The first jetliners: an elimination race. The very first aircraft in the world

The birthplace of the passenger aircraft industry is Russia. The first passenger aircraft in the history of aviation was the Russian Ilya Muromets. The aircraft designed by Sikorsky, converted into a passenger bomber, was equipped with a comfortable cabin, a restaurant, separate bedrooms and even a bathroom. Muromets had heating and electricity. For the first time the plane took off on December 10, 1913, in February 1914 a demonstration flight was made with 16 passengers on board. In June of the same year, the aircraft set a distance record by flying from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back with only one intermediate landing. The beginning of the First World War and civil war prevented in Russia further development domestic civil aviation.

The second passenger aircraft was the American Ford Trimotor. It was equipped with three piston engines (two on the wings and one on the nose) and took on board 8 passengers. The Trimotor was produced from 1925 to 1933. Due to its reliability, the aircraft was used for many years after production ended. In the mid-30s, production of the DC-3 began, which became the most massive passenger aircraft in history. It was also produced for the needs of the US Army and the Allies during the Second World War as the C-47 Skytrain (Dacota). The plane took on board 21-32 passengers. The DC-3 was also produced under license in the USSR under the designation PS-84/Li-2. The most popular aircraft in pre-war Europe was the Junkers Ju52/3m. Passenger seaplanes have become widespread.
At the end of the war, the leading design bureaus were characterized by the creation of multi-engine passenger aircraft based on gliders. heavy bombers. In the 50s, the era of jet airliners began. The first such aircraft was the British De Havilland Comet, which took off on July 27, 1949. However, after a series of accidents, the airliner was temporarily withdrawn from flights in 1954 and subjected to major modernization. Leadership in the field of jet passenger aviation passed to the Soviet Union with the Tu-104 airliner (first flight June 17, 1955) and the United States with the Boeing 707 (first flight July 15, 1954), created on the basis of military aircraft.

Wide-body aircraft became a further development of civil aviation. The American Boeing 747 was the first wide-body aircraft to take to the air in 1969. The largest wide-body ultra-large aircraft was the double-deck Airbus A380, which made its first flight on April 27, 2005. In the late 60s of the 20th century, the first supersonic aircraft appeared - the Soviet Tu-144 and Anglo-French Concorde. However, they did not achieve commercial success, becoming rather symbols prestige of the national aviation industries. Tu-144 after several accidents was decommissioned. The Concorde served until 2003, but a crash in 2000 proved fatal for this aircraft, also taken out of service.

Modern passenger aircraft outwardly little different from those that appeared in the 60s. Today, the main focus is on improving aircraft engines in order to increase fuel efficiency and reduce noise levels, improve avionics and facilitate airframe design through the use of new generation materials, including those based on composites.

The world's first website info.cern.ch appeared in 1990. Its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, published a description new technology World Wide Web, based on the HTTP data transfer protocol, addressing system →

On September 15, 1956, the first jet passenger liner Tu-104 entered the Aeroflot routes. The history of this aircraft began back in 1953, when the Tupolev Design Bureau received the task of creating a jet passenger liner. In order not to waste time, the Tupolev team took the newly developed Tu-16 bomber as a basis. The terms of reference for the Tu-104 indicated that the machine should take on board up to 50 passengers and up to 1250 kg of cargo, fly at a speed of 959-1000 km / h over a distance of 3200 to 3500 km and have a takeoff run of no more than 1650 m. From the bomber, the liner got the cockpit, wings, engine nacelles, landing gear, as well as navigation instruments, but all other parts were redesigned. In December 1954, the state commission approved the layout, and already in March 1955, an experimental machine was built. In May 1956, the first cars after testing entered the civilian air fleet, and on September 15 Tu-104 made the first regular flight on the route Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk. Thus, less than three years have passed from the beginning of the development of the liner to its serial operation.

Aircraft Tu-104 September 15, 1968 space station Probe 5 flew around the moon for the first time. On a cosmic scale, the automatic apparatus passed literally "close" to the Moon, only 1900 kilometers away. The station was controlled at a distance of about 400 thousand kilometers. It was on this day that the USSR announced a new victory in space, the first unmanned flight around the moon in history. spaceship. The Zond-5 flight made it possible for the first time to solve the most complicated scientific and technical problem of returning to Earth an apparatus flying at 2 cosmic speed along the Moon-Earth path. Interestingly, the Zond-5 ship carried a turtle, which became the first creature in history to circle the moon and return to Earth.

Spacecraft Zond-5 On September 15, 1997, the Google.com domain was registered. The founders of the future corporation, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, met a couple of years earlier, in 1995 at Stanford University. And already in 1996 they started developing the BackRub search engine. After a year of running the system on Stanford servers, its traffic exceeded throughput university networks and friends are coming to the conclusion that it is time to grow. In addition, they decide to choose a new name. Google comes from a corruption of the word googol, which means the number ten to the hundredth power. The name Google was first used in the Google.stanford.edu domain. Despite the fact that the domain was registered back in 1997, the friends filed an application for registering the company only a year later, on September 4, 1988. However, September 15th is considered the birthday of Google and its main domain, Google.com.

Tu-104 (according to NATO codification: Camel - "Camel") - the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft. From 1956, after the British jet airliner De Havilland Comet was suspended for technical reasons, until October 1958, when the American jet airliner Boeing 707 was put into commercial operation, the Tu-104 was the only operating jet airliner in the world. A total of 201 aircraft of various modifications were built.

Ulyanovsk Aviation Museum.

As always, I use information from sites
http://www.airwar.ru
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki
and other sources found by me in the internet and literature.

