Aircraft On Display
While several Tu-144s were donated to museums in Moscow Monino, Samara and Ulyanovsk, at least two Tu-144D remained in open storage in Moscow Zhukovsky.
As of June 2010, two aircraft are located outdoors at LII aircraft testing facility, Zhukovsky (at coordinates 55°34′11″N 38°09′20″E / 55.569786°N 38.155652°E / 55.569786; 38.155652 and 55°34′18″N 38°09′08″E / 55.571776°N 38.152304°E / 55.571776; 38.152304). Previously, they were constantly on display at MAKS Airshows.
TU-144S, tail number 77106, is on display at Central Air Force Museum of Russia in Monino.Maiden Flight: 4 March 1975, Final Flight: 29 February 1980 Delivery flight to Monino. She was used to assess the effectiveness of the air-conditioning systems and to solve some problems on the fuel system. She can be considered the first production aircraft, as she was the first to be equipped for commercial use and delivered to Aeroflot. The first operational flight was on 26 December 1975 between Moscow and Alma-Ata carrying cargo and mail. This aircraft was the first SST to land on a dirty runway when she was retired to Monino. Total Flights 320 flights. Total Flight Hours 582 hours, 36 minutes.
Another TU-144, tail number 77107, is on open display in Kazan. The plane was constructed in 1975 and was a production model intended for passenger use. However, it was only used during test flights. On 29 March 1976 it made its last flight to Kazan.
TU-144S, tail number 77108, is on display in the museum of Samara State Aerospace University.Maiden Flight: 12 December 1975, Final Flight: 27 August 1987 : Delivery flight to Samara.Development works on navigation system were made in this aircraft as well as flight-director approach. This aircraft never was delivered to Aeroflot. Total Flights: 50 flights. Total Flight Hours 68 hours. Supersonic Flight Hours 6 hours.
TU-144S, tail number 77110, is on display at the Museum of Civil Aviation in Ulyanovsk.Maiden Flight 14 February 1977, Final Flight 1 June 1984 : Delivery flight to Ulyanovsk.This aircraft was the second of the two planes used for regular passengers' flights on Moscow – Alma-Ata route. In 1977 flew to Paris to take part in the XXXII Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport. This was the last appearance of a TU-144 in West Europe. CCCP-77110 was the last plane produced of the model TU-144S powered with Kuznetsov NK-144A engines. In the first half of 2008 the cabin was open for visits and between August and September was restored and painted in the original Aeroflot livery. Total Flights 212 flights. Total Flight Hours 314 hours.
The only Tu-144 on display outside the former Soviet Union was acquired by the Auto & Technikmuseum Sinsheim in Germany, where it was shipped – not flown – in 2001 and where it now stands, in its original Aeroflot livery, on display next to an Air France Concorde.
Read more about this topic: Tupolev Tu-144
Famous quotes containing the word display:
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)