including more than 430 hours in supersonic modes.

Second stage of testing.

At the second stage of operational testing, in accordance with the joint order of the ministers of aviation industry and civil aviation dated September 13, 1977 No. 149-223, a more active connection of civil aviation facilities and services took place. A new testing commission was formed, headed by Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation B.D. Rude. By decision of the commission, then confirmed by a joint order dated September 30 - October 5, 1977, crews were appointed to conduct operational tests:
First crew: pilots B.F. Kuznetsov (Moscow State Transport Administration), S.T. Agapov (ZhLIiDB), navigator S.P. Khramov (MTU GA), flight engineers Yu.N. Avaev (MTU GA), Yu.T. Seliverstov (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer S.P. Avakimov (ZhLIiDB).
Second crew: pilots V.P. Voronin (MSU GA), I.K. Vedernikov (ZhLIiDB), navigator A.A. Senyuk (MTU GA), flight engineers E.A. Trebuntsov (MTU GA) and V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer V.V. Isaev (GosNIIGA).
Third crew: pilots M.S. Kuznetsov (GosNIIGA), G.V. Voronchenko (ZhLIiDB), navigator V.V. Vyazigin (GosNIIGA), flight engineers M.P. Isaev (MTU GA), V.V. Solomatin (ZhLIiDB), leading engineer V.N. Poklad (ZhLIiDB).
Fourth crew: pilots N.I. Yurskov (GosNIIGA), V.A. Sevankaev (ZhLIiDB), navigator Yu.A. Vasiliev (GosNIIGA), flight engineer V.L. Venediktov (GosNIIGA), leading engineer I.S. Mayboroda (GosNIIGA).

Before the start of testing, a lot of work was done to review all the materials received in order to use them “for credit” for meeting specific requirements. However, despite this, some civil aviation specialists insisted on implementing the “Operational Test Program for Supersonic Aircraft,” developed at GosNIIGA back in 1975 under the leadership of leading engineer A.M. Teteryukov. This program essentially required the repetition of previously completed flights in the amount of 750 flights (1200 flight hours) on MGA routes.
The total volume of operational flights and tests for both stages will be 445 flights with 835 flight hours, of which 475 hours are in supersonic modes. 128 paired flights were performed on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.

The final stage.

The final stage of testing was not stressful from a technical point of view. Rhythmic work according to schedule was ensured without serious failures or major defects. The engineering and technical crews “had fun” by assessing household equipment in preparation for passenger transportation. Flight attendants and relevant specialists from GosNIIGA, who were involved in the tests, began to conduct ground training to develop the technology for servicing passengers in flight. The so-called “pranks” and two technical flights with passengers. The “raffle” was held on October 16, 1977 with a complete simulation of the cycle of ticket check-in, baggage check-in, passenger boarding, flight of actual duration, passenger disembarkation, baggage check-in at the destination airport. There was no end to the “passengers” (the best workers of OKB, ZhLIiDB, GosNIIGA and other organizations). The diet during the “flight” was at the highest level, since it was based on the first class menu, everyone enjoyed it very much. The “raffle” made it possible to clarify many important elements and details of passenger service. On October 20 and 21, 1977, two technical flights were carried out along the Moscow-Alma-Ata highway with passengers. The first passengers were employees of many organizations that were directly involved in the creation and testing of the supersonic aircraft. Today it is even difficult to imagine the atmosphere on board: there was a feeling of joy and pride, great hope for development against the backdrop of first-class service, to which technical people are absolutely not accustomed. On the first flights, all the heads of the parent institutes and organizations were on board.

The road is open for passenger traffic.

The technical flights went off without any serious problems and showed that the supersonic aircraft and all ground services were fully prepared for regular transportation. On October 25, 1977, the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR B.P. Bugaev and the Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR V.A. Kazakov approved the main document: “Act on the results of operational tests of a supersonic aircraft with NK-144 engines” with a positive conclusion and conclusions.
Based on the presented tables of compliance of the Tu-144 with the requirements of the Temporary Airworthiness Standards for Civilian Tu-144 of the USSR, the full volume of submitted evidentiary documentation, including acts on state and operational tests, on October 29, 1977, Chairman of the State Aviation Register of the USSR I.K. Mulkijanov approved the conclusion and signed the first airworthiness certificate in the USSR, type No. 03-144, for a supersonic aircraft with NK-144A engines.
The road was open for passenger traffic.