The aircraft in the museum is Tu-104 USSR-42322 (6350103) Released on November 6, 1956 at aircraft factory 135 in Kharkov. Judging by the number, it was one of the first Tu-104s manufactured at this enterprise. Registered November 16, 1956 as USSR-L5416. The operator was the Moscow Department of Civil Aviation of Aeroflot (Vnukovo) in the 200th flight detachment. On July 13, 1959, it was transferred to the Uzbek Territorial Administration of Aeroflot. Registered July 4, 1959 as USSR-42322. Decommissioned 25 March 1961. On December 13, 1961, it was transferred to the aviation of the Navy in the Northern Fleet in military unit 20216 with the preservation of the color scheme of Aeroflot. Converted to VIP configuration for the Commander of the Northern Fleet. In 1962, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin would have been a passenger on this plane. After a raid of 6428 hours, it was laid up in August 1981 and was stored on the Kola Peninsula at the a / b Olenya in the village of Vysokiy, behind the Permusozero lake east of the city of Olenegorsk. Refurbished to flying condition in 20 days in October 1986 by the technical team of Gosnii GA. On November 1, 1986, the crew, consisting of commander N.P. Volodkin, navigator M. Abdulov, flight test engineer V. Tsedrov, flight operator I. Ilyin and co-pilot-chief of the LIK GosNII GA G. Demenko made a flight to Moscow (Sheremetyevo) on it , and from there on November 11 to Ulyanovsk to the place of the last stop. By the end of the 80s, it was installed in the main exposition of the museum (before that it was located on the territory of the ATB ShVLP). In 2006, the salon was restored and is open to the public. Repainted in August 2008.
AT different years Hero of Socialist Labor, Honored Pilot of the USSR N. Shapkin, Honored Pilots of the USSR K. Sapelkin, E. Barabash sat at the helm of this aircraft.

When creating the Tu-16 bomber in the brigade general types OKB-156 the first sketches of the jet passenger aircraft Tu-2AM-3-200 appeared. In 1952-1953, working drawings began to be produced, and only in June 1954 did the Council of Ministers of the USSR issue a decree on the development of the future Tu-104 with AM-3M engines. In accordance with the tactical and technical requirements of the Air Force, the aircraft was supposed to carry 50 passengers and up to 1250 kg of cargo over a distance of 3200-3500 km, fly at a maximum speed of 950-1000 km / h, with a takeoff run of no more than 1600-1650 m.

It has become a tradition in the Design Bureau to develop new passenger aircraft using already tested units, assemblies, power plant and the equipment of their predecessors, the bombers. This approach made it possible to significantly shorten the creation cycle new car. True, in this case, the cost of transportation turned out to be far from optimal, but then this was not considered the main thing.

The transition scheme to the Tu-104 from the Tu-16 was carried out by replacing the fuselage with a newly designed larger diameter (3.5 m instead of 2.9 m) with a pressurized cabin from the fuselage toe to the tail section. The layout of the aircraft changed: instead of a medium-wing aircraft, it became a low-wing one, and the center section and engine nacelles were redesigned accordingly. From the serial Tu-16, the following were used: detachable parts of the wing, engine compartments of the wing, landing gear, horizontal tail, vertical tail and landing gear nacelles. Initially, the Tu-104 was designed for 50 people, although from the very beginning a further transition was envisaged in case of success of the project for modifications for 70 or more passengers.
The AM-3 engines with an axial compressor have also been preserved, developing take-off thrust at the nominal mode of 7000 kg, and at the maximum - 8750 kg.

In December 1954, the commission approved the layout of the aircraft and at the beginning of 1955, an experimental machine was built at the 156th plant under the symbol L5400, the first flight of which took place on June 17, 1955. The stage of factory tests in the period from June to October 1955 was carried out by a crew consisting of: the first pilot Yu. and leading engineer V. N. Benderov. During this time, the crew completed 67 flights.

Factory tests were successful and in the fall of 1955 the question arose: who would conduct state tests? Despite the fact that back in 1953 a group of 7 pilots was created in civil aviation to master the Il-28, the flight crew of the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet did not yet have sufficient experience in flying jet aircraft. Therefore, we approached with a proposal to carry out this work in the State Research Institute of the Air Force. After the visit of A. A. Arkhangelsky to Chkalovsky, the issue was resolved positively.

At the stage of state tests, the crew included commander A. K. Starikov, who had previously tested the Tu-16, co-pilot N. Ya. Yakovlev, navigator I. K. Bagrich. Leading engineers were from the Air Force Research Institute N. Kochetkov, from the Civil Air Fleet - Uvarov. Military test pilots flew around the aircraft, in particular, Yu. A. Antipov, V. A. Ivanov and V. D. Khromov, navigator A. N. Rekunov and others.
The tests were carried out intermittently. In February-March 1956, engines that had exhausted their resources were replaced, from March 20 to April 29, 1956 - flights to London. Then household equipment was finalized, and in May 1956 the aircraft was demonstrated at the international aviation exhibition. State tests, during which 100 flights were performed, ended with a "satisfactory" rating.

The conclusion of the act on state tests noted, in particular, the following: "In terms of piloting technique, the Tu-104 is available for pilots of medium qualification. The Tu-104 requires airfields with a runway length of at least 2500 m for flights, and in the southern regions with high temperatures outdoor air at least 3000 m.
The aircraft did not meet the following requirements of the Decree of the Council of Ministers: AM-3 engines with lower thrust were installed instead of AM-3M engines; practical flight range - 3000 km instead of 3200-3500 km; takeoff run at a takeoff speed of 266-295 km/h is 1775-2180 m instead of 1600-1650 m; continuation of flight is not ensured in case of failure of one engine after liftoff with a takeoff weight of 71,500 kg and the maximum takeoff weight is not determined, at which a safe continuation of takeoff with one engine can be ensured; when flying at an altitude of 10,000 m with a headwind of 50 km/h, the practical flight range is 2,715 km.

