Woe to the world’s first passenger supersonic jet, the Soviet built Tupolev 144.  A great plane that had a tragic accident at the Paris Air Show in 1973.

At the Air Show, French Mirage Air Force planes were flying around (aka spying) to photograph the Tu-144.  The Soviet pilot thought the Tu-144’s airspace was empty, and when he saw the unexpected French jets fighter jets, he maneuvered to make sure there wasn’t a multi-plane crash over Paris. 

His quick piloting unfortunately made the plane contort in such a way that there was no way anyone on board would survive.  The French denied doing this until the 1990’s. 

This is a stamp cover of the first flight (which carried cargo) of the Tu-144 from Moscow to Alma-Ata (then Kazakh SSR, today Kazakhstan) on December 26, 1975.  It is postmarked both Moscow and Alma-Ata.

It’s a pretty amazing aircraft and they still display it at Moscow Airshows!

See more pictures and learn more here: http://www.tu144sst.com/

This is the “Hero Mother” Certificate for having 10 children. I wonder if earning it guaranteed bladder tightening surgery after doing the service of repopulating the USSR. This certificate is signed by Leonid Brezhnev as Secretary General of the Communist Party of the USSR.

Here I am in March 1993, at the now closed Lenin Museum, under Vladimir Ilich’s strong gaze. The Lenin Museum closed after the attempted October 1993 Coup.

I still have the shirt too.

Lenin’s Mausoleum. Photo credit: Neil Glick

A rare and fun picture of former Communist Party General Secretary and President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev

Here is a photo of one of the many exciting dioramas at the 1905 Revolution Museum, near 1905 Metro in Moscow! Photo circa 1993.