The road was open for passenger traffic.
The supersonic aircraft could land and take off at 18 airports in the USSR, while Concorde, whose takeoff and landing speed was 15% higher, required a separate landing certificate for each airport.

The second production copy of a supersonic aircraft.

In June 1973, the 30th International Paris Air Show took place in France. The interest generated by the Soviet Tu-144 airliner, the world's first supersonic aircraft, was enormous. On June 2, thousands of visitors to the air show in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget watched the second production copy of a supersonic aircraft take to the runway. The roar of four engines, a powerful take-off - and now the car is in the air. The sharp nose of the airliner straightened and aimed at the sky. The supersonic Tu, led by Captain Kozlov, made its first demonstration flight over Paris: having gained the required altitude, the car went beyond the horizon, then returned and circled over the airfield. The flight proceeded normally, no technical problems were noted.
The next day, the Soviet crew decided to show everything that the new one was capable of.

Disaster during a demonstration.

The sunny morning of June 3 did not seem to foretell trouble. At first everything went according to plan - the audience raised their heads and applauded in unison. The supersonic aircraft, showing the “top class”, began to descend. At that moment, a French Mirage fighter appeared in the air (as it later turned out, it was filming an air show). A collision seemed inevitable. In order not to crash into the airfield and spectators, the crew commander decided to rise higher and pulled the steering wheel towards himself. However, the height had already been lost, creating large loads on the structure; As a result, the right wing cracked and fell off. A fire started there, and a few seconds later the flaming supersonic plane rushed to the ground. A terrible landing occurred on one of the streets of the Parisian suburb of Goussainville. The giant machine, destroying everything in its path, crashed to the ground and exploded. The entire crew - six people - and eight Frenchmen on the ground were killed. Goosenville also suffered - several buildings were destroyed. What led to the tragedy? According to most experts, the cause of the disaster was the attempt of the crew of a supersonic aircraft to avoid a collision with the Mirage. During landing, the Tu was caught in a wake from the French Mirage fighter.

The photograph contains the signature of the first cosmonaut who landed on the moon, Neil Armstrong, pilot cosmonaut Georgiy Timofeevich Beregovoy and all the dead crew members. Supersonic aircraft No. 77102 crashed during a demonstration flight at the Le Bourget air show. All 6 crew members (Honored Test Pilot Hero Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, test pilot V.M. Molchanov, navigator G.N. Bazhenov, deputy chief designer, engineer Major General V.N. Benderov, leading engineer B.A. Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I. Dralin ) died.

According to the employees of the A.N. Tupolev Design Bureau, the cause of the disaster was the connection of an undebugged analog block of the control system, which led to a destructive overload.
According to the pilots, emergency situations occurred on almost every flight. On May 23, 1978, the second supersonic plane crashed. An improved experimental version of the airliner, Tu-144D (No. 77111), after a fuel fire in the engine nacelle area of the 3rd power plant due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cabin and the crew turning off two engines, made an emergency landing on a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city Yegoryevsk.
After landing, crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin left the plane through the cockpit window. Engineers V.M. Kulesh, V.A. Isaev, V.N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the aircraft through the front entrance door. Flight engineers O. A. Nikolaev and V. L. Venediktov found themselves trapped in their workplace by structures that were deformed during landing and died. (The deflected nose cone touched the ground first, worked like a bulldozer blade, picking up soil, and rotated under its belly, entering the fuselage.) On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot stopped supersonic passenger flights forever.

Improving supersonic aircraft.

