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Amid the height of the Cold War, the U.S.S.R. was committed to producing a supersonic transport (SST) before the Western world. Development began two years behind the Concorde, yet the Tupolev Tu-144 was rushed forward to become the first jetliner to fly supersonic in June 1969. It inaugurated freight and mail service in December 1975, and Aeroflot Soviet Airlines passenger service in November 1977. With a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2.15, the Tu-144 was the fastest production SST ever produced. Four Kuznetsov NK-144 afterburning turbofan engines powered the aircraft. The Tu-144 included retractable canards on the front to increase lift at low speeds. The aircraft proved costly to operate when compared to newer subsonic airliners available at the time. With little market for high-priced supersonic travel in the Soviet Union, passenger service was intermittent and brief, and ended in June 1978. A total of seventeen Tu-144s were produced in various versions.
This image was posted on September 08, 2021.
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