Concorde (wallpaper 4) aircraft photo gallery | AirSkyBuster

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Concorde (wallpaper 4). Concorde aircraft images wallpaper gallery 4. Concorde airplane pictures collection 4. The only other supersonic airliner in direct competition with Concorde was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, which was nicknamed "Concordski" by Western Europeans for its outward similarity to Concorde. Soviet espionage efforts had resulted in the theft of Concorde blueprints, ostensibly to assist in the design of the Tu-144. As a result of a rushed development programme, the first prototype of the Tu-144 was substantially different from the preproduction machines, but both were cruder and less refined than Concorde. The Tu-144S had a significantly shorter range than Concorde, due to its low-bypass turbofan engines. The vehicle had poor control at low speeds because of a simpler supersonic wing design; in addition the Tu-144 required parachutes to land while Concorde had sophisticated anti-lock brakes. Concorde (wallpaper 4). Concorde aircraft images wallpaper gallery 4. Concorde airplane pictures collection 4. The Tu-144 had two crashes, one at the 1973 Paris Air Show, and another during a pre-delivery test flight in the summer of 1978. Later production versions had retractable canards for better low-speed control, and a 126-seat research version used turbojet engines that gave them nearly the fuel efficiency and similar range to Concorde. With a top speed of Mach 2.35 it was potentially a more competitive aircraft – but was quickly taken out of service due to severe safety defects. The American designs, the Boeing 2707 and the Lockheed L-2000 were to have been larger, with seating for up to 300 people. Running a few years behind Concorde, the winning Boeing 2707 was redesigned to a cropped delta layout; the extra cost of these changes helped to kill the project. The operation of US military aircraft such as the XB-70 Valkyrie and B-58 Hustler had shown that sonic booms were quite capable of reaching the ground, and the experience from the Oklahoma City sonic boom tests led to the same environmental concerns that hindered the commercial success of Concorde. The American government cancelled the project in 1971, after having spent more than $1 billion. Concorde (wallpaper 4). Concorde aircraft images wallpaper gallery 4. Concorde airplane pictures collection 4.