Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144

by Howard Moon

Traces the Soviet attempt to develop a supersonic airliner, discusses the reasons for the projects failure, and analyzes the political and economic factors

276 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1989

Reviews

[André · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent piece of research, especially considering it was written when the USSR was still around. It would have definitely benefited from another round of editorial proofrrading, as there were a good few repetitions and inaccuracies. For example, the Tu-116 is referred to as such - and in the same paragraph, it is then suddenly referred to as Tu-22M, which is indeed its correct name.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a fascinating look inside the Soviet aircraft industry. The author clearly did an enormous amount of research (made even more impressive considering when the book was written). If you are a fan of huge, ground-breaking feats of engineering (especially through the lens of a planned economy) this book will interest you. It also has quite a few nice pictures and line-drawings that will interest any Tu-144 fan.

The book is well-written and I enjoyed reading it. It tells a good story and contains many interesting facts to back-up the story. I would have liked to give it five stars, however it suffers from a lot of distracting repetition and contains some basic errors (flipping kms and miles, a few grammatical errors, etc.) that speak to the need for a better editor.

There also seem to be errors in designation of some Tupolev aircraft but that may be due to the book's age and lack of reliable information on Soviet aircraft.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the book had to rely mainly on sources outside the USSR, as the author admits. But then there aren't exactly many books on this plane and since it does contain a trove of information, backed by notes, it is an interesting read. At quite a few points in the text, the author jumps ahead in the timeline to illustrate a point and returns to the chonological order afterwards and I didn't always find it clear which event had occurred in which order.

[Jno Danko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, tons of interesting information about the development of supersonic travel. In addition to providing well researched aviation information, the book provided interesting historical information about how Soviet industry worked.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a used bookstore in Coeur d'Alene WA while returning from a writers conference in Jackson WY. Moon does a good job of chronicling the Russian SST program from its inception, with inside information from the Tupolev factory .
This reference work has numerous b&w plates , most of which I have never seen before. I'd recommend this book for the aviation enthusiast who wants to become informed of one of the world's lesser know aircraft. It is well written and held my attention with very few lapses.
I should also mention that there is a comprehensive explanation of the TU-!$$ crash at the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1973.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was much more impressive when I skimmed thru the book when I bought it twenty years ago. After finally reading, it's still a good look at the development of the Soviet Tu-144, but obviously much more information would be available today.