The modified Tu-144LL supersonic flying laboratory is rolled out of its hangar at the Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia in March 1996 at the beginning of a joint U.S. – Russian high-speed flight research program.
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The modified Tu-144LL supersonic flying laboratory is rolled out of its hangar at the Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia in March 1996 at the beginning of a joint U.S. – Russian high-speed flight research program. The “LL” stands for Letayuschaya Laboratoriya, which means Flying Laboratory. Two NASA research pilots – Robert Rivers of NASA Langley and Gordon Fullerton of NASA Dryden – assessed the Tu-144LL’s handling qualities at subsonic and supersonic speeds during the first three flights in September, 1998. The follow-on series concluded after four data-collection flights in the spring of 1999.March 1996NASA Photo› TU-144LL Project Description