Thnx for the feed back on the landing dynamics of delta's, thats what I was looking for. Looking at the video I too noticed the last second elevator movements. No doubt the Tu144 landing gear is fullly dimensioned to take this kind of loads.
IMO the Tu144 looks like the Concorde when look at it from say 3 - 4 miles...
The size / shapes of the wings / canards, materials used, engine positions, cooling systems and flight control systems etc aren't even close. And oh yes, the Tu144 flew before the Concorde..
I think the copy cat non-sense is a feel good cold war heritage and an insult to the great skills and creativity displayed by the russian aerospace engineers of Tupolev, Ilyushin, Sukhoi, Beriev, Kamov, Mil, Myasishchev, Antonov, Tsagi, Yakovlev and many others.
Back to topic, I think the Russians knew a thing or two about ground effect. How about this for a copy cat..
http://membres.lycos.fr/dracken/Ekra...rono_russe.jpg