Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev, as part of the educational marathon “Knowledge. Firsts” noted on November 6 that a return to the development of passenger supersonic airplanes could become a reality in the near future. He recalled the experience of the USSR when the Tu-144 was created. These airplanes, though short-lived, made regular flights and became a milestone in the history of domestic aviation.
He is sure that supersonic machines are the future of civil aviation, and gave the example of the duration of flights from the European part of Russia to the Far East, where the travel time can reach nine hours. Supersonic aircraft can significantly reduce the duration of such flights, which, according to Savelyev, in the context of business transportation makes their prospect particularly relevant.
The topic of reviving civil supersonic aviation was previously raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin at meetings with the public and during visits to the Kazan Aviation Plant. In 2018 and in 2019, he drew attention to the need for new research and the introduction of modern technologies to improve civil aviation in the country. Now Vitaly Savelyev emphasized that Russia has all the necessary resources and capabilities to be the first to bring new supersonic passenger aircraft to the market.
In this regard, Konstantin Timofeev, managing director of Tupolev JSC, said that he had earlier answered questions about the revival of supersonic aviation for passenger transportation and said that Tupolev could restore one of the Tu-144 aircraft, which is located in Zhukovsky.
“KAI [Kazan Aviation Institute] students have already once asked me if we want to put a Tu-144 on the wing. Technically it is possible. We have one of these machines at our base in Zhukovsky, and in pretty good condition. Restoring its airworthiness could be the first step to the revival of supersonic air services in our country,” Timofeev wrote in his TG-channel.
However, he emphasized that at the moment the primary task of Tupolev is to reach the planned rates of serial production of Tu-214 aircraft. Nevertheless, in the future, the creation and use of supersonic laboratory aircraft can have a significant impact on the development of civil aircraft.
Konstantin Timofeev’s report refers to the Tu-144 aircraft with registration number USSR-77115, which is in storage at the Gromov Research Institute in Zhukovsky and is a permanent participant of the MAKS static exposition. The TU-144 flying laboratory will allow for deeper research into the safety, efficiency and economy of supersonic machines, which will ultimately provide designers, scientists and aircraft system manufacturers with new data to create a supersonic aircraft that meets modern requirements.
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