60 YEARS TUPOLEV 104

TUPOLEV 104 60 YEARS AGO

AEROFLOT  advertising poster. Pininterest

The Tupolev Tu-104 (NATO reporting name: Camel) was a twin-engine medium-range narrow-body turbojet-powered Soviet airliner and the world's first successful jet airliner. The Tu-104 was the second jet to enter regular service (with Aeroflot) and the first to provide a sustained and successful service (the Comet had been withdrawn following a series of crashes due to structural failure). The Tu-104 was the sole jetliner operating in the world between 1956 and 1958.
At the beginning of the 1950s, Aeroflot needed a modern airliner with better capacity and performance than the piston-engined aircraft then in operation. The design request was filled by the Tupolev OKB, which based their new airliner on its Tu-16 'Badger' strategic bomber. The new design adopted a wider, pressurised fuselage designed to accommodate 50 passengers. The prototype (SSSR-L5400) first flew on June 17, 1955
The arrival of the Tu-104 in London in 1956 totally surprised all observers who thought the Soviets lacked the advanced technology required to build a commercial airliner (forgetting the number of German engineers held in captivity in the USSR). By the time production ceased in 1960,  200 frames  had been built.
The Tu-104 was powered by two Mikulin AM-3 turbojets placed at the wing/fuselage junction (resembling the solution used on the de Havilland Comet).
On September 15, 1956, the Tu-104 began revenue service on Aeroflot's Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk route, replacing the piston-engined Ilyushin Il-14. The flight time was reduced from 13 hours and 50 minutes to 7 hours and 40 minutes, and the new jet dramatically increased the level of passenger comfort. The first scheduled international service between Moscow and Prague took place in October 1956.On September 4, 1957 a TUPOLEV 104A made the first Atlantic crossing from Moscow to New York via London, Keflavik and Goose Bay.

TUPOLEV 104 CCCP-L5445 after its Trans-Atlantic crossing via Wikimedia commons/RIAN archives/CC license

Aeroflot retired the Tu-104 from civil service in March 1979 following a fatal accident at Moscow. Following this, several aircraft were transferred to the Soviet military. However, after a Tu-104 crash in February 1981 that killed 52 people , the type was permanently removed from service. The last flight of the Tu-104 was a ferry flight to Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum in 1986.

Variants

Tu-104 – initial version seating 50 passengers. 29 airframes were built.

TUPOLEV 104  from the RIAN archives/Wikimedia commons/CC license

Tu-104A – Improved version appearing in June 1957; continued improvements of the Mikulin engines (Mikulin AM-3M each with 8,700 kg of thrust) permitted significant growth in capacity, resulting in a 70-seater variant. The Tu-104A became the definitive production variant. A total of 80 airframes were built, of which six were exported to Czechoslovakia.

"Tupolev Tu-104A, Aeroflot JP6853193" by Jon Proctor - Gallery page http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6853193 Photo http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/9/6/6/37415_1274124669.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.

Tu-104B – Further improvements made by stretching fuselage 1.2 meters and fitting new Mikulin AM-3M-500 turbojets (9,700 kg of thrust each). The Tu-104B was able to accommodate 100 passengers. This variant took advantage of the newer fuselage from the Tupolev Tu-110 and the existing wings. It began revenue service with Aeroflot on April 15, 1959 on the Moscow-Leningrad route. A total of 95 airframes were built.

"Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-104B at Arlanda, July 1968" by Lars Söderström - http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aeroflot/Tupolev-TU-104B/0168123/L/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.


General characteristics of the 104B

• Crew: 7
• Capacity: 50–115 passengers
• Length: 40.05 m (131 ft 5 in)
• Wingspan: 34.54 m (113 ft 4 in)
• Height: 11.90 m (39 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 184 m² (1,975 ft²)
• Empty weight: 43,800 kg (96,560 lb)
• Loaded weight: 78,100 kg (172,180 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Mikulin AM-3M-500 turbojets, 95.1 kN (21,400 lbf) each

Performance

• Range: 2,750 km (1,485 nm, 1,709 mi)
• Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
• Rate of climb: 10 m/s (1,969 ft/min)

Source : Wikimedia commons

CSA TUPOLEV 104 OPERATIONS (1957-1969)
 

from the 1958 timetable. www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson collection

The Czech airline was the first and only foreign operators of the TU104 A. The company operated a total of 6 frames until the type was retired in 1974

OK-LDA was delivered on November 2, 1957 , Named "Praha" and retired in 1973 


"CSA Tupolev Tu-104 Soderstrom-2" by Lars Soderstrom - http://www.airliners.net/photo/CSA---Ceskoslovenske/Tupolev-Tu-104A/0510379/L/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

OK-LDB was delivered on December 3, 1957. Named "Bratislava" and retired in 1973 . Destroyed by fire in Bombay on March 16, 1963 with no casualties