Work on improving the supersonic aircraft continued for several more years. Five production aircraft were produced; another five were under construction. A new modification has been developed - Tu-144D (long-range). However, the choice of a new engine (more economical), RD-36-51, required significant redesign of the aircraft, especially the power plant. Serious design gaps in this area led to a delay in the release of the new airliner. Only in November 1974, the serial Tu-144D (tail number 77105) took off, and nine (!) years after its first flight, on November 1, 1977, the supersonic aircraft received a certificate of airworthiness. Passenger flights opened on the same day. During their short operation, the liners carried 3,194 passengers. On May 31, 1978, flights were stopped: a fire broke out on one of the production Tu-144Ds, and the airliner suffered a disaster, crashing during an emergency landing.
The disasters in Paris and Yegoryevsk led to the fact that interest in the project on the part of the state decreased. From 1977 to 1978, 600 problems were identified. As a result, already in the 80s, it was decided to remove the supersonic aircraft, explaining this with “a bad effect on people’s health when crossing the sound barrier.” Nevertheless, four out of five Tu-144Ds in production were still completed. Subsequently, they were based in Zhukovsky and took to the air as flying laboratories. A total of 16 supersonic aircraft were built (including long-range modifications), which made a total of 2,556 sorties. By the mid-90s, ten of them had survived: four in museums (Monino, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk); one remained at the plant in Voronezh, where it was built; another one was in Zhukovsky along with four Tu-144Ds.

Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for cargo transportation between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the supersonic aircraft made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, of which 55 were passenger flights (3,194 passengers were carried).
Later, supersonic aircraft only made test flights and a few flights to set world records.
The Tu-144LL was equipped with NK-32 engines due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and test monitoring and recording equipment.
A total of 16 Tu-144 airliners were built, which made a total of 2,556 sorties and flew 4,110 hours (among them, aircraft 77144 flew the most, 432 hours). The construction of four more airliners was never completed.

The idea of Russian President Vladimir Putin, inspired by the flight of the new “White Swan”, to create a supersonic aircraft made not only the employees of the Kazan Aircraft Plant, but also many other observers think. Could a missile carrier inspire designers to create new types of supersonic aircraft?

The largest and most powerful in history military aviation The Tu-160 supersonic aircraft, known to many by its nickname "White Swan", recently received new life. For the first time in many years, the Kazan Aircraft Plant presented to the public the updated Tu-160M bomber, named after the first commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, Pyotr Deinekin.

The first flight of the missile carrier was personally observed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of state was deeply impressed by the flight of the new “White Swan” and highly appreciated the professionalism of the pilots performing the maneuver, asking them to thank the pilots even before the landing of the aircraft. The president’s emotions were not surprising, since Putin himself piloted the Tu-160 missile carrier back in 2005.

At the end of the flight, the president expressed a proposal to Kazan aircraft designers to create a version of the passenger supersonic “Swan” for civil aviation based on the new Tu-160M.

But in order to understand how realistic it is to realize Vladimir Putin’s idea, you should turn to history Russian aviation and remember what steps have already been taken by aircraft designers in this direction.

Tu-144

One of the greatest industrial successes in Russian history was the creation of the Tu-144 aircraft. It was manufactured long before the Tu-160 and became the first supersonic passenger airliner in the history of mankind. In addition, the Tu-144 to this day is one of two famous history types of supersonic passenger aircraft.

The airliner was created on the instructions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, issued on July 19, 1963. The first supersonic passenger aircraft had serious requirements. The aircraft was supposed to be capable of flying at a cruising speed of 2,300 to 2,700 km/h over a distance of up to 4,500 kilometers, while carrying up to 100 passengers on board.

The first prototype of the aircraft was created by the Tupolev Design Bureau in 1965. Three years later, the plane took to the skies for the first time, two months ahead of its main and only competitor, the famous British-French Concorde.

The Tu-144 had a number of design features that even outwardly distinguished it from other aircraft. There were no flaps or slats on its wings: the plane slowed down thanks to the deflecting nose of the fuselage. In addition, the ancestor of modern GPS navigators was installed on the airliner - the PINO (Projection Indicator of Navigation Situation) system, which projected the necessary coordinates onto the screen from a filmstrip.

However, due to the excessive costs of operating and maintaining the airliner, the Soviet Union abandoned further production of the Tu-144. By the time production was abandoned, a total of 16 aircraft remained, two of which were later destroyed as a result of the tragic famous disaster at the international air show in Le Bourget in 1973 and in the crash over Yegoryevsk in 1978. On this moment There are only eight assembled aircraft left in the world, three of which can be fully restored and ready for further use.

