How fast does a supersonic fighter fly? Supersonic aircraft

avia-su.ru

The twin-engine fighter produced by the Sukhoi Design Bureau was adopted by the USSR Air Force in 1985, although it made its first flight in May 1977.

This aircraft can reach a maximum supersonic speed of Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h), which is more than twice the speed of sound.

The Su-27 earned a reputation as one of the most capable units of its time, and some models are still used by the armies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

www.f-16.net

The tactical strike aircraft was developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics. Designed to carry two crew members, the first aircraft entered service with the US Air Force in 1967, and was used for strategic bombing, reconnaissance and electronic warfare. The F-111 was able to reach speeds of Mach 2.5 (2,655 km/h), or 2.5 times the speed of sound.

letsgoflying.wordpress.com

The twin-engine tactical fighter was developed by McDonnell Douglas in 1967. The all-weather aircraft is designed to gain and maintain air superiority over enemy forces during air combat. The F-15 Eagle made its first flight in July 1972 and officially entered service with the US Air Force in 1976.

The F-15 is capable of flying at speeds exceeding Mach 2.5 (2,655 km/h) and is considered one of the most successful aircraft ever created. The F-15 Eagle is expected to be in service with the US Air Force until 2025. The fighter is currently being exported to a number of foreign countries, including Japan, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

airforce.ru

A large, twin-engine supersonic aircraft produced by the Mikoyan Design Bureau is designed to intercept foreign aircraft at high speeds. The aircraft made its first flight in September 1975, and was adopted by the Air Force in 1982.

The MiG-31 reaches a speed of Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h) and was capable of flying at supersonic speeds even at low altitudes. The MiG-31 is still in service with the Russian and Kazakh air forces.

XB-70 newspaceandaircraft.com

The six-engine XB-70 Valkyrie was developed by North American Aviation in the late 1950s. The aircraft was built as a prototype for a strategic bomber with nuclear bombs.

The XB-70 Valkyrie reached its design speed on October 14, 1965, when it reached Mach 3.02 (3,219 km/h), at an altitude of 21,300 m above Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Two XB-70s were built and flown on test flights from 1964 to 1969. One of the prototypes crashed in 1966 after a mid-air collision, and another XB-70 is on display in National Museum US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Bell X-2 Starbuster

X-2 wikipedia.org

The rocket-powered aircraft is a joint development of Bell Aircraft Corporation, the US Air Force and the National advisory committee in Aeronautics (predecessor to NASA) in 1945. The aircraft was built to study aerodynamic properties during supersonic flight in the range of Mach 2 and 3.

The X-2, nicknamed Starbuster, made its first flight in November 1955. The following year, in September 1956, Captain Milburn at the helm was able to reach a speed of Mach 3.2 (3370 km/h) at an altitude of 19800 m.

Shortly after reaching this maximum speed, the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed. This tragic incident put an end to the X-2 program.

airforce.ru

The aircraft, produced by Mikoyan-Gurevich, was designed to intercept enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds and collect intelligence data. The MiG-25 is one of the fastest military aircraft to enter service. The MiG-25 made its first flight in 1964 and was first used by the Soviet Air Force in 1970.

The MiG-25 has an incredible top speed of Mach 3.2 (3524 km/h). The aircraft is still in service with the Russian Air Force and is also used by a number of other countries, including the Algerian Air Force and the Syrian Air Force.

wikipedia.org

A prototype aircraft developed by Lockheed in the late 50s and early 60s. The aircraft was built to intercept enemy aircraft at Mach 3.

Testing of the YF-12 took place at Area 51, a top-secret US Air Force test site that has been linked to aliens by ufologists. The YF-12 made its first flight in 1963 and reached a top speed of Mach 3.2 (3,330 km/h) at an altitude of 24,400 m. The USAF eventually canceled the program, but the YF-12 still made a number of research flights for the Air Force and NASA. The plane finally stopped flying in 1978.

When might a new supersonic passenger plane take to the skies? Business jet based on the Tu-160 bomber: real? How to silently break the sound barrier?

Tu-160 - the largest and most powerful in history military aviation supersonic aircraft and aircraft with variable wing geometry. Among the pilots he received the nickname "White Swan". Photo: AP

Do supersonic passenger cars have a future? - I asked the outstanding Russian aircraft designer Genrikh Novozhilov not long ago.

