The first aircraft in history. The first jet aircraft for passengers

It is thanks to the dreamers to conquer the sky, the era industrial revolution gave us a vehicle, which they called the plane.

In the world

In order to rise into the sky, you need to know the theoretical foundations. It was they who developed the Briton George Cayley (1773 - 1857). The scientist devoted his whole life to the basics of aerodynamics in order to get an answer to the question: how to conquer the airspace? His labors bore fruit, and at the beginning of the 19th century, the scientific article “On Air Navigation” saw the light of day. Caylee was the first ever built air Transport life-size, which flew over short distances. The airship was also projected by him, and thanks to K.E. Tsiolkovsky, acquired a metal case. However, despite the exclusive ideas of Cayley, his work gained popularity only in the 30s of the 20th century.

Antony Fokker's "Spin" aircraft, 1910

The son of coffee planter Hermann Fokker, Anthony Fokker, was definitely not going to lead the plantation after his father's death. Even as a child, Anthony was fond of technology, collecting model trains with miniature engines. However, trains did not become his destiny. In 1908, the main event in the life of Fokker took place - the demonstration flight of Wilbur Wright. Since that time, the young inventor began work on the project of his own aircraft, and in 1910 the first “de Spin” took off into the sky. The flight was short-lived, as Anthony crashed it into a tree. But that was only the beginning. A young Dutch scientist founded his own company in 1911, which he called the Fokker Aeroplanbau, and in 1915 the first fighter aircraft appeared, thanks to which Germany turned the course of the First World War. Thus, Fokker became a pioneer in the production of fighter aircraft, and his company lasted until 1996.

Technical characteristics of the aircraft "Spin"

In Russia. Aircraft Mozhaisky

"Aircraft projectile" appeared on the territory of Russia thanks to the seafaring officer Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky. It all started in 1876 with demonstration flights of a small boat with wings that fit easily on a table. The Petersburg public was delighted with what they saw, and a few days later an article about the incredible structure appeared in the newspaper Kronstadt Vestnik.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev became interested in the invention of Mozhaisky, who by that time was already known throughout the world. It was he who became the main associate of Alexander Fedorovich, and convinced the commission of the Main Engineering Directorate to allocate funds for experiments. However, the skeptical attitude towards the invention of this kind in Russia, on the part of the military department, did not allow the construction of the aircraft to be completed in time. The commission terminates sponsorship and Mozhaisky, in order to protect himself from foreign encroachments on his invention, receives a patent in 1880 and material assistance from manufactories.

In the period from 1881 to 1886, tests begin aircraft. There are no historical documents describing the experiments carried out, but there are notes in the journals, from which it follows that all attempts ended with a short retention of a person in the air. If Alexander Fedorovich had a little more time, perhaps the planes that we see now would have appeared earlier. However, death interrupted the research activities of the aircraft designer in 1890.

Reactive plane

Work on the design of a jet aircraft at the same time began German and Soviet scientists. In 1937, the talented young designer A.M. Lyulka, who lived in the USSR, proposed the creation of the first turbojet engine, which, according to forecasts, would help achieve flight speeds of up to 900 km / h. In the same year, work began on its creation, but the outbreak of war suddenly forced the work to be suspended.

Perhaps that is why Germany managed to get ahead of everyone, and in July 1942 Me.262 took off. Due to the fact that the aircraft served as an attack aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and fighter, it quickly gained popularity. Long time combat units were produced in factories that were located in the forest. The roofs of the workshops were painted green, making it impossible to search for factories from the air. In total, for the period 1944-1945, about one and a half thousand combat vehicles were produced. Accelerating to a speed of 870 km / h, the aircraft flew on average about 1050 km with a maximum mass of outboard missiles of 1500 kg.

Me.262 models for the entire period of hostilities shot down about 150 aircraft, and the losses amounted to 100 combat units. However, despite the superiority of this model over other aircraft of that time, Me.262 had a complex control system for untrained pilots, and wartime conditions did not make it possible to refine the engine. Frequent breakdowns and uncontrolled diving when reaching a speed of 800 km / h forced Hitler to reconsider his attitude towards new machines, and the program for their production was curtailed.

Technical characteristics of the aircraft Me.262

The first jet passenger aircraft appeared in the UK in 1952. The De Havilland DH-106 Comet proved to be dangerous to operate. The weakness of the metal at the windows led to 12 disasters, as a result of which the DH-106 was discontinued.