The Tu-104, which has passed state tests, with a takeoff weight of 71,500 kg, has a relatively small payload of 5,200 kg, which is 7.28% of the takeoff weight.
As the aircraft and engines are mastered in production and operation, and the service life increases, the efficiency of the aircraft will increase significantly. However, in comparison with foreign transport aircraft with turbojet engines, the technical and economic indicators of the Tu-104 will also be lower in this case.
Given that the Tu-104 will be operated on routes of 1700-2300 km in the coming years, it is advisable to re-equip the passenger cabin for 70 seats in order to increase the aircraft's economy, which will reduce the cost of transportation by 28%. (By the way, with an average planned load of 70% of the maximum load, it was higher than the cost of transportation of the GU GVF in 1956).
To improve take-off performance and increase efficiency, put the question before OKB-156 about reducing the weight of the aircraft structure and reducing the time for retracting and extending the landing gear.
Disagreeing completely with the conclusion, A. N. Tupolev expressed his dissenting opinion: "I do not agree with the range figures of 2890 and 2715 km, as artificially taken at a flight altitude of 10,000 m and a headwind, which is taken into account in the hourly fuel reserve."

According to the general opinion of the test pilots: “At altitudes of 11,000 m, with M numbers less than 0.7, with centerings of more than 30% MAR, the longitudinal stability margin for overload with released control is below the norm provided for by the tactical and technical requirements of the Air Force. M=0.66 overload margin is 5.5% at a rate of 10%.
When the M number is more than 0.82-0.84, the aircraft is longitudinally statically unstable in speed. With numbers M = 0.87-0.88 at altitudes of 10,000-11,000 m, there is a significant roll back reaction to rudder deflection.
It was noted that "good efficiency of the elevator, combined with acceptable loads on the steering wheel, provides normal longitudinal controllability both in flight at M numbers up to 0.86-0.87, and on landing ...

Loads on the steering wheel when performing the necessary maneuvers with an alignment of more than 30% at altitudes of 10000-11000 m at medium and high speeds direct in sign, but small in size, so the pilot must smoothly create the necessary overload. Slightly pulling the yoke "toward yourself" leads to the exit of the aircraft at angles of attack close to critical.
The Tu-104 was created in an environment when there were still fresh reports of two crashes in 1954 by British De Havilland Cometa aircraft, which broke up in the air after a flight of about 3000 hours. For almost a year, the search for the causes of the disaster continued, and only raised from the bottom mediterranean sea the wreckage led to the conclusion - fatigue cracks in the fuselage.

General view of the museum from Tu-104 :-))

When designing the Tu-104 fuselage Special attention was given to the required endurance of the skin joints, special reinforcement of the edging of the cutouts for windows, doors and hatches. The endurance of the fuselage was tested in a hydro pool under the action of a repeated pressure drop and external loads simulating a typical flight. The research results made it possible to develop a design with a given resource.
Pressurization in the fuselage of the Tu-104 allowed to keep normal pressure in the cabin up to a height of 2500 m, and then it dropped as it reached the ceiling and at an altitude of about 10,000 m corresponded to atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 2500 m. The pressure drop was 0.5 atmospheres, which provided the necessary comfort for passengers. Initially, on the SSSR-L5400 machine, the overpressure was 0.57 kg / cm2, however, after the destruction of the fuselage of the production machine during pressure testing at the 135th plant in Kharkov to an overpressure of 0.75 kg / cm2, the overpressure was reduced to 0.45 kg on an experimental aircraft /cm2.

Prior to the advent of the Tu-104, there was no experience in operating aircraft with pressurized cabins of a large volume. Therefore, the designers had to apply a series technical solutions, complicating and weighing the aircraft. For this purpose, an emergency containment partition was installed between the cockpit and the passenger compartment. In the event of a depressurization for the crew and passengers, an oxygen system was provided with automatically drop-down oxygen masks designed to descend to a safe altitude during the descent. Fortunately, during the operation of the jet first-born, such emergency situations did not arise. In case of failure of one of the engines, the aircraft could continue the flight, maintaining the required level of comfort. To reduce the length of the run, a two-dome parachute system was provided.

The equipment of the liner, in particular, included the AP-5-2M autopilot, the SPU-10 intercom, the ARK-5 radio compass, the Rubidium-MM-2 radar, the MRP-48L marker radio receiver, the RV-2 radio altimeter, the SRZO interrogator-responder -2 The AP-5-2M autopilot failed to meet the set parameters and was subsequently replaced by the AP-6E.
In the salons of the experimental machine, a pronounced "splendor" was striking - large wide armchairs packed in front red covers, carpets and curtains. Individual chairs were made swivel, many tables were decorated with porcelain figurines.
The aircraft was still being tested, and it has already been launched in mass production. In 1955, the assembly of the first Tu-104s began at the Kharkov Aviation Plant, in a hastily repaired hangar. The organization of production was equated to the second birth of the plant.

On the morning of November 5, 1955, test pilots V.F. Kovalev, G.Ya. The lead vehicle of the first series was lifted into the air by the crew of test pilot F.F. Dotsenko.
In 1956, the Tu-104 was put into production at the Omsk Aviation Plant, and twelve months later the first production aircraft flew. In total, 58 cars were built in Omsk. The production of Tu-104 was stopped due to the transition of the plant to the production of rocket technology.
Serial machines differed from the experimental USSR-L5400 in slightly modified cockpit glazing, which, at the request of Aeroflot, was done to improve visibility. By the end of 1960, three enterprises, including the 22nd plant in Kazan, produced over 200 Tu-104s of all modifications.