Of course have. At least a supersonic business aircraft will definitely appear,” answered Genrikh Vasilievich. - I have had the opportunity to talk with American businessmen more than once. They clearly stated: “If such an aircraft appeared, Mr. Novozhilov, then no matter how expensive it was, they would instantly buy it from you.” Speed, altitude and range are three factors that are always relevant.

Yes, they are relevant. The dream of any businessman: to fly across the ocean in the morning, conclude a major deal, and return home in the evening. Modern airplanes fly no faster than 900 km/h. A supersonic business jet will have a cruising speed of about 1900 km per hour. What prospects for the business world!

That is why neither Russia, nor America, nor Europe have ever given up attempts to create a new supersonic passenger car. But the history of those that have already flown - the Soviet Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde - has taught us a lot.

This December it will be half a century since the Tu-144 made its first flight. And a year later, the liner showed exactly what it was capable of: it broke the sound barrier. He picked up a speed of 2.5 thousand km/h at an altitude of 11 km. This event went down in history. There are still no analogues of passenger aircraft in the world that are capable of repeating such a maneuver.

"One Hundred and Forty Four" opened a fundamentally new page in the global aircraft industry. They say that at one of the meetings at the CPSU Central Committee, designer Andrei Tupolev reported to Khrushchev: the car is turning out to be quite voracious. But he just waved his hand: your job is to wipe the noses of the capitalists, but we have enough kerosene...

The nose was wiped. They filled themselves with kerosene.

However, the European competitor, which took off later, was also not distinguished by its efficiency. Thus, in 1978, nine Concordes brought their companies about $60 million in losses. And only government subsidies saved the situation. Nevertheless, the “Anglo-French” flew until November 2003. But the Tu-144 was written off much earlier. Why?

First of all, Khrushchev’s optimism did not come true: an energy crisis broke out in the world and kerosene prices went up. The supersonic first-born was immediately dubbed “a boa constrictor around Aeroflot’s neck.” The enormous fuel consumption also knocked out the designed flight range: the Tu-144 did not reach either Khabarovsk or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Only from Moscow to Alma-Ata.

And if only that. A 200-ton “iron”, cruising over densely populated areas at supersonic speed, literally blew up the entire space along the route. Complaints poured in: cow milk yields fell, chickens stopped laying eggs, acid rain crushed them... Today you can’t say for sure where the truth is and where the lies are. But the fact remains: Concorde flew only over the ocean.

Finally, the most important thing is disasters. One - in June 1973 at the air show in Paris Le Bourget, as they say, in full view of the whole planet: the crew of test pilot Kozlov wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of the Soviet airliner... The other - five years later. Then a test flight was carried out with engines of a new series: they were just supposed to pull the plane to the required range.

Concorde also did not escape tragedy: the plane crashed in July 2000 while taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport. Ironically, it crashed almost where the Tu-144 once did. 109 people on board and four on the ground were killed. Regular passenger services resumed only a year later. But a series of incidents followed, and this supersonic aircraft was also put to rest.

On December 31, 1968, the first flight of the Tu-144 took place, two months earlier than the Concorde. And on June 5, 1969, at an altitude of 11,000 meters, our plane was the first in the world to break the sound barrier. Photo: Sergey Mikheev/ RG

Today, at a new stage in technology development, scientists need to find a balance between contradictory factors: good aerodynamics of a new supersonic aircraft, low fuel consumption, as well as strict restrictions on noise and sonic boom.

How realistic is it to create a new passenger supersonic aircraft based on the Tu-160 bomber? From a purely engineering point of view, it’s quite possible, experts say. And in history there are examples when military aircraft successfully “removed their shoulder straps” and flew “to civilian life”: for example, the Tu-104 was created on the basis of the Tu-16 long-range bomber, and the Tu-114 was based on the Tu-95 bomber. In both cases, it was necessary to redo the fuselage - change the wing layout, expand the diameter. In fact, these were new aircraft, and quite successful ones. By the way, an interesting detail: when the Tu-114 first flew to New York, there was neither a ramp nor a tractor suitable in height at the stunned airport...

At a minimum, similar work will be required for the conversion of the Tu-160. However, how cost effective will this solution be? Everything needs to be carefully assessed.

How many such planes do you need? Who will fly them and where? How commercially available will they be for passengers? How soon will the development costs pay off?.. Tickets on the same Tu-144 cost 1.5 times more than usual, but even such a high cost did not cover operating costs.

Meanwhile, according to experts, the first Russian supersonic administrative aircraft (business jet) can be designed in seven to eight years if the engine reserves are available. Such an aircraft can accommodate up to 50 people. Total demand in the domestic market is projected at 20-30 cars at a price of 100-120 million dollars.

