Tupolev TU-144
the first supersonic civil aircraft

Production In use Size Range Safety

  • First flight: 1968
  • First commercial flight: 1977
  • Passengers: 100
  • Crew:
  • Max. speed: Mach 2.3 (2,760 km/h)
  • Cruising speed: Mach 2 (2,400 km/h)
  • Cruising altitude: 18 km (59,000 ft)
  • Range: about 6,000 km (3,250 nm)
  • Engines: 4
  • Thrust:
  • Length: 62 m
  • Wing span: 26 m
  • No. of planes built: 17
  • No. of planes lost: 2
The TU 144 was the first civil supersonic aircraft. There was only a small number of commercial flights. Due to an extreme fuel consumption and low capacity the plane was not affordable for Airoflot. Today, one modified TU 144 is used for the High Speed Research program (HSR) to develop a new generation of supersonic passenger planes.
The Tupolev aircraft family
TU 104 TU 114 TU 124 TU 134 TU 144 TU 154 TU 204
The civil supersonic aircraft family
Tupolev TU 144 BAe-Aerospatiale Concorde

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