Tupolev Tu-104

The Tupolev 104 was the first Soviet jet airliner. Its design was based on the Tupolev 16 jet bomber, the wings and tail of which were mated to a new, enlarged fuselage. The new type was built in Kharkiv/Ukraine starting in 1955 and initially operated by Aeroflot on long domestic and the most prestigious international routes. Compared to the previously operated Li-2, Il-12 and Il-14 piston airliners that often took several days to reach the Far East from Moscow, the Tu104 saved lots and lots of time.

For a while between 1955 and 1959, the Tu-104 was the worlds only operating jet airliner: the deHavilland Comet I had been grounded in 1953 due to its known structural problems and it was not until 1959 that the much improved Comet IV and a little later the Boeing 707 and DC-8 came up. 

Although the Tu-104 was revolutionary, it was not easy to fly. The flight controls were entirely manual and not hydraulically driven, resulting in rather high rudder forces. The swept wing had some unusual slow speed characteristics and tended to stall much earlier than a conventional wing, this was combatted by the addition of the two sizeable wing fences that keep the flow aligned a little longer. Nevertheless, there were two accidents shortly after introduction that were traced back to an unrecoverable flat spin that the aircraft was prone to enter at higher altitudes if flown below its minimum speed. After those, both technical and procedural countermeasures were taken and such accidents did not occur again in the types service life. Also, various systems that are indispensable on more modern types are lacking from nearly all early jet airliners: thrust reversers that are very helpful on non-dry runways, speed brakes or lift dumpers only were introduced with later designs. The 104 used a drag chute instead that was opened after touchdown and helped in slowing the aircraft; it was then released and dropped after landing, gathered by airport staff, repacked and reinstalled in the aircraft.

The forward cabin of the Tu-104 was rather agreeable to travel in. In the rear cabin area, things were a little different: the vicinity of the engine exhausts caused an infernal noise both in the last seat rows and in the toilets.

When the requirements of Aeroflot were met, a few examples were sold to CSA of Czechoslovakia, which then became the worlds 3rd airline to operate jet airliners (after BOAC and Aeroflot). 

Despite its issues, the 104 provided good service to Aeroflot. The Kharkiv works improved the design over the years: later subseries received stronger engines and had their capacity increased from the initial 50 seats to 80 (Tu-104A) and 100 (Tu-104B). Experimental versions were built with four engines (Tu-110) or a large cargo door in the back (Tu-107) but were not selected for mass production. Also a turboprop-powered variant (Tu-118) was cancelled while still on the drawing boards. 

Many experiences were drawn from the type that were then put to good use in later designs. From the mid-1960s, other types came up and the 104 was relegated to second-line duty, receiving a less luxurious, denser seating configuration. CSA retired their aircraft in the early 1960s, Aeroflot operated theirs until 1979. Some low-hour airframes went on to serve the Soviet military, but after a rather avoidable accident in Leningrad in 1981 that had the aircraft overloaded with unsecured cargo that then rolled back during takeoff, causing the aircraft to end up completely out of trim and uncontrollable, the type was retired from the military as well. A last flight was performed in 1986, taking the aircraft from Moscow to the Ulyanovsk museum.

This set contains a selection of liveries the Tu-104 was operated in. It comes with the canon animations, lights, aging, dirt and internal cameras.