CLASSIC AIRLINERS
Tamás Martényi details the resurrection of an important Eastern Bloc airliner
TU-154
Tupolev’s Tu-154, which was afforded the NATO reporting name Careless, is one of Russia’s best-known jet passenger aircraft. Last year brought a double anniversary… of the type’s inaugural flight 50 years before and MALÉV Hungarian Airlines taking delivery of its initial example, coded HA-LCA, five years afterwards. To mark these milestones, Hungary’s not-forprofit Aviation Cultural Center (ACC) in Budapest, set itself a goal… to restore the very first of the firm’s Tu-154 airframes to its original glory.
CIVILIAN STALWART
MALÉV’s debut Tu-154 was delivered from the Soviet Union on September 5, 1973 by company chief pilot Dr András Fülöp and his crew. The aircraft flew passengers until 1991 when it was converted into a cargo carrier, only to retire two years later. In the following years, it was used for different training and exercise scenarios, finally being moved to a disused area next to the maintenance apron at Ferenc Liszt International Airport. The ACC acquired the airframe in 2014. After long and detailed preparations, the Careless was towed into the hangar of Luf…