A new generation of serial supersonic passenger aircraft may appear around 2030

Designers on both sides of the ocean are working on supersonic business jet projects. Everyone is looking for new layout solutions. Some offer an atypical tail, some a completely unusual wing, some a fuselage with a curved central axis...

TsAGI specialists are developing the SDS/SPS project ("supersonic business aircraft / supersonic passenger aircraft"): according to the plan, it will be able to perform transatlantic flights over a distance of up to 8600 km with a cruising speed of at least 1900 km/h. Moreover, the cabin will be transformable - from 80-seat to 20-seat VIP class.

A last summer at the air show in Zhukovsky, one of the most interesting was a model of a high-speed civil aircraft, created by TsAGI scientists as part of the international project HEXAFLY-INT. This aircraft must fly at a speed of more than 7-8 thousand km/h, corresponding to Mach numbers 7 or 8.

But for a high-speed civil aircraft to become a reality, a huge range of problems must be solved. They are related to materials, the hydrogen power plant, its integration with the airframe and obtaining high aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft itself.

And what is absolutely certain: the design features of the designed winged aircraft will be clearly non-standard.

Competently

Sergey Chernyshev, CEO TsAGI, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences:

The level of sonic boom (a sharp pressure drop in the shock wave) from the Tu-144 was 100-130 pascals. But modern research has shown that it can be increased to 15-20. Moreover, reduce the volume of the sonic boom to 65 decibels, which is equivalent to noise big city. There are still no official standards in the world on the permissible level of sonic boom. And most likely it will be determined no earlier than 2022.

We have already proposed the appearance of a demonstrator of a supersonic civil aircraft of the future. The sample must demonstrate the ability to reduce sonic boom in supersonic cruise flight and noise in the airport area. Several options are being considered: an aircraft for 12-16 passengers, also for 60-80. There is an option for a very small business aircraft - for 6-8 passengers. These are different weights. In one case, the car will weigh approximately 50 tons, and in another - 100-120, etc. But we start with the first of the designated supersonic aircraft.

According to various estimates, today there is already an unrealized market need for fast flights for business people on airplanes with a passenger capacity of 12-16 people. And, of course, the car must fly a distance of at least 7-8 thousand kilometers along transatlantic routes. The cruising speed will be Mach 1.8-2, that is, approximately twice the speed of sound. This speed is a technological barrier to the use of conventional aluminum materials in airframe construction. Therefore, the dream of scientists is to make an airplane entirely from temperature-controlled composites. And there are good developments.

Clear requirements for the aircraft must be determined by the launch customer, and then at the stages of preliminary design and development work, some changes in the original appearance of the aircraft obtained at the preliminary design stage are possible. But the sound principles for reducing sonic boom will remain unchanged.

The short passenger operation of the supersonic Tu-144 was limited to flights from Moscow to Alma-Ata. Photo: Boris Korzin/ TASS Photo Chronicle

I think we are 10-15 years away from a flying prototype. In the near future, according to our plans, a flying demonstrator should appear, the appearance of which is being worked out. Its main task is to demonstrate the basic technologies for creating a supersonic aircraft with low level sonic boom. This is a necessary stage of work. A new generation serial supersonic aircraft may appear on the horizon in 2030.

Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor:

Make a passenger supersonic aircraft based on the Tu-160? For our engineers - absolutely real. No problem. Moreover, this car is very good, with remarkable aerodynamic qualities, good wing, fuselage. However, today any passenger aircraft must first of all meet international airworthiness and technical requirements. The discrepancies, when comparing a bomber and a passenger plane, are more than 50 percent. For example, when some people say that when remodeling it is necessary to “inflate the fuselage,” you need to understand: the Tu-160 itself weighs more than 100 tons. “Inflate” means adding weight. This means increasing fuel consumption, reducing speed and altitude, and making the aircraft absolutely unattractive for any airline in terms of its operating costs.

To create a supersonic aircraft for business aviation, we need new avionics, new aircraft engines, new materials, and new types of fuel. On the Tu-144, kerosene, as they say, flowed like a river. Today this is impossible. And most importantly, there must be mass demand for such an aircraft. One or two cars ordered from millionaires will not solve the financial problem. Airlines will have to lease it and “work off” the cost. On whom? Naturally, on the passengers. From an economic point of view, the project will be a failure.