During the tests on the USSR-L5400 machine, a number of long-range flights were performed, in one of which the flight and navigation complex was tested in Uzbekistan, and on March 22, 1956, A. Starikov, I. Bagrich, N. Belyaev, N. Kochetkov and G. Goncharenko for the first time entered the international Moscow-London route. The flight passed through Gdansk, Berlin, Amsterdam. Three hours after departure, the coast of England appeared in a break in the clouds. Over the checkpoint, the plane fell into a heavy rain, but this did not prevent the crew from making a normal landing.
The appearance of the Tu-104 in London was a real sensation. The foreign press spared no enthusiastic responses.

In reality domestic aircraft despite their high flight performance lagged behind in the level of comfort, differed in low economic parameters, high level noise, were equipped with flight-navigation and radio-technical equipment that did not meet Western standards.
In March-April 1956, four flights were made to London. England was followed by flights to Burma, Switzerland, demonstrating high performance Tu-104 and, perhaps no less important, the flying skills of its crew. In January 1957, USSR Minister of Defense G.K. Zhukov flew to India on a USSR Air Force plane with tail number 05. In the autumn of the same year, the crew of A. Starikov delivered the USSR delegation to China. When flying from Moscow to Beijing, we covered a distance of over 6,000 km with two intermediate landings in Omsk and Irkutsk in 8 hours and 40 minutes of flight time. In total, the journey took 10 hours and 50 minutes.

flights to South East Asia were carried out, apparently, on the same machine, which later received the Aeroflot index. On the same plane in 1957, Marshal Zhukov returned to Moscow from Yugoslavia. Until the date of decommissioning, the aircraft with the USSR-42387 index was based in the city of Akhtubinsk and until now has been in one of the parks in the city of Zhytomyr.
The first Tu-104s entered the Civil Air Fleet in mid-May 1958. In September, the Aeroflot crew on an aircraft with tail number USSR-L5438 made the first flight from Moscow to New York along the route passing through London, Keflavik and Goose Bay. The liner stayed in the air for 13 hours and 29 minutes. On September 15, 1956, the Moscow-Khabarovsk Tu-104 flight with tail number USSR-L5413 began regular operation of jet engines. The crew included commander E. Barabash, co-pilot S. Kuznetsov, navigator A. Lebedev, flight engineer V. Tomin and radio operator R. Gorin. For 7 hours 10 minutes with an intermediate landing in Omsk, the plane flew to Irkutsk, covering a distance of 4570 km.
In October, the Tu-104 began operating on the Moscow-Prague international air route. Subsequently, the Tu-104 entered the lines connecting Moscow with Rome, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and other foreign cities. a little more than a year passed since the beginning of flight tests.

But a little time will pass and two catastrophes will respond with pain to the relatives of 169 victims.
The first alarm sounded was a flight accident on May 16, 1958, when the Czechoslovak Tu-104, following at an altitude of 12,000 m, fell into a zone of thunderstorm activity. Almost immediately, both engines turned off and only at an altitude of 4000 m the crew was able to start one engine and land at a military airfield near Prague.
A month later, on June 22, 1958, the Tu-104A, en route from Irkutsk-Khabarovsk at an altitude of 12,500 m, fell into a powerful updraft of air and ended up at an altitude of 13,500 m, from where it began to randomly fall to a height of 11,500 m. After "stalling" and losing altitude, the commander crew pilot Polbin managed to bring the plane into level flight.
Two premises, it seemed, should have made both Aeroflot executives and aviation industry. But this did not happen, it seems that everyone was waiting for the real "thunder" to strike.

Unfortunately, we didn't have to wait long. The first disaster occurred in the area of ​​Birobidzhan. In August 1958, the Tu-104A, en route from Khabarovsk-Irkutsk, at an altitude of 10,800 m in perfectly clear weather was thrown by an ascending gust of air to an altitude of 12,000 m. earth about what happened. A month later, pilot Zhelbakov's plane was thrown from a height of 9,000 m to 11,500 m. On October 17, in Chuvashia, pilot G. Kuznetsov's board 42362 was killed, following the Beijing-Moscow route. The tape recorder kept it last words; "Help!... Save!... Abandoned car!... We're dying! Goodbye!" The crew of board 1904, unexpectedly witnessing the tragedy, saw an explosion 20-30 km west of Kanash.
Similar cases occurred during the operation of Tu-16 bombers. During the investigation, it turned out that the Tu-104 with the maximum rear centering reached critical angles of attack at an altitude of about 12,000 m as a result of the impact of powerful turbulent flows, which later received the name "clear sky turbulence".

Tu-104 in some flight modes and at certain alignments had an insufficient margin of longitudinal stability and was even unstable. On this occasion, A. Starikov recalled that "when flying in cruising modes, at altitudes above 10,000 m and the position of the center of gravity corresponding to 29 percent or more of the average aerodynamic chord, when meeting with turbulent flows, the flight becomes unsafe and can lead to its failure. But then they did not pay attention to this and the defect was not eliminated.
These cases forced to look for a way out of this situation. In December 1958, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On crashes of Tu-104 aircraft and measures to improve flight safety on these aircraft" was issued.
The document provided for, within a month, to temporarily limit the flight altitude of the Tu-104 to 9000-10000 m, set the maximum allowable rear balance of 26.5% instead of 30% MAR, expand the range of elevator deflection angles by 3 degrees, and reduce the stabilizer installation angle from 2 to 1 deg. And to replace the bomber's attitude indicator with a fighter AGI-1, to eliminate the spontaneous loss of the landing gear under the influence of overloads and a number of other measures.

