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Tupolev Tu-104

Tupolev · Short/Medium-Range Jet Airliner · USSR · Early Jet (1946–1969)

Tupolev Tu-104 — Short/Medium-Range Jet Airliner
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The Tupolev Tu-104 (NATO reporting name Camel) was the Soviet Union's first jet airliner — the second jet airliner in scheduled commercial service worldwide (after the de Havilland Comet). Andrei Tupolev's design bureau derived the Tu-104 from the Tu-16 Badger medium bomber, using the bomber's wings, engines, and tail with a new pressurised circular-section fuselage. The Tu-104 first flew on 17 June 1955; about 201 Tu-104s were built between 1955 and 1960 at Kazan, Kharkov, and Omsk plants. Aeroflot operated the type from September 1956 through 1979.

The Tu-104 used two Mikulin AM-3 turbojet engines (8,750 lbf each) buried in the wing roots — the same engines as the Tu-16. Maximum speed 950 km/h, range 2,650 km with maximum payload, service ceiling 11,500 m. Capacity: 50-110 passengers depending on configuration. The aircraft was famous for its unforgiving handling characteristics — the Tu-16's wing was optimised for high-altitude bombing, not airliner-like docile low-speed flight; multiple Tu-104s were lost to deep-stall accidents in the early service years.

Tu-104 service launched Soviet jet civil aviation. The 15 September 1956 Moscow-Irkutsk inaugural flight made Aeroflot the second-fastest commercial-jet airline in the world (de Havilland Comet was the first). The Tu-104 served on Moscow main-line domestic routes (Moscow-Vladivostok, Moscow-Tashkent, Moscow-Kiev) and international routes (Moscow-Beijing, Moscow-Paris, Moscow-London, Moscow-Stockholm). The type's safety record was poor — about 37 Tu-104s were lost in accidents (18% of the production). The aircraft was retired from Aeroflot service in 1979; surviving airframes briefly served the Soviet Air Forces as VIP transports through the early 1980s.

For Kids — a shorter, friendlier version

The Tupolev Tu-104 was the first Soviet jet airliner. It was also the second jet airliner in the whole world to start carrying paying passengers. Only the British de Havilland Comet beat it to the skies.

The Tu-104 first flew in June 1955. Aeroflot, the Soviet airline, started flying passengers in September 1956. About 201 Tu-104s were built between 1955 and 1960.

The plane was built from spare parts. Tupolev took the wings, engines, and tail of the Tu-16 Badger bomber and put them on a new round body made for passengers. This was much cheaper than building a brand-new airliner from scratch. The plane could carry between 50 and 110 passengers.

The Tu-104 was famous for being tricky to fly. Several crashed when pilots got into trouble at the edge of safe handling. The plane was about as long as a small football field. Its top speed was 590 mph. Aeroflot finally retired the Tu-104 in 1979 after more than 20 years of service.

Fun Facts

  • The Tu-104 was the first Soviet jet airliner ever.
  • It was the second jet airliner in the world to start carrying paying passengers.
  • Tupolev built the Tu-104 by adding a passenger cabin to the wings and engines of the Tu-16 bomber.
  • About 201 Tu-104s were built between 1955 and 1960.
  • The plane could carry up to 110 passengers.
  • Aeroflot flew the Tu-104 from 1956 until 1979.

Kids’ Questions

Why did Tupolev start with a bomber to build a passenger jet?

The Soviet Union was in a hurry to have a jet airliner. Designing a brand-new plane would take years. Tupolev already had a working bomber, so engineers simply added a passenger cabin to the bomber parts. This saved many years of design work.

Why was the Tu-104 hard to fly?

The plane had narrow swept wings borrowed from a bomber. Bombers fly differently than passenger planes, so the wings did not always behave nicely at low speeds. Pilots had to be very careful during landing and during sharp turns at low altitudes.

Variants

Tu-104 (basic 50 pax)
Original 50-passenger production. About 30 built.
Tu-104A (70 pax)
Lengthened-fuselage 70-passenger variant. About 80 built.
Tu-104B (100 pax)
Further-lengthened 100-passenger variant. About 90 built.

Notable Operators

Aeroflot (1956-1979)
Sole large user. Main-line Soviet domestic and international routes. ~190 Tu-104s in Aeroflot service.
Czechoslovak Airlines (ČSA) (1957-1973)
5 Tu-104As. Operated on European routes from Prague.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Tu-104 the world's first jet airliner?

No — second. The de Havilland Comet entered BOAC service in May 1952. The Tu-104 entered Aeroflot service in September 1956. After the Comet was grounded in 1954 (due to fatal metal-fatigue crashes), the Tu-104 was the ONLY commercial jet airliner in service worldwide between September 1956 and October 1958 (when the Boeing 707 entered Pan Am service). For 2 years and 1 month, the Soviet Tu-104 was the world's only in-service jet airliner.

Why did the Tu-104 have a poor safety record?

The Tu-104 used the Tu-16 Badger bomber's wing — a high-aspect-ratio swept wing optimised for high-altitude high-speed flight, not docile airliner handling. The aircraft was prone to deep-stall accidents at low speeds (multiple fatal stalls during approach), Dutch-roll instabilities at altitude, and pitch-up tendencies at high Mach. About 37 of 201 Tu-104s (18%) were lost in accidents — a substantially higher rate than contemporary Western jet airliners.

How is the Tu-104 different from the Tu-16?

The Tu-104 uses the Tu-16 Badger's wings, engines, tail, and main landing gear. The fuselage is entirely different — a pressurised circular-section airliner fuselage replacing the Tu-16's bomb-bay-equipped fuselage. The cockpit, cabin, and passenger systems are airliner-specific. About 50% airframe commonality with the Tu-16.

Are any Tu-104s preserved?

About 5 airframes survive in 2026 at Russian aviation museums (Monino, Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation History Museum, Krasnoyarsk short-haul museum, others). None are airworthy.

Sources

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