Sergey Melnichenko, General Director of ICAA "Flight Safety":

Over the almost 35 years that have passed since the start of serial production of the Tu-160, technology has advanced, and this will have to be taken into account when thoroughly modernizing the existing aircraft. Aircraft makers say it is much easier and cheaper to build a new aircraft according to a new concept than to rebuild an old one.

Another question: if the Tu-160 is rebuilt specifically as a business jet, will Arab sheikhs still be interested in it? However, there are a few "buts". The aircraft will need to obtain an international certificate (and the European Union and the USA are behind its issuance), which is very problematic. In addition, we will need new efficient engines, which we do not have. Those that are available do not consume fuel, but drink.

If the plane is converted to carry economy passengers (which is unlikely), then the question is - where to fly and who to carry? Last year we only just approached the figure of 100 million passengers carried. In the USSR these figures were much higher. The number of airfields has decreased several times. Not everyone who would like to fly to European part countries from Kamchatka and Primorye can afford it. Tickets for a “fuel-guzzling plane” will be more expensive than for Boeings and Airbuses.

If the plane is planned to be rebuilt purely for the interests of the heads of large companies, then this will most likely be the case. But then this question concerns them purely, and not the Russian economy and people. Although even in this case it is difficult to imagine that flights will be carried out only to Siberia or the Far East. Problem with area noise. And if the updated plane is not allowed to fly to Sardinia, then who needs it?

In the early 60s, it became clear that the USSR needed a supersonic passenger aircraft, because The main jet airliner of that time, the Tu-104, flew from Moscow to Khabarovsk with two intermediate landings for refueling. The Tu-114 turboprop operated non-stop flights on this route, but was in flight for as long as 14 hours. And the supersonic Tu-144 would cover a distance of 8,500 kilometers in 3.5 hours! To ensure growing passenger flows on long transcontinental routes, the Soviet Union needed a new modern supersonic passenger aircraft (SPS).

However, a detailed analysis and study of the proposed SPS projects based on the first supersonic bombers showed that creating an effective competitive SPS by modifying a military prototype is an extremely difficult task. The first supersonic heavy combat aircraft, in their design solutions, mainly met the requirements of a relatively short-term supersonic flight. For the SPS, it was necessary to ensure a long cruising flight at speeds of at least two speeds of sound - Mach number equal to 2 (M = 2). The specifics of the task of transporting passengers additionally required a significant increase in the reliability of all elements of the aircraft structure, subject to more intensive operation, taking into account the increase in flight duration in supersonic modes. Analyzing all possible options for technical solutions, aviation specialists both in the USSR and in the West came to the firm opinion that a cost-effective ATP must be designed as a fundamentally new type of aircraft.

During the creation of the Soviet SPS, domestic aviation science and industry were faced with a number of scientific and technical problems that our subsonic passenger and military supersonic aviation had not encountered. First of all, to ensure the required flight performance characteristics of the SPS, this is a flight at a speed of M = 2 at a distance of up to 6500 km with 100-120 passengers, in combination with acceptable takeoff and landing data, it was necessary to significantly improve the aerodynamic quality of the aircraft at cruising flight speeds. It was necessary to solve the issues of stability and controllability of a heavy aircraft when flying in subsonic, transonic and supersonic regions, to develop practical methods for balancing the aircraft in all these modes, taking into account minimizing aerodynamic losses. A long flight at speed M=2 was associated with research and ensuring the strength of the airframe structure and components at elevated temperatures close to 100-120 degrees C, it was necessary to create heat-resistant structural materials, lubricants, sealants, as well as develop types of structures capable of operating for a long time under conditions of cyclic aerodynamic heating.

The aerodynamic appearance of the Tu-144 was determined mainly by obtaining a long flight range in supersonic cruising mode, subject to obtaining the required stability and controllability characteristics, as well as the specified take-off and landing characteristics. The aerodynamic quality of the Tu-144 at double the speed of sound was 8.1, on the Concorde - 7.7, and for most supersonic MiGs of the mid-60s of the last century, the aerodynamic quality did not exceed a coefficient of 3.4. The airframe design of the first SPS mainly used traditional aluminum alloys; 20% of it was made of titanium, which can withstand heat up to 200 degrees C. The only aircraft in the world that also used titanium was the SR-71, the famous “Blackbird” ", American supersonic reconnaissance aircraft.

