April 15, 1988 took place the first flight of the experimental aircraft Tu-155 with an engine running on cryogenic fuel. The crew commander was test pilot Vladimir Sevankaev, co-pilot Andrei Talalakin, flight engineers Anatoly Kriulin and Yuri Kremlev, and lead test engineer Valery Arkhipov. The flight lasted 21 minutes.
Research work on the use of cryogenic fuel in aviation in the USSR went in several directions. In particular, the Tupolev Design Bureau was working on creation and development of a power plant operating on liquid hydrogen. The advantages of this fuel are three times higher mass calorific value as compared to kerosene, absence of harmful emissions during combustion and practically unlimited reserves. But in order to use liquid hydrogen it is necessary to solve the problems of its production, transportation and storage, including on board the aircraft. It is necessary to maintain a temperature not higher than -253 degrees Celsius, to ensure the tightness of the system, taking into account the exceptional permeability of hydrogen.
Vladimir Andreev headed the work on the cryogenic subject matter at the Tupolev Design Bureau. Experimental Tu-155 was created on the basis of the passenger jet Tu-154B. He received the engine NK-88, adapted for cryogenic fuel, cryogenic fuel tank volume of 17.5 cubic meters, the fuel supply system, the system to maintain pressure and a number of other systems. In total, more than 30 new aircraft systems and ground complex were created.
From April to June 1988 was carried out a flight program, during which practiced the launch of the hydrogen engine, tested systems. In five flights the experimental propulsion system operated on hydrogen fuel. Subsequently, the aircraft was re-equipped to study the power plant operating on liquefied natural gas. The flight time of the Tu-155 using alternative fuels was 145 hours.
Appearance of the Tu-155 radically changed the situation in cryogenic aviation. The use of LNG as an aviation fuel had brilliant prospects allowing to considerably improve economical efficiency of air transportation, environmental characteristics of air transport and reduce shortage of traditional aviation fuel. However, the level of financing at that time did not allow the research to be fully continued. Nevertheless, the use of clean energy sources in aviation will expand, and Russia has unique experience in creating a power plant on cryogenic fuel, which will be used in the construction of future aircrafts.
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