HISTORY OF THE
FISHER-PRICE AIRPLANE
(Tupolev Tu-164)
Almost forgotten, the Fisher-Price Airplane is a relic from the 1970s, a rare example of a Soviet design that was adopted by Western airlines. It is the predecessor of regional jets, which are beginning to form the backbone of major U.S. airlines.
The Soviet requirement
In 1951, Stalin had reiterated his call for "one of the toughest engineering problems facing our nation" -- a plane that could carry a dad, a mom, their family, and the dog to a playground in Irkutsk. Tupolev had the courage to tell him that it couldn't be done. The task was simply "impossible to fulfill" owing to the "limits of contemporary knowledge".
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The Fisher-Price years
In 1973, Tupolev licensed the design to Fisher-Price, a toy manufacturer in East Aurora, New York. Fisher-Price intended to shelve the design as an investment. However the company was approached by Pan Am, who was seeking a plane to handle its long, thin routes.
Fisher-Price had just completed its Cinderella movie camera and a successful record player. Suddenly it found that it needed a line of bank credit totaling $350 million to finance hangar space and tooling. Unfortunately it lacked the assets to pledge as collateral, and its financiers demanded security. Fisher-Price made inquiries about a federal loan guarantee: a pledge that the Treasury would reimburse the banks if Fisher-Price should fold. On September 12, 1974, Fisher-Price met with President Ford. The Administration announced it would send the necessary legislation to Congress.
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The first flight of the licensed prototype was in 1976. The aircraft entered service in 1977 with Braniff, followed by Pacific Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Aeromexico.