TU-144D No. 77115 at the MAKS 2015 air show / Photo (c) Andrey Velichko

Based on the conditions for obtaining the required aerodynamic quality and optimal operating modes of the airframe, aircraft systems and assemblies at subsonic and supersonic speeds, we settled on the design of a tailless low-wing aircraft with a composite delta wing of an ogive shape. The wing was formed by two triangular surfaces with a sweep angle along the leading edge of 78° and 55° for the rear base part. Four turbofans were placed under the wing. The vertical tail was located along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The airframe's design mainly used traditional aluminum alloys. The wing was formed from symmetrical profiles and had a complex twist in two directions: longitudinal and transverse. This achieved the best flow around the wing surface in supersonic mode; in addition, such a twist helped to improve the longitudinal balancing in this mode.

Construction of the first prototype Tu-144 (“044”) began in 1965, while a second prototype was being built for static testing. The experimental "044" was initially designed for 98 passengers, later this figure was increased to 120. Accordingly, the estimated take-off weight increased from 130 to 150 tons. The prototype machine was built in Moscow in the workshops of the MMZ "Experience", some of the units were manufactured at its branches. In 1967, the assembly of the main elements of the aircraft was completed. At the end of 1967, the experimental "044" was transported to the Zhukovsky flight test and development base, where throughout 1968, development work was carried out and the vehicle was equipped with missing systems and units.

At the same time, flights of an analogue of the MiG-21I (A-144, “21-11”), created on the basis of the MiG-21S fighter, began at the LII airfield. An analogue was created in the Design Bureau of A.I. Mikoyan and had a wing geometrically and aerodynamically similar to the wing of the experimental “044”. A total of two "21-11" aircraft were built; many test pilots flew on them, including those who were to test the Tu-144. The analogue aircraft successfully reached a speed of 2500 km/h; the materials from these flights served as the basis for the final development of the Tu-144 wing, and also allowed test pilots to prepare for the peculiarities of the behavior of an aircraft with such a wing.

December 31, 1968 - first flight of the Tu-144

At the end of 1968, the experimental "044" (tail number 68001) was ready for its first flight. A crew was assigned to the vehicle, consisting of: the ship's commander, Honored Test Pilot E.V. Elyan (who later received the Hero of the Soviet Union for the Tu-144); co-pilot - Honored Test Pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov; leading test engineer V.N. Benderov and flight engineer Yu.T. Seliverstov. Considering the novelty of the aircraft, the design bureau made an extraordinary decision: for the first time, they decided to install ejection crew seats on an experimental passenger aircraft.

During the month, engine races, jogging, and ground system checks were carried out. From the beginning of the third ten days of December 1968, “044” was in pre-launch readiness, the vehicle and crew were completely ready for the first flight, during all these ten days there was no weather over the LII airfield, and the experienced Tu-144 remained on the ground. Finally, on the last day of the year 1968, 25 seconds after the start, “044” broke away for the first time runway LII airfield and quickly gained altitude. The first flight lasted 37 minutes, during the flight the car was accompanied by an analogue aircraft "21-11". The Tu-144 managed to take off two months earlier than its Anglo-French “colleague” - the Concorde airliner, which made its first flight on March 2, 1969.

According to the crew's reviews, the vehicle proved to be obedient and "flyable." The first flight was attended by A. N. Tupolev, A. A. Tupolev, and many heads of OKB departments. The first flight of the Tu-144 became an event of world significance and an important moment in the history of domestic and world aviation. For the first time, a supersonic passenger plane took off.

On June 3, 1973, the first production vehicle crashed during a demonstration flight in Le Bourget. Commander test pilot M.V. Kozlov, co-pilot V.M. Molchanov, deputy chief designer V.N. Benderov, flight engineer A.I. Dralin, navigator G.N. Bazhenov, engineer B.A. Pervukhin were killed. A commission was created to investigate the disaster, in which specialists from the USSR and France took part. Based on the results of the investigation, the French noted that there was no failure in the technical part of the aircraft, the cause of the disaster was the presence of unfastened crew members in the cockpit, the sudden appearance of the Mirage aircraft in the field of view of the Tu-144 crew, the presence of a movie camera in the hands of one of the crew members, which If it fell, the control wheel could become jammed. E.V. Elyan spoke most succinctly and accurately about the Tu-144 crash at Le Bourget in the 90s: “This disaster is a bitter example of how a confluence of small, at first glance, insignificant negligence, in this case on the part of the French flight control services, led to tragic consequences."

However, the Tu-144 began to make regular flights. The first operational flight was carried out on December 26, 1975 on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route, where the plane transported mail and parcels, and in November 1977, passenger transportation began on the same route.