At the same time, 16 defects identified during the operation of the Tu-104 were noted, and among them - the absence of a device that excludes asymmetric flap extension. But the most curious thing was the decision to conduct stall tests, first on the Tu-16, then on the Tu-104. A. Starikov was appointed the lead pilot from the Air Force, and V. Komarov from the GKAT. These tests made it possible to get answers to many questions, including those on the removal of the Tu-104 from a spin.
Tu-104 spin tests were carried out on two machines - the experimental USSR-L5400 (lead engineer V.N. Vendorov, pilots Yu.T. Apasheev and V.F. Kovalev) and the serial USSR-L5421 (lead engineer Yu.G. Efimov , pilots S.N. Anokhin, V.A. Komarov and V.F. Khapov). The experimental car was finalized, increasing the margin of longitudinal stability and improving handling. If earlier, when reaching high angles of attack, the crew did not notice anything special in the behavior of the car, now there is a warning shaking. Just in case, the machines were equipped with anti-spin parachutes and an emergency escape system. The pilots' seats were installed on guides, connecting them with a cable to a winch. When the aircraft was forced to leave, the winch was supposed to roll them up to the hatches in the bottom of the fuselage.
In one of the flights, the car with the number L5421, piloted by Kovalev, rolled over, but the crew got out of the situation without using the means of rescue. Performing aerobatics, the 70-ton machine did not fall apart only thanks to the hereditary trait of its predecessor Tu-16 - a significant margin of safety. In general, Kovalev, testing the Tu-104, repeatedly got into critical situations. In another flight, the ailerons jammed, but this time he emerged victorious from the duel with the obstinate machine.

Studies have confirmed the correctness of earlier measures taken, and the hydrometeorological center of the USSR was obliged to more accurately predict the state of the atmosphere on the routes of jet aircraft.
During the period of serial construction, which lasted until 1960, the 135th, 156th and 166th plants produced 21 Tu-104s. The 135th and 166th plants built 82 Tu-104A, the 22nd plant delivered 96 Tu-104B, two Tu-104E and three Tu-110 to the customer.
In 1979, the Tu-104 was decommissioned. On passenger lines, they were replaced by more economical Tu-154s. However, in the Air Force they continued to fly. Only after the disaster on February 17, 1981, which led to the death of the command Pacific Fleet, the fate of the aircraft was finally decided. The official version is a misalignment, which is highly doubtful. After analyzing the radio exchange between the crew and the control tower, test pilot Hero Soviet Union V.V. Zentsov, who spent eight years at the helm of the Tu-104, concluded that the accident occurred as a result of the asymmetrical extension of the flaps and the roll that appeared at the moment of separation, for which the ailerons were not enough to parry.
The last flight of the Tu-104 was made on November 11, 1986. Taking off from the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, the plane landed in Ulyanovsk, taking pride of place in the Civil Aviation Museum (this is our plane).
For the creation of the Tu-104 in 1957, A.N. Tupolev, A.A. Arkhangelsky, N.I. Bazenkov, D.S. Markov, S.M. Eger, A.R. Bonin, A.E. Sterlin, L.L. Kerber, K. V. Minkner, A. M. Cheremukhin were awarded the Lenin Prize. More than 400 employees of the design bureau and production have been awarded government awards.


Modifications:
Tu-104 The first serial 50-seat version of the aircraft, produced from 1955 to 1957, 29 aircraft were built.

Tu-104A 70-seat modification of the aircraft, produced from 1957 to 1959, 80 aircraft were built. Later, from 85 to 100 or more seats were installed in the salons, 70-seat options were used only on foreign flights.

Tu-104B 100-seat modification of the aircraft with an elongated fuselage and unchanged wing mechanization, produced from 1958 to 1960, 95 aircraft were built, during operation they were converted into Tu-104B-115 for 115 passenger seats and for new navigation, flight and radio equipment .

Tu-104 2NK-8 In 1960, a project was considered to re-equip the Tu-104 fleet (simultaneously with the Tu-16) for NK-8 engines.

Aircraft "107" (Tu-107) Military transport version of the Tu-104, created by order of the Air Force. It was a truck with a lowered ladder in the rear of the fuselage, an unpressurized cargo compartment, designed for 100 people per train or 10 tons of cargo. Built one prototype with the head. No. 76600302. Passed factory, state and military tests. It was not accepted for the series due to incomplete compliance with the requirements for the military-technical cooperation aircraft. At the end of September 1965, he participated in setting world records for parachuting in Saratov, 13 world records were set. Upon completion of operation, it was in long-term storage on the territory of the UATB Ryazan School.

Tu-104LL-1 and Tu-154LL-2 Two vehicles: SSSR-42454 and SSSR-42324 were converted for work on the Barrier theme (MiG-31 interceptor). Both aircraft were equipped with a radar with a phased array "Zaslon" developed by NPO Fazotron and target equipment. The aircraft SSSR-42454 (under the name LL-2) was equipped for the suspension of K-33 missiles, two launches were made. In the history of aviation, this is a rather unique case - launches of heavy V-V missiles from essentially a passenger liner. The USSR-42454 aircraft, after finishing work on fine-tuning the Barrier radar station, was converted into a meteorological laboratory on the Thunderstorm theme.

Tu-104AK A flying laboratory for training cosmonauts under conditions of short-term weightlessness. Two aircraft were converted - onboard No. 46 and No. 47 red, based at the Chkalovsky airfield.

Aircraft "110" (Tu-110) Modification of the Tu-104 aircraft with four AL-7P engines. Intended for export, but the program was curtailed due to lack of orders. The series consists of: the leader vehicle (prototype) Tu-110 No. SSSR-L5600, in 1961 it was transferred for storage to the Kyiv AI GA; the Tu-110A vehicle, tail number USSR-L5511, was converted to D-20P engines, then transferred to the Vzlyot NPO of the Ministry of Radio Industry, where the Sapphire-23 radar for the MiG-23 was tested on it; Tu-110A USSR-L5512 converted to D-20P engines (and became Tu-110B), transferred to NPO Vzlyot MRP, where for some time it was used as a target aircraft on the Sapphire theme; the USSR-L5513 aircraft was also converted into a Tu-110B and was used as an LL on the Sapphire theme, the aircraft was equipped with a selection of moving targets against the background of the ground, and was also equipped with APU-25-21-110

Tu-104V Unrealized serial project for 117 passengers.

