RuAviation

March 11, 1957 took place the first flight of a prototype of the passenger plane Tu-110. Tupolev design bureau test pilot Dmitry Vasilievich Zyuzin took the airplane into the sky.

Tu-110 is a modification of baseline aircraft Tu-104 differed by usage of four turbojet engines of AL-7P type instead of two AM-3. The reason of equipping the plane with two additional turbojet engines was that the four-engine power plant is to provide the higher level of flight safety, especially on the routes above the water or unpopulated areas.

Engines were not suspended on the fuselage as it was in Tu-104 but on wing ribs which not only lightened the airframe but also reduced noise level in the passenger compartment. It was also supposed that this version of the airplane would be in demand in other countries.

The government decision to create a new airliner was made in August 1955. Given the small amount of modifications associated with the redesign of the centerline and the adjacent part of the wing, as well as lengthening the fuselage, the work was carried out in a short time. The airplane was put into series production at the air plant in Kazan with a plan to produce the first series of five Tu-110A airplanes.

However, increased reliability of AM-3 engines led to the fact that there was no demand for four-engine Tu-110. In addition, the production of the Tu-104B, which also carried 100 passengers, deprived the Tu-110 of advantages in terms of economy of operation. Tu-104 was actively used in the USSR, it was exported and the first prototype Tu-110 and three serial machines were converted into flying laboratories.