The flights were carried out by only two aircraft - No. 77108 and No. 77109. Aeroflot pilots flew only as co-pilots, while the crew commanders were always test pilots from the Tupolev Design Bureau. A ticket cost a lot of money at that time - 82 rubles, and for a regular Il-18 or Tu-114 flight on the same route - 48 rubles.

From an economic point of view, after some time it became clear that the operation of the Tu-144 was unprofitable - supersonic aircraft flew half empty, and after 7 months the Tu-144 was removed from regular flights. Concorde experienced similar problems: only 14 aircraft flew from Europe to America, and even expensive tickets could not compensate airlines for huge fuel costs. Unlike the Tu-144, Concorde flights were subsidized by the governments of France and Great Britain almost until the beginning of the 90s. The cost of a ticket on the London-New York route in 1986 was 2,745 USD. Only very wealthy people could afford such expensive flights, for whom the formula “time is money” is the main credo of their existence. There were such people in the West, and for them, flying Concordes was a natural saving of time and money, as evidenced by their total flight time on intercontinental routes in 1989 of 325,000 flight hours. Therefore, we can assume that the Concorde program for the British and French was quite commercial, and subsidies were allocated to maintain prestige in relation to the Americans.

On May 23, 1978, the second Tu-144 crash occurred. An improved prototype of the Tu-144D aircraft (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, crashed forced landing in a field near the village of Ilyinsky Pogost, not far from the city of Yegoryevsk. Crew commander V.D. Popov, co-pilot E.V. Elyan and navigator V.V. Vyazigin were able to leave the plane through the cockpit window. Engineers V.M. Kulesh, V.A. Isaev, V.N. Stolpovsky, who were in the cabin, left the plane 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, it worked like a bulldozer knife, entering the ground, turned under the bottom and entered the fuselage. On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot permanently stopped supersonic passenger flights.

Subsequently, the Tu-144D was used only for freight transport between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, the Tu-144 made 102 flights under the Aeroflot flag, of which 55 were passenger flights, in which 3,194 passengers were transported.

Photo: Tu-144 board USSR-77115 / (c) Baskakov V.D.

Later, the Tu-144 made only test flights and several flights with the aim of setting world records. From 1995 to 1999, one significantly modified Tu-144D (No. 77114) called Tu-144LL was used by the American space agency NASA for research in the field of high-speed commercial flights in order to develop a plan for the creation of a new, modern supersonic passenger plane. Due to the lack of serviceable NK-144 or RD-36-51 engines, the Tu-144LL was equipped with NK-32, similar to those used on the Tu-160, various sensors and monitoring and recording equipment.

A total of 16 Tu-144 aircraft 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 aircraft was never completed.

Tu-144 board USSR-77114 parked at the Flight Research Institute named after. Gromov, airfield in Zhukovsky / Photo (c) Andrey Velichko, MAKS 2003

There are currently no aircraft that remain in flying condition. Only the Tu-144LL aircraft No. 77114 and TU-144D No. 77115 are almost completely complete with parts and can be restored to flight condition. Aircraft No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. TU-144D No. 77115 is also stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky. Once every two years, these machines are shown in a static parking lot during the MAKS international aerospace show.

	Tu-144 of various modifications				Concorde
	Tu-144 (“044”)	Tu-144S	Tu-144D	Tu-144LL	Concorde
Specifications
Crew, people	4				3
Length, m	59,40	65,70			61,66
Height, m	12,25	12,50			12,2
Wingspan, m	27,65	28,00	28,80		25,60
Wing area, m²	438	503	507		358,6
Maximum take-off weight, kg	180 000	195 000	207 000	203 000	185 000
Payload weight, kg	12 000	15 000			13 380
Fuel weight, kg	70 000	98 000		95 000	95 680
Engines
Quantity	4
	NK-144	NK-144A	RD-36-51A	NK-32-1	Olympus 593
Thrust, maximum, kN	171,6	178,0	196,1	245,0	170,0
Supersonic thrust, kN	127,5	147,0		137,5
Flight characteristics
Maximum speed, km/h	2 443	2 500	2 285	2 500	2 330
Cruising speed (supersonic), km/h	2 300	2 200	2 120	2 300	2 150
Landing speed, km/h	270				295
Practical range (fully loaded), km	2 920	3 080	5 330	4 000	6 470
Service ceiling, m			20 000		18 300
Run length, m			2 930
Run length, m			2 570

It is interesting to compare the fate of the Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde - machines similar in purpose, design and time of creation. First of all, it should be noted that Concorde was designed mainly for supersonic flights over uninhabited spaces Atlantic Ocean. According to the conditions of a sonic boom, this is a choice of lower altitudes of cruising supersonic flight and, as a consequence, a smaller wing area, a smaller take-off weight, a lower required cruising thrust of the power plant and specific fuel consumption.

