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Doyen of Soviet aircraft designers, A. N. Tupolev (1888-
1972) studied under great Soviet aviation pioneer N. E.
Zhukovskii and during First World War worked at Duks factory
in
 | | ANT-1 |
Moscow. In 1918 assisted Zhukovskii to found ANT
becoming head of design department 1920 and president
of commission to design and build all-metal aircraft
1922. Initially followed Junkers formula, using corrugated
metal skins; first to appear were ANT-1 and ANT-2 (A. N.
Tupolev) cantilever monoplanes. Became head of AGOS
department
 | | ANT-6 / TB-3 |
of the Moscow TsAGI in 1922; during 1920-
1936 most designs bore ANT designations although some
emanated from his design team leaders, chief deputy A.
A. Archangelskii, W. M. Petlyakov and P. 0. Sukhoi (e.g.
Sukhoi designed ANT-25 and 37). Tupolev's first major
design was ANT-4 (TB-1) heavy bomber of
 | | ANT-25 / RD |
1925, forerunner
of several very large machines including ANT-6
(TB-3) bomber; ANT-9 commercial passenger transport
and huge ANT-20 Maxim Gorkii propaganda aircraft of
1934. Also designed ANT-40 (SB-2) twin-engined medium
bomber.
In 1936 Tupolev was arrested during Stalin's purges
and condemned to death, but
sentence commuted and after some five years' imprisonment
was released
 | | ANT-20 "Maxim Gorki" |
and restored to favour (ostensibly in
recognition of Tu-2 medium bomber, designed while in
prison) and given his own design bureau. After Second
World War continued to place emphasis on large aircraft;
Tu-4 copy of Boeing B-29 Superfortress helped win him
a Stalin Prize in 1948.
Main early post-war products included
 | | Tu-2 |
Tu-14 twin-jet
naval medium bomber; Tu-16 intermediate-range twinjet
bomber (first flown April 1952; also produced in China as the Xi'an H-6); and a quartet of four-turboprop sweptwing
giants: the Tu-95 long-range strategic bomber (first
flown November 1952 and built up to 1992), Tu-142 naval
variant for long-range antisubmarine warfare and
 | | Tu-16 |
communications
relay (first flown June 1968 and still in use
today), Tu-114 200-passenger transport based on Tu-95
(first flown November 1957) and Tu-126 AWACS aircraft
(first flown 1962). Later military types included the twinjet
Tu-22, the first Soviet supersonic bomber that first flew
in 1959, and the Tu-128 very large all-weather
 | | Tu-95 |
interceptor
(first flown March 1961). Most recent military aircraft
include the variable-geometry wing Tu-22M Backfire intermediate-
range Mach 1.8 bomber and missile launcher
(first flown August 1969 and 514 built during 1971-90)
and the variable-geometry wing Tu-160 Blackjack heavy
missile bomber with a speed of Mach 2.05 and range of
over 12,215km
 | | Tu-104 |
without in-flight refueling
(first flown December 1981 and entered Soviet service
from 1987), while projects include the Tu-204P maritime
patrol derivative of the Tu-204 airliner, Tu-2000 hypersonic
bomber, and a subsonic strealth bomber.
Early turbojet and turbofan powered transport aircraft
included twin-jet Tu-104 (based on Tu-16 and first flown
June 1955); Tu-124
 | | Tu-22 |
(firstflown March 1960); Tu-134 (first
flown July 1963) and tri-jet Tu-154 (first flown October
1968). Tu-144 became, in December 1968, the first supersonic
airliner in the world to fly. It exceeded Mach 2 for
the first time in May 1970 and was the first of its type to
enter regular
 | | Tu-28 / Tu-128 |
service when, in December 1975, it began
freighting for Aeroflot prior to initial passenger services in
1977. However, Tu-144 was not a success and services
were terminated in June 1978; in November 1996 a converted
Tu-144D flew again as the Tu-144LL, used thereafter
for an international High-Speed Civil Transport
research program
 | | Tu-144 |
to assist in the development of a nextgeneration
supersonic transport.
Most recent Tupolev commercial transports, programs
and projects include the convertible cargo/passenger
Tu-130 (to fly on standard and liquid natural gas in the
21st century), Tu-136 projected light passenger/cargo
transport with twin Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines, Tu-
155/Tu-i 56 conversions of
 | | Tu-154 |
Tu-154 to use cryogenic fuel
engines (Tu-155 for research flew 1988), Tu-204 medium-range
airliner for typically 214 passengers (first flown January
1989) and its projected Tu-206 cryogenic fuel
derivative, Tu-214 and Tu-224 airliners based on Tu-204
but featuring increased take-off weights and longer range
(first flight of Tu-214 March 1996), Tu-230
 | | Tu-22M "Backfire" |
projected
light/medium freighter, 166-passenger Tu-234 airliner as
a short-length variant of Tu-204, Tu-244 projected supersonic
airliner, Tu-304 and Tu-306 (cryogenic fuel variant)
projected long-range airliners for up to 392 passengers, projected Tu-324 regional and business
transport, Tu-330 and liquid-gas Tu-338 freighters, Tu-
334 medium-range airliner for typically 102 passengers
(first flown February
 | | Tu-160 |
1999) and its Tu-336 cryogenic fuel
derivative, Tu-404 projected giant 850-seat airliner, and
Tu-414 projected 70-passenger regional jet.
Tupolev general-aviation projects include Tu-34 pressurized
five/seven-seat STOL transport with twin turboprop
engines and pusher propellers, Tu-54 single-seat
agricultural monoplane, Tu-400 eight/ten-seat business
jet with regional airliner potential, and Tu 4X4 four/sevenseat
business jet as smallest aircraft in the Tu-
324/400/414 range.
Back to the letter T
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All the World's Rotorcraft
Virtual Aircraft Museum
ANT-1
ANT-2
ANT-3
ANT-4 / TB-1
ANT-5 / I-4
ANT-9 / PS-9
ANT-6 / TB-3
ANT-13 / I-8
ANT-10 / R-7
ANT-7
ANT-14 "Pravda"
ANT-23 (I-12)
ANT-8 / MDR-2
ANT-16 / TB-4
ANT-25 / RD
ANT-21 (MI-3)
ANT-31 (I-14)
ANT-20 "Maxim Gorki"
ANT-22 / MK-1
ANT-40 / SB-2
ANT-21bis (MI-3D)
ANT-27 / MDR-4, MTB-1
ANT-37 / DB-2
ANT-29 DIP
ANT-46 (DI-8)
ANT-36 / DB-1
ANT-35 / PS-35
ANT-44 / MTB-2
Tu-2
Tu-10
ANT-63P (Tu-1)
Tu-70
Tu-14 (Tu-81)
Tu-4
Tu-73
Tu-12 / Tu-77
Tu-80
Tu-82 (Tu-22)
Tu-75
Tu-16
Tu-85
Tu-95
Tu-91
Tu-104
Tu-98
Tu-114
Tu-110
Tu-22
Tu-116
Tu-124
Tu-28 / Tu-128
Tu-134
Tu-126
Tu-144
Tu-154
Tu-142
Tu-22M "Backfire"
Tu-160
Tu-204
Tu-334
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