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Tu-134 Variants

The Tu-134 aircraft was built in various modifications: passenger, special purpose vehicles, flying laboratories. As of 2018, several dozens of Tu-134 remained in operation, the main operator was the Armed forces of Russia.

A total of 852 aircraft were produced in various versions - TU­134, TU­134A, TU­134B, TU­134 UB­L, TU­134Sh - between 1963 and 1978, around 100 of them were used outside the Soviet Union, including the former GDR airline "Interflug". Versions appeared with decreased crew size, increased passenger capacity, improved economic indices, etc. Furthermore, based on a TU­134 aircraft, a flying laboratory was designed to develop new prototypes of aircraft and space equipment. As of the January 1, 2006 the state registry of civil aircraft of the Russian Federation contained 223 Tu-134 airplanes, from which 162 vehicles were in operation.

• Tu-134A (4 variants for 76, 80, 86 and 96 passengers)
• Tu-134B
• Tu-134B1
• Tu-134BU
• Tu-134A-SHe-1
• Tu-134A-She-2
• Tu-134D
• Tu-134UBL
• Tu-134UBK
• Tu-134SL
• Tu-134S
• Tu-134M

For Tu-134A, for the first time in the USSR, systems were installed that were generally accepted at that time in world aviation for short-haul airliners: engines with thrust reverser, which reduced mileage when landing, auxiliary power unit, which provided ventilation in the cabin before takeoff and after landing (with the engines turned off) ), and centralized fueling, which greatly accelerated the maintenance of aircraft on the ground. However, some shortcomings remained: a narrow fuselage, a lack of airborne ramps (they were only on the "saloon" versions), poor crew placement, lack of air brakes, and the like. The model was mass-produced in Kharkov from 1970 to 1980.

And in 1980-84, they began to build the most advanced version of the aircraft - the Tu-134B, which had more powerful engines (D-30 series III, with a thrust of 6930 kg) and took on board up to 80 passengers in the usual class and up to 96 " tourist ". Its commercial load increased to 9 tons. The position of the navigator in the bow was finally eliminated, and the crew was reduced to three people. It was possible to significantly improve fuel efficiency.

The Tu-134A-3 variants were also created (D-30 series III engines were replaced at repair plants), Tu-134s (cargo with enlarged doors), agricultural Tu-134SX for environmental control, Tu-134 "Salon" (for transportation of state officials) and a number of experimental machines.

The legendary Tupolev Tu-134 converted into business aircraft offer the same level of comfort and luxury as its Western built analogues. When it comes to flying across Russian Federation and CIS countries in unmatched VIP atmosphere Tu-134 is the aircraft of choice. "Kominteravia" airline which had several TU-134A aircraft in its fleet was the first to address Tupolev PSC in 1995 for upgrading interiors of said aircraft. This work was performed in the shortest dates by specialists of the Design Bureau and Moscow experimental plant which is a subsidiary of Tupolev PSC and the company received two TU-134As provided with new state-of-the-art interior. This was followed by modification of several TU-134s more to VIP-class machines, other air carriers also placed their orders. 30 TU-134 aircraft with advanced interior and equipment were designed according to customer's requests and delivered to them.

Several military versions of the Tu-134Sh aircraft for training and training the navigators Tu-134UBL and Tu-134UBK for training and training crews of strategic missile carriers, and Tu-134AK (for guiding the armed forces, with powerful radio communications equipment) were also mass-produced.

Tu-134UBL - (according to NATO codification - Crusty-B), a training aircraft developed with the assistance of the Tupolev Design Bureau in the early 1980s. Adopted in 1982r, in order to approximate the training of long-range and marine aviation pilots to real conditions, which in terms of equipment, aerobatic qualities and even appearance resembled a Tu-22M bomber. The unique Tu-134UBL plane, also known as the ‘Black Pearl,’ returned to the air 27 March 2019 after undergoing repairs, with the comeback flight caught in spectacular footage. The video shows Tu-134UBL, which NATO calls Crusty-B, during system testing, taxi, takeoff and the beginning of the first one-hour-long flight after leaving the repair shop. It was developed on the basis of the Tu-134 passenger jet in early 1990s to train pilots and navigators from Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 strategic nuclear-capable bombers.

A total of 109 aircraft [other sources report around 90 such aircraft] were produced between 1981 and 1984. The plane was given a pointy nose, just like those of the bombers, and colored in black, which became the reason for the nickname. The extended nose part of the ‘Black Pearl’ is used to host radar and other equipment as well as 12 seats for trainees. Designed for training flight crews in piloting instrumentation in simple and difficult weather conditions, aircraft navigation, approach approaches in director and automatic modes. It can also be used to transport troops, materiel, mail, evacuate the wounded and sick, and perform special tasks.

The last production Tu-134UBL was converted into the Tu-134UB-K variant for training navigators and naval aviation operators. Tu-134UBK entered in 1984 at the 33rd Center for combat use in Nikolaev, but this aircraft remained in a single copy. In the 90s, several serial Tu-134UBLs were converted for fleet aviation into the Tu-134UBK-M.