The Tu-144 had to fly mainly over land, so high flight altitudes and corresponding aircraft parameters, as well as the required thrust of the power plant, were required. This should include less advanced engines. In terms of their specific parameters, the Tu-144 engines came close to the Olympus only in the latest versions, plus the worst specific parameters of domestic equipment and aircraft components compared to Western ones. All these negative initial aspects were largely compensated by the high perfection of the aerodynamics of the Tu-144 - in terms of the obtained aerodynamic quality when flying in supersonic cruising mode, the Tu-144 was superior to the Concorde. This was due to the complication of the aircraft design and a decrease in the level of manufacturability in production.

There were no rich business people in the USSR, so there was no natural market for services that was supposed to satisfy the Tu-144. The aircraft obviously had to become largely subsidized and unprofitable in operation, which is why the program for creating the Tu-144 should be attributed to the concept of the country’s prestige. There were no real economic prerequisites for the use of ATP in the aviation services market of the USSR in the 60-70s of the twentieth century. As a result, on the one hand, the heroic efforts of the A. N. Tupolev Design Bureau and other enterprises and organizations of MAP to develop the Tu-144, and on the other, the initial emotional uplift and support from the country’s leadership, which gradually turned into indifference and, to a large extent, inhibition on the part of the Aeroflot management, which, by and large, simply did not need the low-income headache of mastering the complex Tu-144 complex. Therefore, in the early 80s, when the features of the coming economic and political crisis began to clearly appear in the USSR, the Tu-144 program was one of the first to suffer.

The speed of a sound wave is not constant even if the considered medium of sound propagation is air. The speed of sound at a fixed air temperature and atmospheric pressure changes with increasing altitude above sea level.

As altitude increases, the speed of sound decreases. The conventional reference point for the value is zero sea level. So, the speed at which a sound wave travels along the water surface is equal to 340.29 m/s, provided the ambient air temperature is 15 0 C and the atmospheric pressure is 760 mm. Hg So, airplanes flying at speeds higher than the speed of sound are called supersonic.

First achievement of supersonic speed

Supersonic aircraft are aircraft based on their physical ability to travel at speeds higher than sound waves. In our usual kilometers per hour, this figure is roughly equal to 1200 km/h.

Even airplanes from the Second World War with piston internal combustion engines and propellers creating an air flow during a dive already reached a speed of 1000 km/h. True, according to the stories of the pilots, at these moments the plane began to shake terribly due to strong vibration. The feeling was that the wings could simply come off the fuselage of the plane.

Subsequently, when creating supersonic aircraft, design engineers took into account the effect of air flow on the design of aircraft when reaching the speed of sound.

Overcoming the supersonic barrier by airplane

When an airplane moves among air masses, it literally cuts through the air in all directions, creating a noise effect and waves of air pressure diverging in all directions. When the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, a moment occurs when the sound wave is not able to overtake the aircraft. Because of this, a shock wave appears in front of the front of the aircraft in the form of a dense barrier of air.

The layer of air that appears in front of the aircraft at the moment the aircraft reaches the speed of sound creates a sharp increase in resistance, which is the source of changes in the stability characteristics of the aircraft.

When an airplane flies, sound waves travel from it in all directions at the speed of sound. When the plane reaches speed M=1, that is, the speed of sound, sound waves accumulate in front of it and form a layer of compacted air. At speeds above the speed of sound, these waves form a shock wave that reaches the ground. The shock wave is perceived as a sonic boom, acoustically perceived by the human ear below on the earth's surface as a dull explosion.

This effect can be constantly observed during supersonic aircraft exercises by civilians in the flight area.

Another interesting physical phenomenon during the flight of supersonic aircraft is visual advance aircraft their own sound. The sound is observed with some delay behind the tail of the aircraft.

Mach number in aviation

The theory with a confirming experimental process of the formation of shock waves was demonstrated long before the first flight of a supersonic aircraft by the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach (1838 - 1916). The quantity expressing the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of the sound wave is called today in honor of the scientist - Mach.

