Note: Design work on the Tu-144 began in the 1960s, and in 1965 it was presented in mock-up form at the Le Bourget Air Show (Paris), where the mock-up of the Concorde project had been presented six years earlier. The first prototype (CCCP-68001) made its first test flight on 31 December 1968 and was tested for several years. It became the first commercial aircraft in history to reach speeds of Mach 1 and Mach 2, ahead of the Concorde in both cases. The first production aircraft flew in April 1973, and shortly after, on 3 June of the same year, the production version, designed for three crew members and 140 passengers as standard, began calibration flights with cargo between Moscow and Alma-Ata until 26 December 1975. * Professional packaging, shipped via secured express courier. * Note: The photographs in the description are a true reflection of the state of the image for sale.