as fast as any modern-day airliner. And you'd do it in style while sipping

比現代飛機要快上兩倍。而且你還可以優雅的喝著香檳

champagne. Wait a minute... This isn't Concorde!

等等，這不是協和式啊 !

This is the only other supersonic jet to ever carry commercial passengers.

這是僅有的兩個商業化的載客超音速噴氣式飛機之一。

No, this isn't Concorde. This is the Soviet Union's Tupolev 144.

不，這不是協和式。這是蘇聯的圖波列夫144。

And yes, it looks like the Concorde but flying on this thing was nothing

的確，這玩意長得和協和式一樣，但是坐著它飛行和

like the Concorde. The Tu-144 was kind of like the Concord's crazy older sister.

協和式完全不同。Tu-144更像是協和式的瘋狂姐姐。

She was loud, uncomfortable and a little dangerous. But the 144 story is

她很吵鬧，很不舒服而且還有點危險。但是144（注：Tu-144，，下文提到的144皆為Tu-144）的故事

definitely worth telling. It clearly knocked off a lot of the

絕對值得講述。它很明顯的抄襲了很多

Concord's design - just look at - it but it actually did some things better, like

協和式的設計。你看看就知道了，但事實上她也做了一些改進，比如

carry more passengers, it even flew faster. But ultimately the 144's story is

她可以承載更多旅客，甚至還能飛得更快。但是最終144的故事

about faking it. About deceiving the world. In the 1960's the race to build a

是關於偽造的。關於欺騙世界的。 在1960年代建造超音速噴氣式客機

supersonic passenger jet, well it was more than about just flying fast, it was

的比賽中，當然不只有飛的更快，

about asserting superiority for both the Soviets and the West. And the race to be

更是關於蘇聯和西方各自維護他們的優勢的事情。

the first actually started as a three-way between the Americans with

最開始這場比賽其實有三位選手：

their half-baked Boeing 2707, the joint British-French Concorde, and the Soviets

美國和他的半成品波音2707，英法聯合研製的協和式，和

with their Tu-144. The Americans ruined their shot by tying themselves up in

蘇聯的Tu-144。美國人因為

bureaucracy and cost overruns, this put the Concorde project firmly in the lead.

自身的官僚主義和預算超支而前功盡棄，這讓協和計劃穩固的占據領先地位。

The Soviets who had more primitive technology had a lot of catching up to

擁有很多原始科技的蘇聯人有很多要追趕的事情（注：科技不足），

do, so they relied on good old Soviet ingenuity.. oh and they stole a whole

他們靠的是美好的老蘇聯創造力……噢 和

bunch from the Concorde program. Early on Soviet spies made out with over 90,000

從協和計劃偷過來的東西。早期蘇聯間諜竊取了超過9萬份

technical documents on the Concorde and other aircraft so they caught up to the

協和式和其他飛機的技術文件以助他們趕上

Concorde program and the 144 took flight two months before Concorde

協和計劃。最終144趕在協和式之前兩個月完成首飛

It's obvious the Concorde was designed around passenger experience. Journalists

很明顯協和式的設計重點在乘客的舒適性上面。

marveled at how quiet and smooth supersonic flight was and how flight

記者們驚嘆於超音速飛行的安靜和飛行的穩定性，空服員

attendants had no trouble chatting up passengers while they served martinis. In

甚至可以在給乘客斟上一杯馬丁尼的時候毫無障礙的與他交流。 在144中魚子醬和香檳也滿意地被拿出來 西方記者們

the 144? Well caviar and champagne were also brought out, but Western journalists

注意到狹窄的椅子，會突然自行關閉的窗戶擋光板，

fixated on the cramped seats, window shades that would suddenly drop without

以及有些廁所甚至出現故障。

being pulled, and that some of the bathrooms weren't even working. The 144's

144使用的落後的引擎和冷卻系統共同產生了巨大的噪音，

more primitive engines and cooling system worked together to produce a

讓乘客之間無法互相交流。取而代之的是

sound so loud that passengers couldn't talk to one another. Instead they had to

他們只能傳手寫紙條。而這種傳紙條的交流方式肯定犧牲了這趟飛行的富裕感。

pass around handwritten notes and playing pass the note with other

乘坐144飛行絕對不會是一次正常的體驗。

passengers must have killed some of the opulence. Not that flying on the 144

在莫斯科到阿拉木圖，哈薩克斯坦的漫長旅途中只有一次客艙服務。

was ever going to be a normal experience. The plane only ever saw passenger

問題是144的引擎實在是太耗油，以至於它不能飛太遠

service on a single lonely route between Moscow and Almaty, Kazakhstan. The thing

連橫跨蘇聯本土都做不到。對比協和式飛機，

is the 144's engines burned so much fuel, it couldn't actually fly much

它的路線可以跨越大洲和海洋，而Tu-144每週只飛一班，

further, it couldn't even cross the Soviet Union. Compare that to the

儘管還有七架經過認證並準備好可以服務的飛機，

Concorde, its route spanned continents and oceans and the Tu-144 flew only once

這表示了蘇聯的領導人們對144多麼有自信。（注：應該是對還有7架飛機可以服務有自信）

a week, even though there were seven more certified and ready for service. This

在102次航班中發生了226次機械故障，而其中80個

shows how confident Soviet leaders were in the 144. Out of 102

嚴重到導致延誤或者取消航班。

scheduled flights there were 226 mechanical failures, 80 of which were

144載客飛行途中墜毀可能性很高成為了它的潛在危險。

serious enough to delay or canceled the flight altogether. The possibility of 144

最開始的空氣動力學就存在嚴重的問題

crashing with passengers on board was a huge political risk. From

在1973年的巴黎航展中，它在成千上萬的觀眾面前墜毀。

the very beginning the one full force air worthiness was in serious question.

