Tupolev Tu-244

The Tupolev Tu-244 was a proposed supersonic transport developed from the Tu-144, with draft work beginning in 1979 and the project cancelled in 1993. It was designed around cryogenic fuel, with hydrogen-fuelled versions of the Kuznetsov NK-321 turbofan, to reach distances of up to 10,000 kilometres while carrying as many as 300 passengers. Its nearly circular fuselage and wing would have used largely titanium-composite materials, fly-by-wire controls were intended, and video cameras were to give the crew their view for landings instead of a tilting nose. Designers reported that its air resistance at Mach 2 was only about 50 percent higher than that of a conventional airliner at Mach 0.9. A published specification lists an empty weight of 172,000 kilograms, a wingspan of 54.77 metres and a cruise speed near Mach 2.05.