Tu-104D 3NK-8 One of the first OKB projects on the Tu-154, which was based on the design of the Tu-104, adapted to the new power plant.

Tu-104E An experimental modification of the aircraft for more economical RD-16-15 engines (thrust 11300 kg) and with changes in the design of the airframe and aircraft systems. Two machines were built under the number SSSR-42441 and SSSR-42443 with different wings.

Tu-104Sh Passenger aircraft alteration head. No. 6350104, board. No. 001 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force in the training aircraft for navigators. After the alteration, tentatively in 1965, it was transferred to the 43rd pulp and paper mill and PLS DA (Dyagilevo). The aircraft was intended for practical training in bombing techniques, the combat load was 12 practical (i.e. training) P-50-75 bombs.

Tu-104Sh-1 Reconstruction of three production aircraft No. CCCP-42330, No. CCCP-42342 and CCCP-42347 into a navigational training aircraft for training navigators of Tu-16K-10 missile carriers. Aircraft No. CCCP-42330 belonged to the 143rd Air Division of the Pacific Fleet (Kamenny Ruchey), aircraft No. 42342 was operated by the 987th Naval Missile Regiment at the airfield. Severomorsk-3 of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, aircraft No. 42347 was transferred to the 33rd PPI and PLS Av. Navy in Nikolaev (Kulbakino). The aircraft were distinguished by a long nose radome of the EN radar antenna from the Tu-16K-10. Subsequently, two of the three aircraft were modified to the Tu-104Sh-2 variant.

Tu-104Sh-2 Conversion of two Tu-104Sh-1s into a navigational training aircraft for training navigators of Tu-22M2 missile carriers: aircraft No. CCCP-42347 and No. CCCP-42342. Outwardly, they differed in a long nose cone from the EN radar, but the PNA radar, the 015-T optical-television bombsight, the NK-45 navigation system with the Orbita on-board computer, and wing missile beam holders for missile simulators were mounted. The aircraft were re-equipped at the 20th ARZ in Pushkin.

Tu-104A-TS Conversion of mass-produced vehicles into transport and sanitary ones (conversion in service was provided for in the design of the base aircraft). It is known about two machines: the CCCP-42360 aircraft (Khabarovsk GA detachment) and the red air force board No. 48 (Aer. Chkalovsky). The latter was briefly used as a truck and was adapted for training cosmonauts like the Tu-104AK.

Tu-104B-TS Conversion of mass-produced aircraft into transport and sanitary aircraft (conversion in service was provided for in the design of base aircraft). Six machines: CCCP-L5412, CCCP-42468, CCCP-42479, CCCP-42482, CCCP-42494, CCCP-42496, all based in Tolmachev.

Tu-104D Alteration of Tu-104A for 85 seats. The name was used until 1962, then these aircraft began to be referred to as the Tu-104V.
aircraft "118" Project Tu-104 with four theaters.

Tu-104G Aircraft No. SSSR-L5411. Built as a Tu-16 in 1955, converted into a civilian version two years later, and under the designation Tu-104G was used to train Tu-104 crews for Aeroflot in Novosibirsk training center, after decommissioning, it was transferred as a layout to the Kyiv AI GA.

Tu-104V Tu-104A aircraft re-equipped by the Civil Air Fleet for 85 or 100 passenger seats due to the increased demand for air transportation. Several cars were compacted for 110 and 115 passengers, but due to the huge inconvenience of such an arrangement, since 1972 it was officially forbidden to mount more than 100 seats, and from that moment the Tu-104V index ceased to be used in the documentation. Aircraft flew only on domestic flights.

Tu-104LL Tu-104 CCCP-42326, converted into a flying laboratory for the MiG Design Bureau, for testing the Zaslon complex, air-to-air missiles, etc. It was operated until 1977, then transferred to the radio range of the Flight Research Institute.

Tu-104 CSA Six Tu-104A aircraft built for Czech Airlines (Czechoslovakia). All cars had proper names. Three aircraft were destroyed in service.


LTH:
Tu-104 modification
Wingspan, m 34.54
Aircraft length, m 38.85
Aircraft height, m ​​11.90
Wing area, m2 174.40
Weight, kg
empty plane 42800
maximum takeoff 75500
fuel 26500
Engine type 2 TRD Mikulin AM-3
Thrust, kgf 2 x 8750
Maximum speed, km/h 950
Cruising speed, km/h 850
Practical range, km 2750
Practical ceiling, m 11500
Crew, people 5
Payload: up to 50 passengers or 5200 kg of cargo

And now photos from the quadcopter:

general form

back view

front view

Photo 23.

on the other hand

general views of the museum.

In our era, it is hardly possible to surprise someone with technological innovations. Moreover, now, when the momentum of the development of technology has gained such speed, which in past eras was simply not dreamed of. The same applies to aircraft. Now with turbojet engines it's a common thing. And once people could not even dream of such a thing.

The world's first passenger jet aircraft appeared only in the middle of the last century, when the development of aviation continued actively. Of course, in connection with the Second World War, special attention was paid primarily to the military, so after it ended, engineers and inventors turned their attention to passenger liners.

First, let's define what kind of aircraft it is? This is an aircraft whose engine is jet.

The principle of its operation is to use a mixture of air taken from the atmosphere and products of fuel oxidation with oxygen that are in the air. Due to the oxidation reaction, the working fluid heats up and, expanding, is ejected from the engine very quickly, while producing jet thrust.

First models

Aircraft, which then became prototypes for passenger liners, were developed then in Germany, or rather in the Third Reich, and in Great Britain. The pioneers in this area are the Germans.

