Tupolev Tu-114 variant
Tupolev Tu-114 Tu-114
Initial production version: a wide, pressurised fuselage grafted onto the wing, tail, landing gear and powerplant of the Tu-95 bomber. Four Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprops with contra-rotating propellers gave it cruise speeds no propeller airliner was expected to reach.
- November 15, 1957
- First flight
- 32
- Units built
- 8,950 km
- Range
- 220
- Passengers
History
Development was ordered in August 1955 by Council of Ministers directive 1561-868, which called for a Tu-95-derived airliner with a range of 8,000 km. Tupolev kept the bomber's 35-degree swept wing, empennage and engine installation and mated them to an entirely new, far wider pressurised fuselage; the low wing forced a much taller nose gear to clear the huge propellers, leaving the cabin door out of reach of the airstairs at many airports. First flight came on 15 November 1957 and regular Aeroflot service began on 24 April 1961 between Moscow-Vnukovo and Khabarovsk. Thirty-two aircraft were built at plant 18 in Kuibyshev. The price of the performance was cabin noise and vibration among the worst of its generation.