TU-114

[barry lloyd]

I read very recently, that during a visit by Nikita Khrushchev to Andrews Air Force Base in 1959, the steps they provided were not high enough to permit egress from the aircraft, so a makeshift ladder had to be provided, which led me to wonder - just how high is the sill on a TU-114? Does anyone know?

[DIBO]

If this was a quiz, 18ft. 8 1/2in would be my answer... so a tad more than the prop diameter
Don't know if there's a jury here, to decide on the winner, though

[Duchess_Driver]

Whilst I don’t doubt your 18’ guesstimate judging from the picture, in reality it surely only needs to be more than the radius of the propellor?

[DIBO]

If I understood the OP's question correctly, it's the height (AGL) of the doorsill.
So I don't see the link with the prop radius (except as a useful reference for guesstimating). Had the airframe been a shoulder mounted wing design, prop radius & ground clearance, MLG height, etc would all have remained (largely) unchanged, but the doorsill height AGL would have dropped dramatically.

[barry lloyd]

Originally Posted by DIBO

If I understood the OP's question correctly, it's the height (AGL) of the doorsill.
So I don't see the link with the prop radius (except as a useful reference for guesstimating). Had the airframe been a shoulder mounted wing design, prop radius & ground clearance, MLG height, etc would all have remained (largely) unchanged, but the doorsill height AGL would have dropped dramatically.

Yes, that was the basis of the question. I understand the radius of the props was 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in), so given some greater than normal ground clearance, bearing in mind the speed at which those propeller tips rotated, as a general scale, we must be looking at about 18ft or more.

[Kiltrash]

Would have thought Aeroflot who supplied the ground handling Airstair to Andrews would have sent ones the correct size.
Poss Cap Comp picture ..

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by Kiltrash

Poss Cap Comp picture ..

Well, Khrushchev was a [email protected] just like Putin...

[barry lloyd]

Originally Posted by Kiltrash

Would have thought Aeroflot who supplied the ground handling Airstair to Andrews would have sent ones the correct size.
Poss Cap Comp picture ..

Not quite sure what a Cap Comp picture is, but what I do know is that the Tu-114 presented a problem wherever it went, because of the sill height, which is perhaps why it didn't get about too much! .

[SpringHeeledJack]

Bearing the above in mind, perhaps they carried an extension in the cargo hold to alleviate the high door-sill conundrum ?

[Beamr]

Regarding TU114 the following information can be found from the interweb:
"It has an external length of 54.1 meters, an external height of 8.2 meters, and a fuselage diameter of 3.3 meters. The tail height is 15.44 meters and the wheelbase is 21.3 meters. It has a wingspan of 51.1 meters and a wing area of 311.4 square meters. The aircraft has an empty weight of 91,000 kg, a gross weight of 164,000 kg, a maximum takeoff weight of 171,000 kg, and a fuel tank capacity of 19,280 US gal."

"It produces a maximum takeoff thrust of 14,795 hp each and drives eight-bladed AV-60N contra-rotating reversible pitch propellers with a diameter of 5.6 meters."

So, fuselage 3,3m and external height 8,2m doesn't give the exact door sill height, but one could estimate the door sill being somewhere around 6,0m height, based on pictures of the AC and the 1L location.

[UnderASouthernSky]

Originally Posted by barry lloyd

Yes, that was the basis of the question. I understand the radius of the props was 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in), so given some greater than normal ground clearance, bearing in mind the speed at which those propeller tips rotated, as a general scale, we must be looking at about 18ft or more.

A prop radius of 5.6m would be scary... a prop diameter of 5.6m is somewhat more likely.

[barry lloyd]

Originally Posted by UnderASouthernSky

A prop radius of 5.6m would be scary... a prop diameter of 5.6m is somewhat more likely.

Thank you for correcting my English.

[barry lloyd]

Originally Posted by SpringHeeledJack

Bearing the above in mind, perhaps they carried an extension in the cargo hold to alleviate the high door-sill conundrum ?

I wondered about this, too - along with a towbar, I imagine!

[Less Hair]

Wouldn't a fast large long range turboprop like this be a promising concept for today? At least more promising than battery powered or hydrogen? Although there are not that many engines available to pick from except for the Allison AE2100D3 and the exotic Europrop TP400.

[ej200man]

Originally Posted by Less Hair

Wouldn't a fast large long range turboprop like this be a promising concept for today? At least more promising than battery powered or hydrogen? Although there are not that many engines available to pick from except for the Allison AE2100D3 and the exotic Europrop TP400.

Yeah, it's a bit like the prop fan that MD had on the go, but in reality the fuel saving is now minimal against the ultra high bypass turbo fans that have been developed and the are much, much quieter.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Originally Posted by Less Hair

Wouldn't a fast large long range turboprop like this be a promising concept for today? At least more promising than battery powered or hydrogen? Although there are not that many engines available to pick from except for the Allison AE2100D3 and the exotic Europrop TP400.

I believe new and reconditioned NK-12s are still available from Kuznetsov in Sammara. Not sure they take credit/debit cards or PayPal at the moment !