Description aircraft De Havilland DH-106 Comet

passenger plane

mother civil aviation is Russia. "Ilya Muromets" was born thanks to the designer Sikorsky, who converted the bomber into an aircraft passenger ship. Inside the "Muromets" there were well-appointed, separated by partitions, sleeping places with heating, there was a restaurant and even a bathroom. A passenger liner took to the skies for the first time in 1913, and already in February 1914 a flight demonstration took place with 16 air passengers. He also set a record for longest flight. "Ilya Muromets" flying from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back, made only one landing for refueling. However, the outbreak of the First World War suspended the development and further improvement of the air transport series.

The Ford Trimotor became the American prototype of the Muromets and is considered the second civilian liner in history. Its assembly was carried out in the period from 1925 to 1933. The plane took on board 8 passengers and was considered the most reliable. It was the high degree of confidence in the liner that allowed the Ford Trimotor to remain on the market even after the completion of production.

supersonic aircraft

The advent of jet aircraft gave impetus to the creation of faster aircraft. Achieving higher speeds in flight would allow for superiority in the sky. So, in 1946, Bell Aircraft, under a special program of the US Air Force, created a fundamentally new aircraft with a Bell X-1 rocket engine.

Thanks to a super powerful engine, Bell X-1 reached incredible speeds for those times. With a maximum flight altitude of 24400 m, the speed was 2720 km / h.

Charles Yeager became the commander of the vessel, under which it was possible to fix supersonic speed. In total, 80 flights were made on the Bell X-1 aircraft, the last of which took place in January 1949. During the last flight, the aircraft, with a takeoff speed of 273 km/h, climbed to a height of 7600 m in 1 minute 40 seconds. Record figures were recorded for the entire period of operation.

Technical characteristics of the aircraft Bell X-1

Most often, when describing the characteristics of an aircraft, the designation M is used. M is the maximum speed to which the aircraft can accelerate. For example, for the Bell X-1 model, M = 2.5. This suggests that the maximum speed that the aircraft can reach is 2500 km / h.

Studying the history of the emergence various types liners, it is clear that the geography of construction is different. Started from simple desire fly, aviation has become the subject of global world rivalry. Thanks to scientists who have done what was impossible for most, aircraft will improve more and more every day. And with the development of technology, the struggle for world domination in the sky will only intensify.

In June 1955, an experimental aircraft "104" developed by Tupolev Design Bureau took off from the airfield near Moscow in Zhukovsky. Factory tests of the machine began, which by the autumn of the same year will turn into a Tu-104 jet airliner - the third in the world, the second put into operation and the first in the USSR.

The very theme of the "104th" moved forward only after the death of Stalin, although proposals for the creation of a jet passenger fleet were repeatedly put forward under him. But the leader, with his inherent frugality and penchant for repeated reinsurance, inexorably "cut down" such ideas. The country had just overcome the post-war devastation and could not afford significant "non-core" spending, and jet passenger aviation in the early 50s was still not a problem of prime necessity for the Soviet national economy.

There is a common joke among railway students: "Soviet cars are not designed to carry passengers, they are adapted for it." When creating the first Soviet jet liner, the Tupolev Design Bureau used a similar principle, but seriously and competently. The successful Tu-16 bomber was taken as a basis (the 104 aircraft even at one time bore the Tu-16P index - “passenger”) in order to gain resources and time on the general development of the design.

Thus, the task of training flight personnel was facilitated, and they also saved on ground maintenance and repair equipment.

As one of the arguments in favor of creating such an aircraft, A.N. Tupolev cited the possibility of flights to high altitude, “over the weather” - propeller passenger aircraft, which had a small ceiling, suffered mercilessly from chatter. But that's where the first jet liner guarded by a new, as yet unknown danger.

When it comes to a passenger aircraft, the first thing that potential passengers seriously start to worry about is reliability. Who in the USSR has not heard the black song: "Tu-104 is the fastest plane: it will take you to the grave in two minutes"? For all her offensiveness, she somehow reflected harsh reality. The plane was made in a hurry. accident rate new car exceeded reasonable - by today's standards - indicators. Over the entire history of operation, 37 vehicles suffered serious accidents - 18% of total number issued. At the same time, it should be noted that the 104th behaved much more decently in flight than its English competitor, De Havilland's Comet (23% of lost cars), which had an unhealthy habit of falling apart in the air due to fatigue loads in a carelessly designed fuselage.