As we have already mentioned in the water part, the speed of sound in the air is affected by meteorological conditions such as pressure, humidity and air temperature. The temperature, depending on the altitude of the aircraft, varies from +50 on the surface of the Earth to -50 in the layers of the stratosphere. Therefore, at different altitudes, local weather conditions must be taken into account to achieve supersonic speeds.

For comparison, above the zero sea level, the speed of sound is 1240 km/h, while at an altitude of more than 13 thousand km. this speed is reduced to 1060 km/h.

If we take the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of sound as M, then with a value of M>1, it will always be supersonic speed.

Aircraft with subsonic speed have a value of M = 0.8. A range of Mach values from 0.8 to 1.2 sets the transonic speed. But hypersonic aircraft have a Mach number of more than 5. Among the famous Russian military supersonic aircraft, we can distinguish the SU-27 - an interceptor fighter, the Tu-22M - a missile-carrying bomber. Among the American ones, the SR-71 is a reconnaissance aircraft. The first supersonic aircraft in mass production was the American F-100 fighter in 1953.

A model of the space shuttle during testing in a supersonic wind tunnel. A special shadow photography technique made it possible to capture where the shock waves originate.

The first supersonic aircraft

Over the 30 years from 1940 to 1970, the speed of aircraft increased several times. The first flight at transonic speed was made on October 14, 1947 on an American Bell XS-1 aircraft in the state of California over an airbase.

The Bell XS-1 jet was piloted by Captain US Air Force Chuck Yeage. He managed to accelerate the device to a speed of 1066 km/h. This test provided a significant piece of data to further push the development of supersonic aircraft.

Supersonic aircraft wing design

Lift and drag increase with speed, so the wings become smaller, thinner and swept in shape, improving streamlining.

In aircraft adapted for supersonic flight, the wings, unlike conventional subsonic aircraft, extended at an acute angle back, resembling an arrowhead. Externally, the wings formed a triangle in a single plane with its acute angled apex at the front of the aircraft. The triangular geometry of the wing made it possible to control the aircraft predictably at the moment of crossing the sound barrier and, as a result, to avoid vibrations.

There are models that used wings with variable geometry. At the time of takeoff and landing, the angle of the wing relative to the aircraft was 90 degrees, that is, perpendicular. This is necessary to create maximum lift at the time of takeoff and landing, that is, at the moment when the speed decreases and the lift at an acute angle with unchanged geometry reaches its critical minimum. As speed increases, the wing geometry changes to a maximum acute angle at the base of the triangle.

Record-breaking aircraft

During the race for record speeds in the sky, the rocket-powered Bell-X15 reached a record speed of 6.72 or 7,200 km/h in 1967. This record could not be broken after a long time.

And only in 2004, the NASA X-43 unmanned hypersonic aerial vehicle, which was developed to fly at hypersonic speeds, was able to accelerate to a record 11,850 km/h during its third flight.

The first two flights ended unsuccessfully. To date, this is the highest aircraft speed figure.

Supersonic car testing

This Thrust SSC supersonic jet car is powered by 2 aircraft engines. In 1997, he became the first land-based vehicle breaking the sound barrier. As with supersonic flight, a shock wave appears in front of the car.

The approach of a car is silent, because all the noise created is concentrated in the shock wave following it.

Supersonic aircraft in civil aviation

As for civilian supersonic aircraft, there are only 2 known production aircraft that operate regular flights: the Soviet TU-144 and the French Concorde. TU-144 made its debut flight in 1968. These devices were designed for long-distance transatlantic flights. Flight times were significantly reduced in comparison with subsonic devices by increasing the flight altitude to 18 km, where the aircraft used an uncongested air corridor and avoided cloud loading.

The first civilian supersonic aircraft of the USSR TU-144 completed its flights in 1978 due to their unprofitability. The final point in the decision to refuse to operate it on regular flights was made due to the disaster of a prototype TU-144D during its testing. Although it is worth noting that outside of civil aviation, the TU-144 aircraft continued to be used for urgent mail and cargo delivery from Moscow to Khabarovsk until 1991.

Meanwhile, despite the expensive tickets, the French supersonic aircraft Concorde continued to provide air services for its European customers until 2003. But in the end, despite the richer social class of European residents, the question of unprofitability was still inevitable.

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

The supersonic era began with 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 that reached supersonic speed in controlled flight.

Development

The 60s-70s of the 20th century were marked by rapid development 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 unloaded air space at high altitude (≈18 km), while the main airspace used by airliners (altitudes 9-12 km) was already significantly congested in those years. 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.