SPS-2 and Tu-244

Photo: Stahlkocher / wikimedia.org

Another project that had serious expectations was the SPS-2, which was later given the promising name Tu-244 by its developer, the Tupolev Design Bureau.

The first information about work on a second-generation supersonic passenger airliner dates back to approximately 1971–1973 of the last century.

When developing the Tu-224, the designers took into account both the experience of creating and operating its predecessors - the Tu-144 and Concorde, and the Tu-160, as well as American supersonic aircraft projects.

According to the plans of the SPS-2 developers, the new airliner was supposed to lose the main “ business card» its predecessor - the downward deflecting nose of the fuselage. In addition, the glass area of the cockpit had to be reduced to a minimum sufficient for visibility. It was planned to use an optical-electronic vision system for takeoff and landing of the aircraft.

Also, the designed aircraft was supposed to rise to a height of up to 20 kilometers and accommodate about 300 passengers on board. To achieve such parameters, it was necessary to dramatically increase its size in all respects, which is what was planned to be done: with a fuselage length of almost 90 meters and a wingspan of about 50 meters, the Tu-244 would look like a giant compared to any existing analogues.

But the maximum speed of the airliner, compared to its predecessors, practically remained the same: the speed limit of the SPS-2 did not exceed 2500 km/h. In contrast, it was planned to increase the maximum flight distance to about 9,000 kilometers by reducing fuel consumption.

However, the production of such a supersonic heavyweight in the realities of the modern world turned out to be economically infeasible. Due to increased requirements for environmental standards, the costs of operating such a Tu-244 aircraft are currently prohibitive both for the aircraft manufacturer itself and for the country’s economy as a whole.

Tu-344 and Tu-444

These aircraft were developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau (later Tupolev OJSC, now Tupolev PJSC) as a response to the growing global demand for fast and small business-class aircraft. This is how various SBS projects - supersonic business aircraft - appeared.

Similar aircraft had to be small in size and able to carry about 10 passengers. The first SBS project from Tupolev, the Tu-344, was planned to be produced back in the 90s of the last century on the basis of the military supersonic bomber Tu-22M3. But its development turned out to be a failure in the initial stages, since for international flights the aircraft also had to meet high requirements in the field, which it did not meet already in the first stages of the project’s development. Therefore, the designer refused further work on the creation of the Tu-344.

Work on the project of its successor, the Tu-444, began in the early 2000s, its development reached the stage of the first sketches. Despite the fact that environmental problems had been resolved, the project required the attraction of large financial investments, but Tupolev was unable to find investors interested in this.

S-21 (SSBJ)

Photo: Slangcamm/ wikimedia.org

The only domestic project to create a supersonic aircraft for civil aviation, the development of which was not carried out by the Tupolev Design Bureau, was the project of the S-21 aircraft, also known as the Sukhoi Supersonic Business Jet (SSBJ).

The Sukhoi Design Bureau began work on this project in the 80s. The design bureau understood that the demand for large supersonic airliners since the days of Concorde and Tu-144, it has fallen and in the future it will only decrease for reasons of economy. Therefore, Sukhoi designers were among the first to come up with the idea of creating a supersonic business aircraft designed for direct flights between world capitals.

But the development of the S-21 was hindered by the collapse of the USSR, along with which government funding for the project ceased.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sukhoi tried for many years to attract private investors to the project in Russia and abroad. The volume of incoming investments made it possible to conduct the first tests of engines for the S-21 in 1993.

But to complete the creation and start of serial production of the aircraft, according to the statement of Mikhail Simonov, the head of Sukhoi at that time, about one billion US dollars was required, but new investors for the company could not be found.

Aircraft designers were faced with the task of further increasing their speed. Higher speed expanded the combat capabilities of both fighters and bombers.

The beginning of the supersonic era was marked by the flight of Chuck Yeager, an American test pilot, on October 14, 1947, on an experimental Bell X-1 aircraft with an XLR-11 rocket engine, which reached supersonic speed in controlled flight.

