Concorde - Comparable Aircraft

Comparable Aircraft

The only supersonic airliner in direct competition with Concorde was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, nicknamed "Concordski" by Western Europeans for its outward similarity to Concorde. It had been alleged that Soviet espionage efforts had resulted in the theft of Concorde blueprints, ostensibly to assist in the design of the Tu-144. As a result of a rushed development programme, the first Tu-144 prototype was substantially different from the preproduction machines, but both were cruder than Concorde. The Tu-144S had a significantly shorter range than Concorde, due to its low-bypass turbofan engines. The aircraft had poor control at low speeds because of a simpler supersonic wing design; in addition the Tu-144 required parachutes to land while Concorde used anti-lock brakes. The Tu-144 had two crashes, one at the 1973 Paris Air Show, and another during a pre-delivery test flight in May 1978.

Later production Tu-144 versions were more refined and competitive. They had retractable canards for better low-speed control, turbojet engines providing nearly the fuel efficiency and range of Concorde and a top speed of Mach 2.35. Passenger service commenced in November 1977, but after the 1978 crash the aircraft was taken out of service. The aircraft had an inherently unsafe structural design as a consequence of an automated production method chosen in order to simplify and speed up manufacturing.

The American designs, the Boeing 2707 and the Lockheed L-2000 were to have been larger, with seating for up to 300 people. Running a few years behind Concorde, the Boeing 2707 was redesigned to a cropped delta layout; the extra cost of these changes helped to kill the project. The operation of US military aircraft such as the XB-70 Valkyrie and B-58 Hustler had shown that sonic booms were quite capable of reaching the ground, and the experience from the Oklahoma City sonic boom tests led to the same environmental concerns that hindered the commercial success of Concorde. The American government cancelled the project in 1971, after having spent more than $1 billion.

The only other large supersonic aircraft comparable to Concorde are strategic bombers, principally the Russian Tupolev Tu-22, Tu-22M and Tu-160 and the American B-1 Lancer.