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 was a large airliner powered by 4 powerful contra-rotating propellers just like the Antonov An-22. It came as a surprise to Western observers that a propeller-driven aircraft could operate at jet-like speeds. It was huge by 1950s standards, the largest airliner of its time, with accommodation for 120 to 220 passengers.
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 turboprop engines ever produced, 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 (during one of Nikita Khrushchev's visits to the United States, the airport he arrived at did not have steps tall enough to reach the Tu-114's cabin door because of this feature)
Variants
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 service with Aeroflot. Though used for long-range domestic routes, the Tu-114 was also flown to Copenhagen, Havana, Montréal, New Delhi, Paris, Belgrade 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-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 compatibility 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-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, until replaced by the Beriev A-50.
Operators
Civil
Military
Specifications (Tu-114)
Notes
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