The first Tu-104 aircraft flew in early November 1955. Thus, the development took quite a bit of time. During this flight, there were some problems: during the flight, the plane unexpectedly tossed up, after which the control of the machine was lost for a while. The pilots called this condition "pickup". The reason for this phenomenon could not be determined. Despite this, the operation of the aircraft was continued, and the tests did not stop.

Khrushchev liked the Tu-104 so much that he even decided to fly it to Great Britain in 1956. Since the problems with the aircraft could not be resolved, he was persuaded to abandon such a flight. But it was necessary to demonstrate success to the world Soviet aircraft industry. Therefore, on the orders of Khrushchev, the Tu-104 was driven to the British capital.

The arrival of the Soviet airliner, according to the British press, had an effect comparable to the landing of a UFO. The next day, a second copy of the Tu-104 flew to London, with a different number. A report appeared in the British newspapers that it was the same aircraft, and the "Russian priests" were "repainting the numbers on their experimental aircraft." "Russian priests" are Russian pilots dressed in all black. Chief designer A.N. Tupolev was offended and, firstly, ordered the pilots to allocate funds to dress in something fashionable and not black, and the next day - March 25, 1956 - to send three Tu-104s to London at once, which was done.

It was a triumph Soviet Union- after all, at that time no other country in the world had operating jet passenger airliners.

The Tu-104 made its first regular flight on September 15, 1956. And in 1958, a black streak began.

As shown further development events, problems with "pickup" were not resolved. In August 1958, the Tu-104 crashed out of control, killing 64 people. The designer Tupolev denied in every possible way that there were any problems, and the catastrophe, according to him, was the fault of the crew. There is a version that the plane simply did not have enough fuel. But after some time, the second Tu-104 also crashed, going into a tailspin and crashing into the ground.

And two months later, exactly the same situation developed near Kanash.

On October 7, 1958, the new Tu-104A with tail number CCCP-42362, operated by the crew of the most experienced pilot Harold Kuznetsov, was flying Beijing - Omsk - Moscow. The flight altitude was 12 kilometers. In the cabin were mostly foreign citizens - a delegation of Chinese and North Korean Komsomol activists.

The weather in Moscow was bad, at the Gorky alternate airfield, too, and after flying over Kazan, the controller ordered to turn around and proceed to Sverdlovsk, suitable for landing. During a turn at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the aircraft, most likely, fell into a zone of strong turbulence and a "pickup" occurred - a spontaneous increase in the pitch angle uncontrolled by the crew. Suddenly, the plane was thrown up sharply, and with such force that such a huge colossus flew up two kilometers, left the echelon up, lost speed, fell on the wing and went into a tailspin.

In the situation that arose, the crew did everything possible to save the aircraft. But the lack of elevator travel did not allow the car to be taken out of lethal mode. Harold Kuznetsov, knowing that the Birobidzhan story might be repeating itself, ordered the radio operator to broadcast his words to the ground.

Crew commander Harold Kuznetsov and co-pilot Anton Artemiev tried to level the plane, taking the helm to the stop. But it did not help. Then the plane went down sharply, not obeying the controls. Thus, the aircraft went into a steep uncontrolled dive. At supersonic speed, almost vertically, the plane rushed to the ground.

Here the crew accomplished the almost impossible: the commander Harold Kuznetsov, in two minutes of falling from a height of 13 kilometers, managed to transmit over the radio the features of the behavior of the car. Communication worked almost until the very moment of impact with the ground. Last words commander were: “Goodbye. We're dying."

The plane crashed in the Vurnarsky district of Chuvashia, a few tens of meters from the canvas railway Moscow - Kazan - Sverdlovsk, near the village of Bulatovo. 65 passengers and 9 crew members died.

According to the results of the work of the state commission, the accident lasted no more than two minutes.

The information transmitted by Kuznetsov had great value, since all previous incidents remained unsolved. None of the investigations conducted by specialists from the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet, the Air Force, the State Research Institute, as well as the Tupolev Design Bureau itself, could shed light on what really happened. Many suggestions have been put forward: technical failure, defects in design, poor weather, crew errors.

