Tu-104 Camel
In 1950s-1970s, the country's top aviation construction bureaus of Sergei Ilyushin, Oleg Antonov and Andrei Tupolev have virtually competed in the design of passenger planes — but it was Tupolev who took the lead with his Tu-104 commercial jet. The obvious success of the Tupolev Design Bureau and the whole military aviation was appearance in the 1950s of TU-16 and TU-95 heavy jet bombers and missile carriers family which mostly defined USSR–USA parity during “cold war” period. The first native passenger aircraft TU-104 built on the basis of the TU-16 bomber opened the era of regular passenger flights by jet-powered aircraft. The OKB established itself as one of the top Soviet "airliner makers".
The strategy chosen when making this aircraft – “strategy of minimal technical risk (basic aircraft was TU-16 bomber) which allowed to make a quite effective and reliable aircraft within short time period. The first drafts of new jetliner coded Tu-2AM-3-200 appeared during the development of Tu-16 bomber. In the summer of 1954 the Soviet government ordered the development of a new aircraft named Tu-104 with AM-3M turbojets. The future aircraft had to be able to carry 50 passengers and 1000 kg of cargo to a range of 3500 km at speeds close to 1000 km/h. The design bureau tried to exploit tested technology of Tu-16 design for the creation of commercial liner. Thus, flight deck layouts, wings and stabilizers, gear struts and navigation equipment Tu-104 obtained from “Badger”. Although this approach shortened the developmental cycle, it failed to contribute much to the commercial efficiency. The fuselage was totally new in design and thorough attention was paid to the large pressurized cabin.
By 1954 the first airplane was built and flight tests have began on June, 17th. The second stage of tests by state commission began in October. In 1955 Tu-104’s serial production was launched in Kharkov and Omsk. During test flights new aircraft visited Great Britain, Switzerland, India and some other countries. The appearance of the Tupolev Tu-104 at Heathrow in 1956 was a complete surprise for the aviation world.
The Tu-104 took Soviet civil aviation into the jet age, becoming the world's first operational jetliner. In May 1956 Tu-104 entered service, becoming the first soviet and world’s second passenger jetliner put in operation. Tu-104 together with newest An-10 and Il-18 airplanes did a great contribution to the Soviet civil aviation in general. Operation of liners of that class required total reconstruction and improvement of all aviation infrastructures. Undoubtfully, in the mid-1950’s a new era of Soviet aviation has began. In 1955 the pre-entry-into-service phase for the TU-104, the first Soviet jetliner began at Vnukovo covering the whole range of flight operation-, technical maintenance- and revenue service-related aspects and problems associated with the new aircraft type. On September 15, 1956 a brand-new TU-104 piloted by Captain E.P. Barabash and his crew took off from Vnukovo bound for Irkutsk on its first revenue flight. A new era in flight operations and civil aviation technology and equipment had begun – the jet age.
As 1956 approached, the sixth five-year plan for 1956-1960 was announced, setting its targets at doubling the passenger traffic. The formula was a jet airliner and in September 1956, the first Tupolev Tu-104 was launched on the Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk route. The Tu-104 flew the entire route in seven hours compared with the IL-14's gruelling 18 hours; in fact, with a two-hour turn-around, the Tu-104 could be back in Moscow before the 11-14 arrived in Irkutsk. Initial results in performance and reliability proved so successful that production of the Tu-104 was accelerated to ensure that all long-haul routes were operated by the Tu-104 by the end of 1959.
On 15 September 1956 the new aircraft flew over Siberia, from Moscow to Irkutsk, via Omsk. This was a huge step in the development of Russian civil aviation. Air travel became almost three times faster, civil pilots learned to fly at new altitudes, and passengers enjoyed the comfort of the spacious cabins and the non-stop flights.
The arrival of the jet age marked a turning point in development of long-haul services in this country when TU-104, a silver-colored steel bird, took to the sky off Vnukovo airfield near Moscow for the first time on September 15, 1956. The novelty seemed like a real wonder to passengers. Its speed, which was 3 times greater than that of IL-14 or LI-2, a 1.5 thousand-kilometer larger flight range, an airtight cockpit and a comfortable 50-seat cabin won popular success soon. A flight to Far East onboard TU-104 took 10 to 12 hours with 2 stops en route.
The first Tu-104 aircraft divisions outside Moscow were set up in Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, where Tolmachevo, the largest airport in Russia east of the Urals, was opened in 1957. Also at Tolmachevo, a Flight Training Center (FTC) was set up, where pilots from throughout the USSR learned to fly the Tu-104, as Moscow could not cope with the number of learners. Both Novosibirsk and Irkutsk had up to 30 Tu-104 aircraft in their own fleets. It was only with the advent of the Tu-104 that the numerous long-haul routes that still pass through the airports today began. Thanks to all this, a major manufacturing and aviation base for the exploitation of jet aviation technology was created in Siberia.
When the first Russian aircraft only began to perform their humble flights, aviators were already thinking about linking by air the furthermost destinations in the country, Moscow and Far East. First aircraft models were not designed to perform such flights, even with stops en route. The renowned 30-seat IL-12 was the first airplane to start regular passenger services. It performed monthly flights between Moscow and Vladivostok with 6 to 8 stops from 1948 onwards. The 8,500 km distance was covered in 24 hours of flying time, the total travel time being 48 hours.
At the beginning of 1957 Primorsky Krai authorities began considering seriously the possibility of receiving TU-104 in Vladivostok. They selected the military airfield of Knevichi that had a 2,500 meter-long concrete runway with radio equipment and lighting. On January 13, 1958, a jet airliner bound for Vladivostok took off Vnukovo airfield. Due to snowstorms the flight was delayed in Omsk, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk. Still, despite the bad weather TU-104 landed on Knevichi airfield for the first time on January 19, 1958. People living in Primorye took a liking to advantages of the first jet aircraft, and the 50-seat cabin was never short of passengers. During the whole of 1958 the airline was training extra staff for the ground service in order to increase the number of jet airplanes received at the airport.
On May 20, 1959, TU-104 departed from Pulkovo airport in Leningrad to land in Vladivostok 20 hours later, thus opening a regular airline service on the route. Additional daily services to Moscow were introduced in 1960 and 1961, and on July 11, 1961, the jet aircraft began to carry out regular flights on Odessa — Vladivostok route. Using jet aircrafts for long-haul flights enabled cost efficiency and a dramatic increase in passenger operations. While a total of 4,640 passengers were flown from Vladivostok to Moscow in 1954, 51,108 passengers were flown by TU-104 only in 1964.
The TU-104 advantages are now being debated by experts who think that the aircraft was a mistake. Yes, it had certain failings. For example, fuel consumption of turbojets RD-3M (5,000 kg/h) seems inconceivable now. On the other hand, nobody had any complaints about their reliability. And the passenger comfort level was always beyond criticism. Nevertheless, the first Russian jet aircraft TU-104 served faithfully for 15 to 20 years on the routes connecting Vladivostok to Moscow, Leningrad, Khabarovsk and Odessa fulfilling the main purpose of airplanes, that of covering long distances in a short time.
