With its drooping, beaked nose and streamlined body, the Soviet Tupolev supersonic passenger plane bears a noticeable resemblance to the Concorde – so much so that in the U.S. it was jokingly called “Concordski.” Whether the Russians stole the design from their network of spies on the Concorde project, or were deliberately given flawed plans, or simply built theirs from the public information on the plane remains an open question. More certainly, they learned of the supersonic jet and scrambled to catch up, to give themselves another propaganda victory and a symbolic affirmation of the superiority of the Communist system.

On this day, December 26, in 1975, a few months before the launch of the Concorde, a remarkable similar one – the Russian Tupolev Tu-144 – officially began its operation, running the 2,000 mile route between Moscow and Alma-Ata (Almaty), Kazakhstan.

Evidence of the rushed design came to the forefront right away. Even in the first two flights there were enough technical malfunctions to warrant delay or cancellation of the following ones. The aircraft’s chief designer and the heads of its civilian air program all had to personally inspect and clear each Tu-144 prior to takeoff. A pilot for one early flight for dignitaries and foreign reporters recalled the cascading failures of the on-board systems causing a cabin alarm to go off. Fortunately, the alarm was silenced by means of a pillow stuffed in the horn, and the plane landed safely in spite of the failures.