All the bumps, of course, fell on the heads of the pilots, because in technical specifications planes no one doubted. But the information transmitted by Kuznetsov dotted the "i". From the information received, the commission concluded that the liner fell into a huge ascending air stream. None of the designers could even imagine that this was possible at an altitude of more than 9 kilometers, since simple piston machines could climb to a much lower height. Therefore, such a phenomenon as turbulence was considered a trifle. Until tragedy struck.

Kuznetsov's crew hit the very center of the vertical air flow. Later, in the process of reproducing the flight, the designers managed to determine its parameters: the width of the air flow was about 2 kilometers, the length was about 13, and the thickness was about 6 kilometers. At the same time, its speed was approaching 300 kilometers per hour.

It was urgent to find a way to combat this dangerous phenomenon nature. As a result, the maximum flight altitude was reduced, the structure itself was modernized, new methods of machine alignment were developed, but still the problem was not completely solved. The high accident rate remained at the same level, but what was the cause - whether design errors, or unpreparedness of the pilots - was difficult to determine.

The transferred information was enough to find and fix the problem. The rules for centering the aircraft were changed, the angle of installation of the stabilizer was changed and the elevator was finalized. has also been reduced maximum height flight. The tendency of the aircraft to "pick up" has been greatly reduced.

After that, the Tu-104 carried passengers for another three decades, and although there were some catastrophes (after all, about 200 aircraft were built and flew), their reasons were already different. Tu-104 became long time the main passenger aircraft of Aeroflot: for example, in 1960, a third of passenger air transportation in the USSR was carried out on the Tu-104. Over 23 years of operation, the Tu-104 aircraft fleet has carried about 100 million passengers, spent 2,000,000 flight hours in the air and completed more than 600,000 flights.

Much credit for this belongs to Harold Kuznetsov and his crew. Here are their names:

Kuznetsov Harold Dmitrievich - FAC instructor
Artemov Anton Filimonovich - FAC
Rogozin Igor Alexandrovich - co-pilot
Mumrienko Evgeny Andreevich - navigator
Veselov Ivan Vladimirovich - flight engineer
Fedorov Alexander Sergeevich - radio operator
Smolenskaya Maya Filippovna - flight attendant-translator
Goryushina Tatyana Borisovna - flight attendant
Maklakova Albina - flight attendant

It is not surprising that the aircraft acquired a bad reputation. In 1960, the Tu-104 liner was discontinued, and the Il-18 turboprop liners took its place for a while. And since the Tu-104 needed a long runway to accelerate, it was rarely used on domestic flights.

There was a need to create new passenger aircraft. Tupolev decided not to retreat from the intended path. As a result, the first modification of the Tu-104, the Tu-124, was created, which also had a high accident rate. Therefore, another version was created - the Tu-134. This aircraft was more successful, therefore, since the start of operation in 1967, it still makes flights on domestic airlines. And only in 1972 the first Tu-154 jet liner appeared, which was not converted from a military vehicle, but was originally designed as a passenger one. This is one of the favorite aircraft of domestic experienced pilots.

Aeroflot removed the last Tu-104s from regular airlines only in 1979. But the plane by that time had firmly taken root in military aviation- it was used for training pilots of naval missile carriers, as a flying laboratory, for meteorological research and as a staff aircraft. The flights of the 104s were finally stopped only at the beginning of 1981, after an overloaded car belonging to the USSR Navy crashed at a military airfield near Leningrad. It almost completely killed the command staff Pacific Fleet- 52 people, including 17 admirals and generals, including the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Emil Spiridonov, who had the ill-fated car at his disposal.

Such a bitter experience made domestic designers to think of new aerodynamic forms that could resist air currents.

Officially, the last flight of the Tu-104 took place in November 1986. But some people claim that at the very end of the 80s they saw "104s" on the platforms of regional airports and even in flight. The son of a warrior and the grandfather of Soviet jet airliners did not want to retire, remaining a sort of kind ghost in an impoverished but comfortably inhabited castle of domestic civil aviation.

Near Moscow, on the Kiev highway, at the turn to Vnukovo airport, a Tu-104B was met, standing on a high pedestal. As it turned out, this aircraft was installed in 2006, before it there was another Tu-104B in Vnukovo, which, on someone's stupid order, was cut down in 2005. The tail number of the car is not real, the number USSR-L5412 was worn by the first Tu-104, which performed the first flight with passengers.

