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Tupolev Tu-134

Although Tupolev had already built jet airliners Tu‑104 and Tu‑124, seeing the Caravelle and DC‑9 with rear mounted engines prompted the Russian design bureau to adopt this feature as well. The result was the Tu-134, NATO code name Crusty. Clearly the aircraft was derived from the Tu‑104/Tu‑124, but then with a T‑tail to keep the horizontal stabiliser clear from the jet exhaust of the engines attached to the rear fuselage. The aircraft retains the typical low mounted Tupolev wings with anhedral and main landing gear retracting rearward in pods extending from the trailing edge of the wings. Each main landing gear has a four wheel bogey.

The triangular cockpit side windows are typical for the Tu-134. Also note the circular cabin windows and the glass nose.

The top of the vertical stabiliser has a sharp forward pointing bullet fairing. Also shown are the slender turbo jet engines.

The four wheel main landing gear of the Tupolev 134 retracts rearward in pods extending from the wing's trailing edge.

Different versions

How to recognise the different versions of the Tupolev Tu-134 will be added later.

Confusion possible with

Fokker F28 & Fokker 70/100

fokker 70

The Fokker jets are similar in size, but have two wheel main landing gears retracting in the fuse­lage, an air brake in the tail cone and oval cabin windows, to name a few differences.

BAC One-Eleven

b111

The same applies to the BAC One-Eleven, although it lacks the air brakes and also has no dorsal fin. Last but not least it has a wider fuselage than the Tu‑134.

Douglas DC-9

dc 9

Also the DC-9 has two wheel main landings gears retracting sideward in the fuselage, and additio­nally it has cockpit eyebrow windows and rectangular cabin windows.

Canadair Regional Jet 900/1000

crj900 winglets

Especially the longer versions of the Canadair Regional Jet could be mistaken for the Tu-134. However, there are many differences: main landing gear, cockpit windows, cabin windows, engine nacelles and (lack) of winglets.