之後的1978年一架貨運版本的Tu-144因為燃油管破裂而墜毀

It crashed in front of thousands of spectators during the 1973 Paris Air

而1981年因為引擎爆炸而緊急降落

Show. Then again in 1978 when a cargo version

問題在於Tu-144很明顯的在趕進度。

went down after a fuel line rupture. And yet again in 1981 one suffered an engine

在蘇聯看來，趕在協和式之前造出來比

explosion, forcing an emergency landing. The problem was the Tu-144 had clearly

把它造好更重要。所以144的引擎只有 更少的資源和更差的技術。

been rushed in its development. Getting this thing built before the Concorde was

即使是這樣也要把它實際製造出來。協和式飛機的設計團隊

more important for the Soviets than actually building it well, and the 144's

使用頂級的勞斯萊斯奧林匹斯發動機和電腦控制的

engineers had fewer resources and inferior technologies. But still, you

進風口以達成一種叫做“超音速巡航“的狀態。 這樣一旦協和式達到超音速，

gotta hand it to them for actually getting it done. The Concorde's design

她那耗油的後燃器可以在保持超音速的情況下關掉

team had state-of-the-art rolls-royce olympus engines with computer-controlled

Tu-144的工程師只能用那種需要持續使用

engine inlets that allowed for something called super

後燃器以保持超音速的引擎。協和式飛機有一對特製的機翼以保證在超音速和低速下飛行時達到最大效率

cruise. So once Concorde reached supersonic

144的機翼則只在超音速的情況下比較好用，於是飛行員只能在

her fuel thirsty after burners could be switched off while still maintaining

較高速度下降落，這種野蠻的降落方式甚至讓飛機裝備了減速傘。

supersonic. Tu-144 engineers had to make do with engines that needed continuous

蘇聯人為了解決機翼的局限

afterburners to maintain supersonic. The Concorde had a sophisticated wing

用一對放在飛機前部的小型的可以釋放出來的鴨翼

optimized for both supersonic and low-speed flying, the Tu-144's wing was

來提升低速下的穩定性。但是鐵幕兩頭的創新

really only good for supersonic, so pilots had to land the 144

並不能改變 超音速旅行實在是太貴了的現實 在資本主義的西方，一張協和式飛機的機票是普通飛機的五六倍

at higher speeds, making for brutally hard landings that even required a

於是協和式飛機變成了浮光魅影，

parachute. The Soviets worked around their wing limitations by designing

但是在鐵幕的這頭事情就變得很尷尬了。

canards, little deploy-able wings at the front of the aircraft which would

在共產主義的蘇聯誰應該乘坐Tu-144飛行？ 票價僅僅37盧比，

improve low-speed stability. But all the innovation on both sides of the Iron

不比你在普通航班上花得多，這也不足以抵充運營成本

Curtain couldn't overcome the reality that supersonic travel was just too

在14架協和式飛機服役期間，存在一個

expensive. In the capitalist West you could price Concorde tickets at 5 or 6

為名人和富豪服務的商機，但是即使是那樣協和式飛機自身依然是

times what a regular flight would cost, so the Concorde became about glitz and

一個商業上的失敗品。法國人和英國人花了數十億元來研發她

glamour, but on the other side of the Iron Curtain things were a little bit

即使他們一開始就知道他們沒法 銷售幾百架協和式飛機來回本。

more awkward. Who exactly in the Communist Soviet Union was supposed to

但是144在鐵幕的另外一邊並沒有這樣豪華的商機

fly aboard the Tu-144? The price of a ticket was set at just 37 rubles, not

也只能作為一個宣傳工具和面子工程。

much more than you'd expect to pay on a regular flight and not nearly enough to

協和式飛機在載客服役了27年以後於2003年全部退役。而Tu-144呢？

cover operational costs. The 14 Concordes that entered service found a small niche

在載客生涯還沒滿一年的情況下，便退役了。

serving celebrities and the rich, but even with that Concorde itself was still

a commercial failure. The French and the British had poured billions into

developing it even as they knew very early on that they'd never be able to

sell hundreds of Concordes needed to recoup development costs. But the 144

without the same premium niche to fill on the other side of the Iron Curtain,

could only ever be used as a propaganda tool and a prestige project. The Concorde

would ferry passengers for 27 years up until it was retired in 2003. The Tu-144? Well it

was retired from regular passenger service not even a full year after it

started.