OK-LDC was delivered on December 30, 1957. Named "Brno" and retired in 1974



"CSA Tu-104A OK-LDC ARN May 1971" by Lars Söderström - http://www.airliners.net/photo/CSA---Ceskoslovenske/Tupolev-TU-104A/0168125/L/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

OK-NDD was delivered on January 7, 1960.Named "Plzen" crashed on approach in Tripoli (Libya)  on August 1, 1970 with 13 fatalities



"CSA Tupolev Tu-104 Soderstrom-1" by Lars Soderstrom - http://www.airliners.net/photo/CSA---Ceskoslovenske/Tupolev-TU-104A/0168124/L/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

OK-MDE was delivered on March 12,1962.Named "Ostrava" and damaged beyond repair while landing  in Nicosia on August 29, 1973

OK-NDF was delivered on February 25, 1963.Named "Ceske Budovice" and retired in 1974
 
On December 9, 1957, CSA introduced the TU104A on its flagship service to Moscow .

According to the 1958 timetable,

from www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson collection

 

the TU104A services were expanded to include Paris, Brussels  and Moscow

The 1959 timetable still reveals limited services to Moscow (4 x week) and Cairo ( 2 x week)

The 1962 timetable

From the Arthur Na Collection with kind permission

shows a significant expansion of the routes operated by the Tupolev as shown in this map

Summer 1962 CSA TUPOLEV 104 operations

According to the 1963 summer  timetable (year of the company's jubilee)

from the collection of Bjorn Larsson @ www.timetableimages.com

the network has expanded further in the 2 maps below

CSA TUPOLEV 104A EUROPEAN NETWORK SUMMER 1963

CSA TUPOLEV 104A INTERCONTINENTAL NETWORK SUMMER 1963

The summer 1965 timetable include the following changes :

• Algiers joins the network on a weekly route : Prague-Algiers-Zurich-Prague.
• Bahrain replaces Dhahran as an intermediate stop to East Asia
• Copenhagen is dropped on the leg to Helsinki

The 1966 summer timetable

from the collection of Bjorn Larsson @ www.timetableimages.com

 shows a reshuffle on the number of stops on CSA's routes to the Far East where 2 major routes exist :

1. Route 1 Prague-Beograd-Cairo-Doha-Bombay-Rangoon-Phnom Penh-Jakarta (return via Athens instead of Beograd.
2. Route 2 Prague-Athens-Beirut-Bahrain-Bombay-Rangoon-Phnom Penh (return via Beograd instead of Athens.
3. Doha is added as a stop .
4. Zurich is served directly (instead of being a dog leg stop)
5. Dubrovnik is served seasonally.

The changes in the 1967 timetable

from the KS private collection

are as follow :

• Tunis is added as a stop on Prague-Algiers.
• Services to Berlin, Stockholm and Helsinki witness a change in gauge from the Tu104 to the TU124
• 2 more stops are included on the routes to the Far East:  Kuwait and Dubai, but the sectors Beirut-Kuwait-Dubai and Kuwait-Beirut are subject to government approval

The 1968 summer timetable

From the Arthur Na Collection with kind permission

CSA EUROPEAN TUPOLEV 104 NETWORK SUMMER 1968

 

A small change occurs in the European network : Milan is dropped whereas Frankfurt is added.

It is the International network that witnesses the biggest changes as shown in this map

CSA INTERCONTINENTAL TUPOLEV 104 NETWORK SUMMER 1968

 

• Tunis is served directly
• The African network sees a change of gauge from the Il18 to TU 104 with the 2 following routes :

1- Prague-Rabat-Dakar-Conakry (return flight via Zurich)
2-Prague-Rabat-Dakar-Freetown

• Tehran and Nicosia are 2 destinations added on a weekly route Prague-Beirut-Tehran-Nicosia-Prague,
• Cairo is served on its own
• The onward leg Kuwait-Dubai-Bombay of the Prague-Jakarta segment is replaced in the return leg by Bombay-Bahrain-Kuwait 

Finally the 1969 timetable shows a considerable build up of destinations both on the European and Intercontinental levels

CSA EUROPEAN TUPOLEV 104 NETWORK SUMMER 1969

1. New Prague-Bratislava-Moscow, Prague-Leningrad services ,Prague-Copenhagen  and Prague-Berlin-Stockholm-Helsinki return . London is dropped (served by the IL62)

CSA NORTH AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST TU 104 NETWORK SUMMER 1969

 

Tel-Aviv, Damascus , Baghdad and Istanbul airports see the TUPOLEV 104 on their respective tarmacs .

 



 CSA INTERCONTINENTAL TUPOLEV 104 NETWORK SUMMER 1969

 

No significant changes except the addition of Madrid and the disappearance of the intermediate stops of Bahrain and Dubai



from the 1958 timetable. www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson collection

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.