More Russian Aircraft

[ChrisV]

To add to the Russian theme.

These were taken in Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of Lenin, at an aircraft museum. Had a great guide who was extremely proud of Russian aviation. There was sure some heavy metal there.

Edit
Tupelov Tu144. The russian concord. But this one was way heavier. The guide reckoned the Russians made theirs first.
Tupelov Tu116. Long range VIP aircraft. Guide reckoned this one was used by Krushchov.
The other is a mix of planes

[pfitzgerald]

Nice...

[LewisM]

First photo is the Tu114, with a Yak42, Ilyushin Il-14 and something I can't quite see in the background.

Second photo is a Myasischiev M101T in the foreground, Tu-116 (yes, it was Khrushev's VIP aircraft, but he NEVER flew on it - all his flights were on the better Tu-114), Tu-134, Il-18, Tu-104 (second jet airliner to fly after the DH Comet, and well before the 707 and DC-8), a Polish PZL M-15 (jet agricultural aircraft) and a Yak-18T

Third photo is an An-2, Aero L-29 Delfin (made in Czechoslovakia), Il-28, Il-96 and a An-24

There are others, but I can't see enough details to identify

[Regulus]

Nice collect of pics Chris.

Lewis. The Tu114 was actually used? I have always thought that they made it to compete with Concorde, but it was never used. Much like Buran.

Trevor

[ChrisV]

We couldn't quite figure that out from the guide (partly due to a not so good interpreter and our beginner Russian). It flew, but not sure how much it was used.

Thanks for the info Lewis, here's some more.
It was in interesting day. The museum was only a few km's out of town but we were pulled up for passport checks 6 times on the way there and back.

[LewisM]

Tu-114 was a VERY fast turboprop (propellor) - don't confuse it with the Tu-144 which was the competitor to the Concorde. The Tu-144 did a LOT of internal flights between Moscow and the far east.

The Tu-114 was used a LOT in Russia. The Tu-116 was used very little, with only 2 made and used for airforce rapid transport.

[DeWynter]

That's the Tu144 (a-la Concorde) you are talking about. There were only 102 commercial flights.

Tu114 is a different one.

[LewisM]

The most recent batch:

Tu-104A

Tu-124 (basically a better Tu-104)

Tupolev ANT-4 (or TB-1, but this one is an ANT-4)

MiL Mi-26 heavy helicopter

Aero L-29 Delfin

Here is a good video on the Tu-114: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8aH9QhIkiM

[FlashDrive]

In the 2nd picture on the first post ...I'm sure that is the ' Black Bear Bomber ' .... counter rotating prop's ' ... in the back ground.

You can see its ' prop's in the first picture on the left side.

Col....


edit ....errrr , maybe not ...I don't see a ' gun turret ' at the back ... nor a ' refueling probe ' at the front.

[LewisM]

Read the answers Col ya dill.

:lol:

It's a Tu-116 - a commercial DERIVATIVE of the Tu-95.

[ChrisV]

And then to space in Samara !!! That's me, the dill in front of the soyuz.

[Regulus]

Thanks for that info Lewis and Ilya.

Trev

[gary]

Great pictures Chris!

Trevor, the Tu-144 was a disaster.

It famously crashed at the 1973 Paris Airshow.

I remember it at the time.

Concorde had just gone through a set of manoeuvres which the Soviet
pilots then tried to replicate. The Tu-144 stalled, went into a steep dive and crashed.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWIWAI6GmQQ

[LewisM]

The Paris crash was a combination of factors.

One issue was boldness of the Tu144 captain. The Concorde’s display was considered by all as being boring, uninteresting and lack-lustre, so the Tu captain decided to spice things up. Bad move when issue No2 arose...

Secondly was the now admitted to (after many decades!) of the French flying a Mirage covertly doing photographs of the aircraft in flight, with the Tu captain having to take evasive action from the Mirage coming in too close ( the Soviets were not made aware of the presence of the Mirage seeing it was espionage!). The first officer of the Tu had been taking photos of this but the French and Soviet government came to a mutual agreement regarding the issue.

The Tu144 wasn’t a total disaster but not fantastic either. Revolutionary. Heck, the US trying to make an SST nearly sent Boeing bankrupt before the US introduced supersonic laws. Disaster...DC-10...over 30 hull losses and 1000+ fatalities

There is a saying in aviation: There are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots.

[ChrisV]

Well there you go. Our guide at the airfield didn't say anything about the Paris crash - only how impressive it was at that air show.

Love Russia and all it's anomalies...