TU-144 WILL OPEN THE STATIC DISPLAY EXPOSITION OF MAKS 2009

TU-144 - a soviet supersonic passenger aircraft, which was developed by Tupolev development laboratory in 1960-s and was produced in series on the aircraft factory VASO in Voronezh, will open the static display exposition of the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2009. TU-144 is one of the first supersonic aircrafts that was used by airline companies for commercial passenger air transportation. This particular aircraft was awarded with the first prize for design on the international exhibition.
Altogether there were 16 TU-144 aircrafts produced that accomplished 2556 flights (4110 hours). Two aircrafts crashed: in 1973 near Paris and in 1978 near Egorievsk. Six aircrafts were remelted in the 90-s. Three aircrafts were given to museums: Monino, Ulianovsk, Zinsheim (Germany). Two aircrafts are now kept in aviation universities in Samara and Kazan. Unique experimental aircraft USSR-68001 was utilized.

TU-144D (№ 77114) known under the name TU-144FL («Flying Laboratory») is now used by American space agency NASA for researches in the field of high-speed space flights aiming to create new supersonic passenger aircraft.
TU-144D № 77115 is kept at Zhukovsky airfield. In 2007 this aircraft was recolored according to the historical color scheme and was exhibited during MAKS 2007 Aviation Salon.