An aircraft that has been produced since 1967 to the present day! Every 5 seconds, one of the Boeing 737 aircraft takes off and lands in the world. It is the most mass-produced jet passenger aircraft in the entire history of the passenger aircraft industry (as of September 2012, 7320 aircraft were delivered and 2845 orders were not closed). In fact, the Boeing 737 - common name more than ten types of aircraft.

I am starting a series of reports about different types airplanes and helicopters of civil aviation, which I managed to visit and shoot in detail. I really love aviation and today, while preparing the material, I myself learn a lot of new facts and nuances, it's incredibly interesting! I invite you to plunge a little into the world of aviation, the one that we often use consumerly during our travels, we do not think about and are not interested in its technical and internal side.

The Boeing 737 was designed for the relatively small capacity, short range passenger aircraft market, where the BAC 1-11 and DC-9 played a major role. In this struggle, Boeing was initially far behind its competitors: in 1964, when the development of the aircraft began, its competitors were already undergoing flight certification. The seats in the cabin were placed 6 in a row, which provided more spaciousness than competitors who had five seats in each row. Already in February 1965, the completion of the stage of formation of the design of the new liner was announced. During the development process, the Boeing 737 "grew up" from the originally planned 60-seat airliner to an aircraft with a passenger capacity of up to 103 seats. In 1965, Lufthansa signed an order for 22 Boeing 737-100s.

The solemn ceremony to mark the completion of the assembly of the first aircraft took place on January 17, 1967. The Boeing 737-100 entered service with Lufthansa in February 1968.

Initially, the final assembly of the Boeing 737 was carried out at a new plant at Boeing Field, near Seattle. In 1970, after a major reorganization of the company due to financial problems, all final aircraft assembly activities were moved a little further south to the Boeing plant in Renton. By this time, 271 Boeing 737s had already been built.

The main modifications of the Boeing-737:

737 Original (-100,-200),
- 737 Classic (-300, -400, -500),
- 737 Next Generation (-600, -700, -800, -900),
- 737-MAX

Original family:

Modifications -100 and -200 are recognizable due to the cigar-shaped engine nacelle, almost completely integrated into the wing from its leading to trailing edge. Early Boeing 737 models used low bypass Pratt and Whitney JT8D engines. Also, these models are easily recognizable by the smooth bend of the upper edge of the keel.
Boeing 737-200. The age of this board this moment- 30 years! And he is still in the ranks of StarParu!

Boeing and Airbus aircraft distribution diagram by flight range and passenger capacity:

Classic family:

In the early 1980s, the Boeing 737 underwent its first major facelift. The biggest change was the use of CFM International CFM56 engines instead of JT8Ds. The CFM56 is a high bypass turbofan engine. It is much larger in diameter, so it was suspended under the wing on pylons, and the principle of an integrated engine was abandoned. But the low ground clearance of the aircraft (a feature borrowed from the Boeing 707) created a problem in this case, so it was decided to place the units, usually located below the engine, on the sides of the compressor section. Associated with this is the unusual "flattening" of the gondola. At the same time, the cockpit of the 737 was upgraded to the level of the Boeing 757 and 767. The first aircraft model new series Classic - 737-300 entered service in 1984. In the future, this generation was replenished with aircraft 737-400 and 737-500.

I will show you the interiors and details of two UTair Boeing 737-500s at Surgut Airport.

The Boeing 737-500 is a 2m shorter version of the 737-300, to 29.79m, with extended range. With a passenger capacity similar to that of the 737-200, the Boeing 737-500 was an adequate replacement for it. I propose to take a walk on two UTair Boeing 737-500 aircraft.

Fuel system

Three fuel tanks are located in the wing and center section: wing and central. The central one is developed first, then the wing ones. Each tank has two fuel pumps. The total maximum capacity of the 737 Original family aircraft tanks is from 12,700 to 15,600 kg, depending on the modification.
On aircraft of the 737 Classic family, the capacity of the tanks has been increased to 16200 kg, it is also possible to install an additional fuel tank in the rear trunk.
In general, similar to 737 NG, tank capacity increased to 20800 kg, changed fuel tanks: the central tank occupies not only the center section, but also part of the wing from the root to the engine pylon. The location of the pumps has also changed and a system for removing water from the tanks has been added.