Heinkel He 178- is considered the first aircraft with a jet engine. It was first tested on August 27, 1939. The aircraft showed quite encouraging results, but the higher leadership in the face of the Reich Ministry of Aviation considered that this technology was not interesting. And the main direction then was precisely military aviation equipment.

The British were also not far behind the Germans. And in 1941 the world saw the Gloster E.28/39. The engine designer was Frank Whittle.

Gloster E.28/39.

Exactly these prototypes showed everyone which way aviation will go in the future.

The first jet passenger aircraft

The first jet aircraft for passengers is considered to be created by the British, "Comet-1". He was tested July 27, 1949. He had 4 turbojet engines, and the salon was calculated for 32 passengers. In addition, it was installed 2 accelerators for hydrogen peroxide. It was used on routes to Europe and Africa. For example, Johannesburg with stops along the way. The total flight time was 23.5 hours.

Later, "Kometa-2" and "Kometa-3" were developed, but they did not live up to expectations and were discontinued due to metal fatigue and insufficient strength of the fuselage. And yet, some modifications are still used to design RAF fighters.

Six years later, the USSR introduced the TU-104. The first Soviet jet passenger aircraft. The first time he took to the air June 15, 1955 A.N. Tupolev took as the basis of his project bomber with jet engines TU-16. He simply increased the fuselage, lowered the wing under it, and placed 100 seats for passengers. Since 1956 it was put into mass production.

For the next two years, he was the only jet aircraft in the world., which was used to transport civilians. He had 2 turbojet engines. Its maximum speed reached 950 km / h, and he could fly up to 2700 km.

It also introduced such novelties for the USSR, like meals on board, beautifully dressed stewardesses and fit pilots.

Nonetheless, for 4 years of its operation, there were 37 accidents involving this aircraft. This is the largest number of accidents among all Russian aircraft. It is not surprising that N.S. Khrushchev refused to even approach him. Despite the fact that it was removed from production, it was still used until 1979 for flights.

In 1958 out on the passenger lines. He could take on board from 90 to 180 passengers. Engines of different power were installed on different models. The aircraft was intended for routes of medium and long distances. However, there were much more accidents with it than with TU-104.

SE.210 Caravelle 1.

A breakthrough in world aviation was the creation of the French SE.210 Caravelle 1. He started flying in 1959, mainly in the colonies of France, in Africa. He also had 2 turbojet engines, but Rolls-Royce, in the tail of the aircraft. This helped to achieve the fact that both aerodynamics improved, and noise in the cabin was minimized, and the reliability of the air intakes was increased.

And the ladder was also made in a different way than other aircraft of that time - in the form of a descending part of the fuselage. In the cabin, too, innovations were carried out: portholes have become larger, and the passageway has been widened. It was used on routes only of medium range.

A total of 12 aircraft of this type were produced, but still he could not stand the competition with Boeing, and further production was stopped.

Leonardo da Vinci thought about flying in the sky with the help of a special device in the 16th century, but the first flight was officially registered at the beginning of the last century. There is still fierce debate about who we owe the possibility of air travel to, but the fact remains that the first flight was officially registered in 1903. The very first airplane in the world was invented by the Wright brothers.

Aviation history

First building attempts aircraft, capable of lifting a person into the air, began at the end of the 18th century. The history of the invention of the flying machine originates in England, when Sir George Cayley took up this issue in earnest and published several scientific papers, in which he detailed the principle of construction and operation of the prototype modern aircraft.

The inventor began his work with birdwatching. scientist dedicated long time measurements of bird flight speed and wing span. These data subsequently became the basis of several publications that marked the beginning of the development of aviation.

In his first sketches, Cayley envisioned the aircraft as a boat with a tail at one end and a pair of oars at the bow. The structure was supposed to be driven by oars, which would transfer rotation to a cruciform shank at the end of the vessel. In this way, Cayley unmistakably depicted the main elements of the aircraft. It was the work of this scientist that laid the foundation for the development of aviation and became the impetus for the development of the concept of the aircraft.

The pioneer of aviation in its modern sense was another English inventor - William Henson. It was he who received an order to develop a project for an aircraft in 1842.

The "steam air crew" proposed by Henson described all the main elements of a propeller-driven aircraft. As a device that moves the entire structure, the inventor proposed to use a propeller. Many of the ideas proposed by Henson were subsequently developed and began to be used in early aircraft models.

Russian inventor N.A. Teleshov patented the project for the construction of an "aeronautics system". The concept of the flying machine was also based on a steam engine and a propeller. A few years later, the scientist improved his project and was one of the first to propose the idea of ​​​​creating a jet aircraft.

A feature of Teleshov's projects was the idea of ​​transporting passengers in a closed fuselage.

Who invented the airplane

Despite the fact that the development of the design of the aircraft was carried out by many scientists in the middle of the 19th century, the invention of the aircraft is attributed to the Wright brothers, whose airplane made a short flight in 1903.

Not everyone agrees that the Wright brothers were the first. Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont designed, built and tested the world's first airship prototype in 1901. It was then that it was proved that controlled flights are indeed possible.

According to another version, the championship in the invention of the first working aircraft should be given to the Russian inventor A.F. Mozhaisky, whose name will forever remain in the history of aviation. Thus, disputes about who invented and who created the aircraft are still ongoing.

Interesting! Despite the fact that officially the invention of the aircraft is awarded to the Wright brothers, all Brazilians are sure that Santos-Dumont invented the world's first aircraft. In Russia, it is believed that the first prototype of a modern aircraft was built by Mozhaisky.

The work of the Wright brothers

The Wright brothers were not the first inventors of the airplane. Moreover, the first uncontrolled human flight also does not belong to them. Nevertheless, the Wright brothers were able to prove the most important thing - that a person is able to fly an aircraft.

