Tupolev Tu-124


The Tupolev Tu-124 is a 56-passenger short-range twin-jet airliner built in the Soviet Union. It was the Soviet Union's first operational airliner powered by turbofan engines.

Design and development

Developed from the medium-range Tupolev Tu-104 jetliner, the Tu-124 was meant to meet Aeroflot's requirement for a regional airliner/jetliner to replace the Ilyushin Il-14 on domestic routes. Resembling a 75% scaled-down Tu-104, the two were hard to tell apart at a distance but it was not a complete copy of the Tu-104. The Tu-124 had a number of refinements, including double-slotted flaps, a large center-section airbrake and automatic spoilers. Unlike the Tu-104, the wing trailing edge inboard of the undercarriage was unswept.
The Tu-124 had a drogue parachute similar to those on military jets like the Sukhoi Su-7, Chengdu J-10, Avro Vulcan, and Lockheed Martin SR-71 to be used in an emergency landing or landing on a slippery surface and had low pressure tires for operation from unpaved airfields. As on the Tu-104 the engines were installed in the wing roots, but the turbofan engines used less fuel. The installation of the engines close to the fuselage allowed vibrations to be more readily transmitted to the cabin, which reduced passenger comfort, and also reduced the fatigue life of the wing assembly.
The standard seating of the basic version was 44 seats. The first of two prototype, SSSR-45000 made its first flight from Zhukovsky airfield on 24 March 1960. The second prototype, SSSR-45001, followed in June 1960. Two other airframes served as a static test cells. Testing was successful, and the aircraft entered production at Factory 135 at Kharkiv, Ukraine, replacing the Tu-104 in production. Deliveries to Aeroflot began in August 1962, with the type operating its first scheduled passenger service, between Moscow and Tallinn in Estonia, on 2 October 1962.

Operational history

Aeroflot was impressed with the flight performance of the Tu-124 and used it on domestic routes from the end of 1962.
The improved Tu-124V, which could seat 56 passengers instead of the 44 of the original model, and which had increased range and maximum takeoff weight, came into service in 1964. An Aeroflot Tu-124V was exhibited at the 1965 Paris Air Show. Despite the aircraft's low purchase price and low operating costs, few were exported, with Československé Státní Aerolinie and the East German airline Interflug being the only airlines other than Aeroflot that bought the Tu-124 new, although ČSA sold its surviving Tu-124s to Iraqi Airways for use on VIP flights in 1973. Interflug used its three Tu-124s as an alternative to the Ilyushin Il-62, when the Il-62s were grounded due to mechanical issues. All three were sold back to the Soviet Union in 1975.
Three airframes were completed in 1966 in a VIP configuration, and designated Tu-124K. However, Aeroflot never placed them into service, and they were purchased by the Indian Air Force.
A number were also sold to military users, including the Soviet Air Force, which used them as navigational trainers, and to the Chinese Air Force.
A total of 164 Tu-124s were built. Issues with the safety of the Tu-104 affected the fate of the Tu-124, although the reliability of the Tu-124 was slightly better. Production ended in 1965 and Aeroflot decommissioned its last twelve Tu-124s on 21 January 1980. The Tu-124 continued in operation for some years with the Soviet Air Force and in Iraq, but all aircraft were withdrawn before and in 1990, The ones in Iraq military and Iraqi Airways were destroyed in early 1990s during the Gulf War.
Several Tu-124s have been preserved. One is in the museum of the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company, another is in the China Aviation Museum in Beijing, another at the Central Air Force Museum at Monino outside Moscow. A Tu-124K is on display at New Delhi Airport and next to the State Museum at Lucknow Zoo.

Variants

;Tu-124/Tu-124V
;Tu-124B
;Tu-124K/Tu-124K2
;Tu-124Sh-1
;Tu-124Sh-2
;Tu-127
;Tu-124A

Former operators

Former civil operators

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Former military operators

Accidents and incidents

A total of fifteen Tu-124s were written off in crashes during the type's operational career; another two aircraft of Iraqi Airways were destroyed on the ground during the Gulf War.

1960s

;21 August 1963
;8 March 1965
;11 November 1965
;13 June 1966
;27 July 1966
;7 March 1968

1970s

;29 January 1970
;18 August 1970
;2 September 1970
;9 July 1973
;20 November 1973
;16 December 1973
;23 December 1973
;3 January 1976
;5 November 1977
;1977
;29 August 1979

1990s

;February 1991