Tupolev Tu-114
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The Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya (NATO reporting name Cleat) is a turboprop powered medium-range airliner designed by the Tupolev design bureau.
The Tupolev design bureau was instructed by the government of the Soviet Union to develop an airliner with intercontinental range based on the Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber. The result is a large airliner powered by 4 powerful turboprops. It came as a surprise to Western observers that a propeller-driven aircraft could operate at jet-like speeds. It was huge by 1950's standards, the largest airliner of its time, with accommodation for 120 to 220 passengers.
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Technological features
This airliner has certain unique technological features of its time such as
- swept back wings as in high speed subsonic airliners
- powerful Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprops, the most powerful ever, each driving two AV-60H counter-rotating four-bladed reverse-pitch propellers
- lower deck galleys
- lower deck crew rest area
- long landing gear due to its large propeller diameter
Variants
Tu-114D/Tu-116
During the design process of the Tu-114, the Tupolev OKB decided to convert three disbanded military Tu-95s. The purpose of these planes was testing, such as propulsion tests, analysis of cmpatibility issues with civil airports, and route/scheduling studies. Designated Tu-116, these planes were converted by removing the gun turret and adding a pressurised cabin to the aft fuselage. The sole customer for the Tu-116 was Aeroflot, which later redesignated it Tu-114D.
Tu-114
The Tu-114 was the production standard. Including a totally redesigned fuselage of greater diametre than the Tu-95, the Tu-114 also included a wing mounted lower on the fuselage, and a nose very similar to that of the Tu-95. The navigator sat in the tip of the nose, behind a glazed window.
By the standards of the 1950s, the main cabin was gigantic, seating as many as 220 passengers. The plane set a number of records, most notably one for fastest turboprop-powered aircraft that has not yet been broken. Following this, the Tu-114 went into servise with Aeroflot. Though used for long-range domestic routes, the Tu-114 was also flown to Copenhagen, Havana, Montréal, New Delhi, Paris, and Tokyo (in flights operated jointly by Japan Air Lines, flown by a mixture of crews).
In 1971, the Tu-114 was replaced by Aeroflot by the Ilyushin Il-62. The phaseout was complete by 1975.
Tu-126
Of the disbanded Tu-114s, a number were converted to AWACS platforms, receiving the new designation Tu-126 (NATO reporting name Moss). They were used by the Soviet Navy.
Specifications (Tu-114)
General characteristics
- Crew: 5
- Capacity: 120-220
- Length: 54.10 m (177 ft 4 in)
- Wingspan: 51.05 m (167 ft 6 in)
- Height: 15.44 m (50 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 311.1 m² (3,349 ft²)
- Empty: 91,000 kg (200,000 lb)
- Loaded: 131,000 kg (289,000 lb)
- Maximum takeoff: 171,000 kg (377,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 4× Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprops; 11,033 kW (14,790 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 960 km/h (520 knots)
- Range: 6,200 km (3,300 nmiles)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: m/min ( ft/min)
- Wing loading: 421 kg/m² (86.2 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 0.168 kW/kg (0.102 hp/lb)
Related content
Related development: Tu-95 - Tu-142
Comparable aircraft: Boeing 707 - Douglas DC-8 - Vickers VC-10 - Ilyushin Il-62
Designation sequence: Tu-105 - Tu-107 - Tu-110 - Tu-114 - Tu-116 - Tu-119 - Tu-121
Related lists: List of airliners
Template:Tupolev Russian airliners
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