Development

The 60s-70s of the 20th century were marked by the rapid development of supersonic aviation. The main problems of aircraft stability and controllability and their aerodynamic efficiency were solved. The high flight speed also made it possible to increase the ceiling to over 20 km, which was important for reconnaissance aircraft and bombers. At that time, before the advent of anti-aircraft missile systems capable of hitting targets at high altitudes, the main principle of using bombers was to fly to the target at the highest possible altitude and speed. During these years, supersonic aircraft for a wide variety of purposes were built and put into production - fighters, bombers, interceptors, fighter-bombers, reconnaissance aircraft (the first supersonic all-weather interceptor - Convair F-102 Delta Dagger; the first supersonic long-range bomber - Convair B-58 Hustler) .

Nowadays, new aircraft are appearing, including those made using Stealth technology to reduce visibility.

Comparative diagrams of Tu-144 and Concorde

Passenger supersonic aircraft

In the history of aviation, there have only been two passenger supersonic aircraft operating on regular flights. The Soviet Tu-144 aircraft made its first flight on December 31, 1968, and was in operation from 1978 to 1978. Two months later, on March 2, 1969, the Anglo-French Concorde (fr. Concorde- “consent”) made transatlantic flights from 2003 to 2003. Their operation made it possible not only to significantly reduce flight time on long-distance flights, but also to use uncongested airspace at high altitudes (≈18 km), while the main airspace used by airliners (altitudes 9-12 km) was already in those years significantly loaded. Also, supersonic aircraft flew along straight routes (outside air routes).

Theoretical issues

Flight at supersonic speed, in contrast to subsonic speed, proceeds according to different laws, since when an object reaches the speed of sound, the aerodynamic flow pattern changes qualitatively, due to which aerodynamic drag increases sharply, kinetic heating of the structure increases, the aerodynamic focus shifts, which leads to loss of stability and aircraft controllability. In addition, a hitherto unknown phenomenon called “wave resistance” appeared.

Therefore, achieving the speed of sound and efficient flight were impossible by simply increasing engine power; new design solutions were required. The consequence was a change in the appearance of the aircraft - characteristic straight lines and sharp corners appeared, in contrast to the “smooth” shape of subsonic aircraft.

It should be noted that the task of creating an effective supersonic aircraft cannot be considered resolved yet. The creators have to make a compromise between the requirement to increase speed and maintain acceptable takeoff and landing characteristics. Thus, the conquest of new frontiers in speed and altitude by aviation is associated not only with the use of a more advanced or fundamentally new propulsion system and a new aircraft layout, but also with changes in their geometry in flight. Such changes, while improving the aircraft's performance at high speeds, should not worsen their performance at low speeds, and vice versa. Recently, creators have been refusing to reduce the wing area and the relative thickness of their profiles, as well as increasing the wing sweep angle of aircraft with variable geometry, returning to low-sweep wings and a large relative thickness, if satisfactory maximum speed and ceiling values have already been achieved. In this case, it is considered important that a supersonic aircraft has good performance at low speeds and reduced drag at high speeds, especially at low altitudes.

Notes

Project objectives

The first Tu-244 model is expected to have proven NK-32 engines, the same as the Tu-160M2 strategic bomber upgraded on November 16, 2017. The very first development of SPS-2 began too early, in 1973, thanks to the developments of Soviet military designers of the 1950s, who were 50 years ahead of their time. At that time there were no such high-quality composite materials to be used in large quantities, and the power plants had insufficient thrust. In the 1960s there were engines with 20-ton thrust, in the 1970s with 25-ton, and now 32-ton engines are used.

Aircraft designers are given 2 main tasks:

Flight range – 9,200 km.

Reduced fuel consumption for this class of equipment.

The first and second problems can be solved following the example of the Tu-160 and Tu-22M3, using variable wing sweep, making the aircraft multi-mode. You can analyze Chernyakov’s closed projects T-4 and T-4MS, study Myasishchev’s developments on modifications of the M-50, ingenious and fantastic then, more suitable today. The Tupolev Design Bureau has everything for this; it contains materials from all the leading design bureaus of the USSR involved in heavy strategic aviation, on the basis of which the world's best military long-range aircraft, the Tu-22M3M and Tu-160M2, were created.

