page_title: Tupolev Tu-334
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Tupolev Tu-334 / Development
caption_attribution_description: English: Cabin of Tupolev Tu-334 airlinerРусский: Салон пассажирского самолёта Ту-334
context_page_description: The Tupolev Tu-334 was a Russian short-to-medium range airliner project that was developed to replace the ageing Tu-134s and Yak-42s in service around the world. The airframe was based on a shortened Tu-204 fuselage and a scaled-down version of that aircraft's wing. Unlike the Tu-204, however, the Tu-334 has a T-tail and engines mounted on the sides of the rear fuselage instead of under the wings. With the rationalisation of the Russian aircraft companies in 2009 to form United Aircraft Corporation it was decided not to continue with the programme.
context_section_description: The Tupolev Design Bureau introduced the Tu-334 in early 1989 as an eventual propfan-powered airliner to potentially enter service for Aeroflot in 1995. However, it would have an interim turbofan-powered version that would begin airline service around 1991–1992. Consuming about 20 percent less fuel than the best Soviet turbofan, the propfan engine would be a then-unnamed geared powerplant from the Lotarev engine design bureau. The engine would have a thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC) of 13 g/(kN⋅s) (0.46 lb/(lbf⋅h)), resulting in a per-passenger aircraft fuel consumption rate of 13 grams per kilometre (0.74 ounces per mile). The turbofan-powered version of the Tu-334 would use Lotarev D-436T engines with a TSFC of 18 g/(kN⋅s) (0.62 lb/(lbf⋅h)) and a bypass ratio of 6.5, and it would consume 20 g/km (1.1 oz/mi) per passenger. The propfan Tu-334 would seat 104-137 passengers, compared with 86-102 passengers for the shorter, turbofan Tu-334.
  Tupolev confirmed the use of the D-436 for the turbofan version shortly afterward. However, they initiated discussions with International Aero Engines (IAE) at the 1989 Paris Air Show to discuss using a 7,500-kilogram-force static thrust (17,000-pound-force; 74-kilonewton) derated version of IAE's V2500 11,345 kgf (25,010 lbf; 111.26 kN) engine. The talks, which continued through at least the end of the year, were attributed to worries that the Lotarev could not meet Tupolev's timeline or fuel burn targets, or that Tupolev was canceling the propfan version. There was also concern that Tupolev could not meet Soviet state carrier Aeroflot's urgent capacity needs quick enough. In this scenario, the Soviet aircraft production ministry could allow the Yakovlev Design Bureau to compete and build the Yak-42M (a Yak-42 airliner derivative) because of its quicker availability, despite the ministry's assumed preference for the Tu-334.
  Information about the propfan engine began to be revealed during the second quarter of 1990, although the details were often conflicting. In April 1990, while announcing the interim aircraft's service entry date of 1993, Tupolev's chief designer said that the ultrahigh bypass engine to be used would be a Lotarev (now renamed to the Progress design bureau) propfan resembling the General Electric GE36 UDF, and not the propfan it had been working on. However, the Central Institute of Aviation Motors (CIAM), a Soviet engine research institute, reported that Tupolev expected to have a propfan Tu-334 operating by the 1995-1997 period, probably using a geared propfan instead of gearless. Then a subsequent report named the Tu-334 propfan engine as the Lotarev D-27, a 3.8-metre diameter (12.5-foot; 3,800-millimetre; 150-inch), 11,200 kgf thrust (24,700 lbf; 110 kN) powerplant with a TSFC of 12 g/(kN⋅s) (0.44 lb/(lbf⋅h)). The D-27 would also power the newly announced Yakovlev Yak-46 propfan airliner, which was similar to the Yak-42M competitor but used two propfans instead of three turbofans in the aft fuselage. Three weeks later, Tupolev said that government officials would decide shortly between two D-27 offshoot engines from the Progress design bureau for the final Tu-334 version in 1996: a Progress D-227 propfan, or a Progress D-527 "super contrafan," an ungeared but ducted contra-rotating powerplant with a bypass ratio of 18. Days earlier, the Soviet Union premiered a running propfan engine before Western audiences for the first time, flying an Ilyushin Il-76LL testbed aircraft with one installed Progress D-236 engine to the ILA Air Show in Hannover, Germany. Although the Soviets declined in Hannover to name the aircraft that would use the D-236, an October 1990 article named that geared engine as the powerplant for the final Tu-334 variant, which would compete against the D-27-powered Yak-46 for Aeroflot's Tu-134 replacement order.
  Work commenced on the Tu-334 in the early 1990s, but proceeded slowly due to funding problems arising from the breakup of the Soviet Union. A prototype was displayed in 1995, but this was little more than a mockup with few systems insta
caption: Tu-334 cabin.
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