It was Wilbur and Orville Wright who first carried out controlled flight on an aircraft, thanks to which the idea of ​​​​the possibility of carrying out passenger transportation by air was further developed.

At a time when all scientists were puzzling over the possibility of installing more powerful engines to lift the aircraft into the air, the brothers focused on questions of the ability to control the aircraft. The result was a series of wind tunnel experiments that provided the basis for the development of airplane wings and propellers.

The first powered glider built by the brothers was named Flyer 1. It was made of spruce, as this material is lightweight and durable. The device was driven by a gasoline engine.

Interesting! The engine for the Flyer-1 was made by mechanic Charlie Taylor, a design feature was light weight. To do this, the mechanic used duralumin, also called duralumin.

The first successful flight was made on December 17, 1903. The plane climbed a few meters and flew about 40 meters in 12 seconds. Then there were repeated tests, as a result of which the duration and altitude of the flight increased.

Santos Dumont and 14bis

Alberto Santos-Dumont is known as an inventor balloons, he is also sometimes credited as the creator of the world's first controlled aircraft. He also owns the invention of airships, which were controlled by an engine.

In 1906, his plane called "14-bis" took off and flew over 60 meters. The height to which the inventor raised his aircraft was about 2.5 meters. A month later, Alberto Santos-Dumont flew 220 meters on the same plane, setting the first longest flight record as a result.

A feature of the "14-bis" was that the design was able to take off on its own. The Wright brothers failed to achieve this, and their plane took off with outside help. It was this nuance that became fundamental in the debate about who should be considered the inventor of the first aircraft.

After the "14-bis" the inventor seriously engaged in the development of a monoplane, as a result, the world saw the "Demoiselle".

Alberto Santos-Dumont never rested on his laurels and kept his inventions a secret. The inventor willingly shared the designs of his aircraft with thematic publications.

Aircraft Mozhaisky

The scientist presented the project of his aircraft for consideration back in 1876. Mozhaisky faced a misunderstanding of the officials of the Military Ministry, as a result, he was not allocated funds to continue his research.

Despite this, the scientist continued to develop, investing his own funds, which is why the construction of the prototype of the Mozhaisky aircraft dragged on for many years.

Mozhaisky's plane was built in 1882. The first tests of the aircraft ended in disaster, but witnesses claim that the aircraft still rose some distance from the ground before it crashed.

Since there is no documentary evidence of the flight, it is impossible to consider Mozhaisky the first person to fly an airplane. However, the development of the scientist served as the basis for the development of aviation.

So who was the first

Despite numerous disputes about the year in which the aircraft was invented, the first officially registered flight belongs to the Wright brothers, which is why the Americans are considered the "fathers" of the first aircraft.

It is inappropriate to compare the contribution to the development of aviation by the Wright brothers, Santos-Dumont and Mozhaisky. Despite the fact that Mozhaisky's first plane was built 20 years before the first controlled flight, the inventor used a different construction principle, so it is impossible to compare his plane with the Wright brothers' Flyer.

Santos Dumont was not the first to fly, but the inventor used in principle new approach to the construction of an aircraft, due to which its device independently rose into the air.

In addition to the first controlled flight, the Wright brothers made a significant contribution to the development of aviation, the first to propose a fundamentally new approach to the construction of the propeller and wings of the aircraft.

It makes no sense to argue which of these scientists became the first, because they all made a huge contribution to the development of aviation. It was their work and research that became the basis for the invention of the prototype of the modern airliner.

The first military aircraft

Prototypes of the Flyer by the Wright brothers and the Santos-Dumont aircraft were used for military purposes.

If the brothers originally pursued the goal of inventing a technique that would give an advantage american army, the Brazilian Santos-Dumont was against the use of aviation for military purposes. Despite this, his work served as the starting point for the creation of a number of aircraft, which were then used during the war. Interestingly, Mozhaisky initially also pursued the construction of an aircraft that would be used for military purposes.

The first jet aircraft appeared at the height of World War II.

The first passenger aircraft

The first passenger aircraft appeared thanks to I.I. Sikorsky. The prototype of the modern airliner took off in 1914 with 12 passengers on board. In the same year, the Ilya Muromets airliner set a world record by making its first long-distance flight. He flew the distance from St. Petersburg to Kyiv, making one landing for refueling.

The airliner also participated in carrying bombs during the First World War. The war forced Russian aviation freeze in development for a while.

In 1925, the first K-1 aircraft appeared, then the world saw Tupolev passenger airliners and aircraft developed by KhAI. Since that time, more and more attention has been paid to passenger aircraft, they are acquiring greater passenger capacity and the ability to fly over long distances.

History of the development of jet aircraft

He was the first to propose the idea of ​​a jet aircraft Russian inventor Teleshov. An attempt to replace the propeller with a piston engine was made in 1910 by a designer from Romania, A. Coanda.

These attempts were unsuccessful, and the first successful test jet aircraft passed in 1939. The tests were carried out by the German company Heinkel, however, several mistakes were made during the design of the model:

• wrong choice of engine design;
• high fuel consumption;
• frequent need for refueling.

However, the first jet prototype was able to achieve a high climb rate of more than 60 meters in one second of flight.

Due to design errors made, the jet aircraft could not move more than 50 kilometers from the airfield, due to the need for frequent refueling. Due to a number of shortcomings, the first successful model never got into mass production.

The first production aircraft was the Me-262 in 1944. This model has become an improved version of the previous Heinkel model.

Then the development of jet aircraft was picked up by Japan and Great Britain.

Video

In this way, jet aircraft appeared at the height of the Second World War. They have serious military victories, however, the losses among them are also very high. First of all, this is due to the fact that the pilots simply did not have time to complete a full-fledged training in managing a fundamentally new aircraft. From the moment of the first successful flight to the advent of jet aircraft, only 30 years passed, during which there was a great breakthrough in aviation.