The Tu-144 was the world's first supersonic airliner to take flight,
beating the Concorde into the air by three months. In autumn of 1996,
NASA, a team of U.S. aircraft and engine manufacturers and Russias
ANTK (Tupolev) started a series of supersonic flight experiments using
a Tu-144D converted into a flying laboratory (Tu-144LL). The plane was
manufactured in 1981 staying in service for Aeroflot only for 83
flight hours. The Tu-144LL with registration RA-77114 had its "second
maiden flight" on November, 29th 1996. After 19 test flights the
program was sucessfully finished in March 1998.
Original design
---------------
Thomas Gierse (gierse@arose.free.de)
Repainted, animated and improved aircraft dynamics by:
Matthias Vogel (fly.mv@gmx.de)
Installation
------------
Simply unzip the "MV144LL.ZIP" file to the Aircraft directory in your
Flight Simulator 98 or 2000.
Aircraft data
-------------
Crew: 3-4
Passengers: 140
Wingspan: 28.8 m
Length: 65.7 m
Height (wheels up): 12.85 m
Wing area: 507 square meters
Empty weight: 85000 kg
MTOW: 200000 kg
Max fuel: 102000 kg
Max landing weight: 110000 - 120000 kg
Engine: 4x Kuznezov NK-321, 137.2 kN (30843 lb st); 245.2 kN (55077 lb
st) with afterburner (Originally designed for the Tu-160 Blackjack bomber);
Max. speed: M 2.35; 2500 km/h; 1350 knots; 1553 mph at 18000 m
Ceiling: 19000 m
Takeoff roll: 2100 m
Landing roll: 1500 m
Range with 140 passengers at max. speed: 2154 nm; 4000 km; 2485 mi
Recommended files
-----------------
I strongly recommend to use the Tu-144 panel from Matthias Lieberecht
(mlt144-1.zip). A good sound collection was done by Leon Medado
(lmcncdsd.zip). You can find both files on SurClaro. If you are
flying in FS2000 I recommend using the panel and the sounds from the
default Concorde.
Flying the Tu-144
-----------------
The flight model of Tu-144 is very accurate. When flying the Tupolev please
remember she is by far not comparable to any other aircraft except the
Concorde.
The aircraft is equipped with canards which you should use during take off
and landing. You can apply them using the normal flaps keys (F5-F8). Like
Concorde, Tu-144 has a nose you can lower during take off and landing. For
this please use the spoiler key (#).
Most important: You will need a long runway for operating Tu-144 (at least
1500 m). Also, remember that it takes a long time until you reach
supersonic speed. You should reach at least FL 500 before trying to fly
supersonic. Like in the real aircraft you should use the autopilot to climb
to cruising level of FL 600. You shouldn't climb faster than 100 fpm at
that height. Also set autothrottle to Mach 2 (FS98 has a limitation of
maximum Mach 1.99). The maximum speed limit for Tu-144 is Mach 2.35. Do not
exceed that speed. For approach and landing you will need a lot of room. Be
carful since Tu-144 will take a long time to slow down.
References
----------
Howard Moon, Soviet SST: The technopolitics of the Tupolev-144; ISBN
0-517-56601-X
Tu-144 article by Tom Huntington, Air & Space / Smithsonian
October/November 1995
Tu-144 NASA Facts: http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/TU-144.html
The unofficial Tu-144 Web Site:
http://members.aol.com/rcder2000/main.htm
Copyright
---------
All the files are protected by international Copyright Laws. Not any
part from this aircraft, can be used in any commercial product or
event. Nor can any part of this aircraft be used in any other Freeware
product or project, without approval by the Designers/Painter.
Happy flying!
Matthias Vogel
Please send me questions and feedback: fly.mv@gmx.de
June, 1st. 2000