These are winglets, initially the aircraft was produced without them, recently a modernization was carried out, due to which it is possible to reduce fuel consumption by up to 5% due to a change in aerodynamics through the use of winglets - wingtips at the end of the wings:

Power supply system

The primary power supply system is an alternating current system with a voltage of 115 V and a frequency of 400 Hz. On aircraft types 737 Original and 737 Classic, the power sources are two motor synchronous alternators with a constant speed drive and an APU generator. Power generators 40 KVA. Synchronous operation is not provided. On NG aircraft, the power supply system has been slightly changed compared to the 737 Classic: the power distribution system has been changed, a battery has been added to start the APU and new generators have been installed, combined with a constant speed drive.

Air conditioning system

Air is taken from the engines and the auxiliary power unit (APU). The air is used for cabin air conditioning, equipment cooling, engine and wing anti-icing and engine starting. The air conditioning system (SCR) has two channels and can also use the air from the passenger compartment for recirculation.
On 737-300, -500, -600 and -700 aircraft, the SCR is the same as the 737 Original. On 737-400, -800 and -900 aircraft, the SCR is very different from the others, which is caused by the increased cabin volume. "Long" aircraft have two cabin temperature zones, a more advanced temperature control system.

The Boeing 737 aircraft uses the classic tricycle landing gear with a front steering column. Each landing gear has two wheels. The main pillars are retracted into the landing gear niche, located in the center section and not having flaps, so the wheels become aerodynamic surfaces. This minimizes the number of hydraulic components of the chassis system, but worsens the aerodynamics.
In connection with the use of engines with a large radius on the 737 Classic, the struts are made higher than on the 737 Original, and also reinforced to varying degrees, depending on the takeoff weight of various types (-300, -400 or -500).
On the 737 NG aircraft, the landing gear has been redesigned, higher than on the 737 Classic and also reinforced depending on the takeoff weight. Since 2008, the 737 NG aircraft have been able to install new carbon brakes, which have a lower mass and a longer service life.

Hydraulic system:

There are three hydraulic systems on Boeing 737 aircraft: A, B (primary) and Standby (backup). On the 737-100 and -200 system A is powered by two motor pumps and system B is powered by two electric pumps. The backup system is battery powered and supplies only the slats, rudder and reverse. Most of the hydraulic components are located in the chassis recess.
The hydraulic system of the 737 Classic and 737NG is very different from the 737 Original. Energy consumers are redistributed in it and each of the main systems is operated by one motor and one electric hydraulic pump. In normal flight, electric pumps are not used.

Bow to represent scale:

Engines in the Classic modification:

CFM56-3 series turbofan engines manufactured by CFM International were chosen as the power plant.

Let's get on board?
UTair has a standard cabin layout - 3-row business class and economy class. Let me remind you, this is the interior of the Boeing Classic:

The most modern interior that Boeing offers to its customers is the Sky Interior. It uses dynamic interior lighting with different colors depending on the phase of the flight, as well as the luggage racks open down and retract upwards, and do not recline:

Instrument panels on 737 Classic aircraft equipped with EFIS include both electronic and dial gauges.

Additional windows above the windshield are borrowed from the Boeing 707. Their main task is to expand the viewing angle. With the improvement of avionics, windows have become redundant and are no longer installed. In this cabin there is a place for additional windows above my head from above and to the left (there are no windows themselves):

And the bow outside :) Thanks for the photo olga_fink :

For comparison - the interior of the cockpit on the Boeing 737-800 (belongs to the 737 Next Generation family).
The main difference is the use of the Common Display System (CDS) developed by Honeywell, similar to the Boeing 777 aircraft. The CDS includes two Display Electronic Unit calculators, six Display Unit LCD indicators, two control panels and switching equipment. The indication can be transferred from one display to another.

Boeing 737-500 UTair. Serious Oleg Barmin freedom on right:

Boeing 737-800NG FlyDubai:

Above, I showed photographs of two UTair aircraft, one of them is 15 years old, the second is 19. Age in this case indicates that this type of aircraft requires more frequent and more costly service cycles, which will certainly affect the cost of the flight. But age does not affect flight safety in any way! And the salon, by the way, is also periodically updated at the old sides.

