EC98-44749-7
A Tupolev Tu-144D supersonic jetliner is framed by the drooped nose and forward fuselage of the Tu-144LL supersonic flying laboratory at the Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia, in 1998. 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.September 1998NASA Photo / Jim Ross› TU-144LL Project Description
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