RUSSIA: ENGINEERS UNVEIL ENGINE WHICH THEY HOPE WILL POWER A SUPERSONIC PASSENGER JET TO RIVAL CONCORDE

Record ID: 639869

  • Title: RUSSIA: ENGINEERS UNVEIL ENGINE WHICH THEY HOPE WILL POWER A SUPERSONIC PASSENGER JET TO RIVAL CONCORDE
  • Date: 12th August 1996
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 12, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV ZHUKOVSKI AIRFIELD, EXTERIORS OF HANGAR WHERE SUPERSONIC JET ENGINE TEST TOOK PLACE 0.07 2. LV JET ENGINE'S EXHAUST NOZZLE (3 SHOTS) 0.19 3. LV INTERIORS HANGAR SHOWING JET ENGINE 0.24 4. MV REPORTERS AND EXPERTS LOOKING AT THE JET ENGINE 0.29 5. SCU THE ENGINE (3 SHOTS) 0.42 6. MV WORKERS PREPARING FOR A TEST 0.47 7. SCU ENGINE 0.56 8. MV PEOPLE GATHERED FOR THE TEST 1.00 9. SCU BEGINNING OF THE TEST, SHOTS OF THE CONTROLLING EQUIPMENT WITH CAMERAMEN FILMING WORKERS (3 SHOTS) 1.20 10. LV EXTERIOR EXHAUST NOZZLE 1.26 11. SCU CHIEF DESIGNER ALEXANDRE PUKHOV SAYING THE FLYING TESTS WILL BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER (RUSSIAN) 1.51 12. MV MEDIA 1.55 13. SMV NASA REPRESENTATIVE JEFF BALSER SPEAKING (ENGLISH) 2.11 14. LV AIRFIELD, PLANES ON TARMAC (2 SHOTS) 2.23 TRANSCRIPT SEQ. 11. JEFF BALSER "FROM AN ENGINE STANDPOINT THERE ARE NO ENGINES THAT WE KNOW OF THAT MATCH THE ENGINE THAT TUPOLEV HAVE HERE. SO THERE WAS REALLY NO CHOICE BUT TO COME HERE AND DO THIS KIND OF TEST." Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 27th August 1996 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA4XVJA3WQ7RAXD5M9761V5QBZR
  • Story Text: - INTRO: Russian engineers on Monday (August 12) unveiled an engine which it hopes will power a supersonic passenger jet to rival Concorde.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------ Russia came a step closer to creating its answer to the Franco-British Concorde on Monday when its Tupolev planemaker carried out ground tests on its engine prototype for a new supersonic passenger aircraft.

    Reporters gathered at the once-secret Zhukovski airbase outside Moscow as engineers from the design firm proudly revealed an upgraded version of an engine which it hopes will power a new supersonic jet based on the old Tupolev Tu-144.

    The first of 17 Tu-144s flew on December 31, 1968, just days before the Concorde.

    But that development programme was quietly shelved after a Tu-144 crashed at the 1973 Paris Air Show, killing 13 people.

    Now Tupolev, with the help of funding from the U.S. space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), is trying to come up with a new version of the Tu-144.

    Tupolev chief designer Alexandre Pukhov said results of the NASA-funded experiment would be used during planned flight tests of the upgraded Tu-144 in September or October.

    "Safety is the most important issue for us", Pukhov said.

    NASA has already invested 11.8 million U.S. dollars in the first stage of the project which was launched in May 1994.

    "There is no other engine, which we know of, that could match the engine Tupolev has," said NASA representative Jeff Balser.

    On Monday, the RD-36 engine was put to work for several minutes, allowing specialists from NASA, the U.S.-based Boeing company and General Electric to collect data.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register