737 Next Generation family

The Next Generation family was Boeing's answer to competition from the more high-tech Airbus A320. The NG aircraft have digital cockpits, completely new wings (lengthened by 5.5 meters) and tail, as well as improved engines. The passenger cabin of the aircraft of this series was developed on the basis of the 757 and 767 cabins. Even the design of the Boeing 777 aircraft used the style of the 737NG cabin. In general, the aircraft of the 737 Next Generation family are a restyled version of the aircraft of the 737 Classic family. Most of the systems have remained almost unchanged schematically and functionally, however, the units have become one-third smaller, and most of them have been redesigned. Since the entire family was designed at the same time, the numbers in the names of the aircraft are ordered in order of increasing fuselage length (-600/-700/-800/-900).

737 MAX family

The Boeing 737 MAX is a new family of aircraft being developed by Boeing to replace the Boeing 737 Next Generation family.

Options
- 737 MAX 7 - replacement for 737-700
- 737 MAX 8 - replacement for 737-800
- 737 MAX 9 - replacement for 737-900

Boeing VS Airbus:

In general, both aircraft are very popular among customers. However, as of mid-2012, Boeing received 2,227 orders for the 737 plus 649 for the 737 MAX, while Airbus received 3,352 orders for the A320 series and 1,534 orders for the updated A320neo. Both companies abandoned plans to create new narrow-body aircraft due to the huge costs of launching new models. Airbus has incurred enormous costs to launch the A380 and is currently completing a nearly equally expensive A350 project. However, Boeing has incurred even more serious expenses for the creation and launch of the 787 Dreamliner - according to some estimates, the cost of the program has increased by almost five times. Moreover, both models continue to experience problems associated with novelty, and divert significant funds.

Happy flying! :)

I want to express my gratitude to the airline

The beginning of the current era of globalization can be considered the 50s of the last century. The first jet planes that appeared then firmly connected the cities remote from each other.

Dawn of the era of jet velocities

The first jet passenger aircraft appeared first in Great Britain, and then in the USSR. Their speed was very different from the speed of propeller-driven aircraft flying at that time.

The jet Tu-104 flew almost three times faster than the civil propeller Il-14 (800 km/h versus 320 km/h).

It is incorrect to compare comfort only because jet aircraft flew at high altitudes without the usual chatter for propeller-driven machines.

The capacity of the new aircraft was many times different from the capacity of propeller-driven aircraft. So, transported in one flight, IL-12 - 27.

The first porthole is lumpy

The first jet passenger aircraft appeared in the UK in May 1952. This aircraft, designed in 1949, was unreliable, and after a series of 12 accidents was withdrawn from service.

He returned to the line only in the mid-50s, after significant changes in the design. Including the cause of the disasters was eliminated - the weakness of the metal at the windows.

belated korean hello

The first domestic jet aircraft Tu-104 took off for the first time just at the time of the correction of the Comet - June 17, 1955.

As usual, we harnessed slowly, but on the other hand, we drove not only quickly, but also reliably. For those who were at the time iron curtain West it was a serious blow.

More recently, they got to know our military jets in Korea very closely. Now their attention was offered quite a competitive passenger jet liner. Success can be explained by another fact -

our jet aircraft was created on the basis of the reliable Tu-16 strategic bomber.

The first regular flight Tu-104 made on the route Moscow-Irkutsk. Note that the launch of the domestic first jet took place without the great loss of life that accompanied the launch of the Comet. And this is despite the fact that the Comet also went down in history as an aircraft that passed a huge number of tests and checks before launching into a series.

For example, the fuselage of an aircraft was tested under a constantly changing pressure difference. There were 16,000 such pressure change cycles, which corresponded to 40,000 flight hours. For the Tu-104, passenger safety was thought out not only at the technological level.

In the interiors of the cabin, the principle of "salon - home" was implemented, creating a homely atmosphere inside the aircraft.

In the first machines, gold and walnut look materials were actively used for decoration, elements of the so-called "imperial architecture" were used. Subsequently, the same principle will be incorporated into the interior of the cabins of the first supersonic aircraft.

Unfortunately, later the interior was unified in accordance with world standards. Approximately the same as the chic VAZ-2103 with wood-like inserts was simplified to the plastic-dermantine version of the VAZ-2106.

Veterans do not grow old in soul

In total, for more than 20 years of service life, the Tu-104 carried about 100,000,000 passengers.

The decommissioned aircraft continued to benefit the homeland, acting as a simulator for astronauts to work in zero gravity.

And the real centenarian among jet firstborns must be recognized (the wing in the photo is just his). Starting his career a little later, in 1958, he still continues to be used as a cargo aircraft on some.