Save Money by Buying Plans for Bad Airplane

Regarding the Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas interest in joining a European aerospace consortium for the development and subsequent production of a Super Concorde (Briefly, May 24).

Why not just buy the plans, or for that matter the finished, flying TU-144 from the Soviet Union? The speed and load capacity seem to agree closely with the proposed Western consortium specifications.

And on top of that, the Soviets have already proven that such an aircraft is not economically viable.

I understand that Gorbachev still has a few in stock, but the sale ends Saturday.

JOSEPH J. UTZ

Whittier