Advantages of jet aircraft

Advantage jet plane- speed. This guarantees a comfortable flight and reduces the distance in time. Spending three times less hours in a seat means that passengers feel good, for example, on the Vladivostok – Kaliningrad flight. Business time is saved. Using the services of the Tu-244 airliner, you can spend 1 day more on vacation, and upon arrival, immediately go to work without fatigue. It is also important to receive moral satisfaction for our citizens from the prestige of the Tu-244 and to experience pride in Russia. Release of civilians jet aircraft from the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation - more important than the self-sufficiency of the country's defense enterprises, this is a commercial orientation, jobs, a guarantee of stability and the accumulation of profits in tough market conditions.

Disadvantages of high-speed passenger airliners

In the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s they noticed that the creation of a civilian supersonic passenger airliner according to military principles it will not work due to the requirements for comfort and safety. We began to study the experience of the USA, France and England in this regard; what was considered the best, then, according to the plan of the chief designer Alexei Andreevich Tupolev, went into work. The disadvantages of the first Tu-144 and Concorde include high fuel consumption, engine noise, sound booms, and the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

The main disadvantage of the Tu-244 is the commercial, military and political institutions of the West, because their Concordes flew off in 2003, and there are no new plans, because our aircraft manufacturing paths diverge. The explanation for this: firstly, strategic supersonic aviation NATO is not needed, because Their power is based on an aircraft-carrying ocean-going fleet, and it is enough to deliver nuclear bombs and missiles by aircraft with a range of 1.5 km (fighters) from military bases scattered around the world, which is why military projects of this class are not in great demand in the West. Also, the rather high cost of the flight sharply narrows the potential market segment for these aircraft, so mass production is out of the question. However, a simultaneous order for military and passenger transport is exactly what could give a serious boost to supersonic passenger aviation.

What will the Tu-244 be like in terms of flight characteristics?

The design was delayed, the Tu-144 in the 1968 configuration reached its first design characteristics by the mid-1970s. Work on its improvement has been going on since 1992 - the beginning of the Tu-244 project; 25 years have passed since then; it will take another 10 to finish what we started. It is clearly seen that the involvement of the USA, England and France in the development of the Tu-244 program with the collapse of the USSR did not which did not lead to anything good, as in all similar cases in the former USSR. Only the collection of scientific data from the Tu-144LL for the NASA military space program and the inhibition of our enterprises in the development.

Today there are many variants of Tu-244 projects. No one can say for sure what the plane itself will be like. Unofficial sources are disseminating ambiguous information. The characteristics described below are conditional, compiled on the basis of current capabilities. Characteristics: length 88.7 m; wingspan 54.77 m, area 1,200 sq.m., and aspect ratio 2.5 m; wing sweep along the edge - 75 degrees at the center section, 35 degrees at the console; fuselage width 3.9 m, height 4.1 m, luggage compartment for 32 sq.m.; take-off weight 350 tons, including fuel 178 tons; NK-32 engines – 4 units; cruising speed 2.05 M; range 10 thousand km; Max. height 20 km.

Design of Tu-244

Let us imagine a trapezoidal wing and the complex deformation of its middle trapezoid. Aileron control in trim, roll and pitch. At the leading edge, the toes are deflected mechanically. The wing structure is divided into parts: front, middle and console. The middle and console parts have multi-spar and multi-rib power circuits, but there are no ribs in the front part. The vertical tail is the same as the wing structure and the two-section rudder guide.

Fuselage with a pressurized cabin, nose and tail compartments - the size will be selected to order based on the number of passenger seats. For 250 and 320 passengers, a fuselage diameter of 3.9 to 4.1 m is suitable. The cabin will be divided into classes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. In terms of comfort, the Tu-244 will be at the level of the latest modification of the Tu-204. The plane is equipped with a cargo compartment. There are four pilots, their seats with catapults (in Russian), shooting upward. Everything on board is newly automated and subordinated to central program control.

The Tu-244 may lose the deflectable nose, similar to the Tu-144LL, due to the development of the latest optical-electronic equipment and the ability to deflect controlled thrust vectors in modern domestic power plants. In areas of maximum load, titanium alloy VT-64 can be used in the wheel area. The bow strut may remain the same, but there will definitely be 3 new main supports for the concrete strip, designed for high loads. Navigation and flight equipment will comply with the meteorological minimum according to the international classification IIIA ICAO.