Doctor diesel
An extremely important task for the country is the revival of local airlines. The question is open.
In Russia there are more than 28 thousand settlements, which can be reached mainly by air. In the USSR, these addresses were successfully served by a small aviation. But it so happened that the aviation of local airlines (MVL) suffered the most. And the consequences of the crisis of the nineties are still affecting its recovery. Although it is the aviation of the MVL that should solve the problem of transport communications between remote settlements between themselves and with the mainland. It means - to be effective and most importantly - popular, that is, affordable. The rise and development of many regions of the country depend on this.
Older "kids"
It is necessary to revive - at least on a previous scale - the fleet of IAL. By the beginning of the 90-x small aircraft performed about a million flights a year. Over 500 passenger An-2, about 450 L-410 and An-28 carried almost 10 to millions of passengers. At present, passenger traffic has decreased several times. And if the outgoing L-410 are filled with new machines of the same type, then there are only a few dozen of An-2 left in flight operation, the production of its An-3Т turboprop on Omsk Polet was stopped. An-28 also remained a few, and his successor An-38 did not go into the series. At the same time, there was a clear tendency to replenish the fleet with foreign aircraft. It is possible to prevent this only one way - to saturate the MVL with its own ships.
If you omit the financial component, of course, it is very important, then for the successful solution of this task it is necessary to have available the projects and existing technologies, production capacities, engineering and operating potential for their implementation.
In the first position it should be noted that the development from scratch will require much more time and money compared to upgrading the already created machines. And over time, we have tight, because the solution to this problem should not be found tomorrow, and at the latest today.
On the evolutionary path, despite all the difficulties, they went to the SibNIA to them. S.A. Chaplygin. Taking the An-2 and Yak-40 as a basis, the Novosibirsk people are methodically advancing in their modernization and are ready to go far in this direction. They aim to make An-2 and Yak-40 from composite materials. This, in particular, was proposed in the article “The Offspring of the Cornflower”. Earlier, the institute's management stated that it would seek to re-engine and replace the on-board equipment of the Yak-40 fleet that was preserved and suitable for flight operation (about 100 units) and upgrade to 150 – 200 An-2 for two years. The implementation of these plans, in the opinion of SibNIA, will completely close the issue of transportation on local airlines and alleviate the problem for the next five to seven years, allowing for the creation of new cars during this time.
"Batskins" frames
The second and third positions remain open, the last is the key one. It is worth referring to the dramatic fate of the Saratov Aviation Plant, which was busy, among other things, with the production of the Yak-40 and has ceased to exist today.
If the Soviet approach “cadres decide everything” is unacceptable for someone, you can recall the words of Henry Ford: “You can take my factories, burn my buildings, but leave me my people and they will restore everything”.
The key link in our situation is and will be the surviving qualified personnel. It makes sense to pay attention to the aircraft repair plants (ARZ) of the Russian Federation and Belarus. It is worth remembering the initiative of Alexander Lukashenko, which he officially launched on 2 on April 2014 of the year. Then, when visiting the 558 ARZ in Baranavichy, the task was to master the production of aircraft in addition to repairing it, as well as expand the range of aircraft units and equipment produced in the country. Lukashenko emphasized: Belarusian products should be focused primarily on the needs of Russia.
Our proposals may form the basis of the Allied People’s Aviation program, the aim of which should be the revival of the MVL fleet. It is necessary, relying primarily on the work of SibNIA to modernize An-2 and Yak-40, to enter into close cooperation with Belarus, whose ARP together with similar Russian enterprises would become the main production sites of this program.
Corn heart
However, another very important question remains open: which engines will be installed on these planes? In the projects of SibNIA, engines from Honeywell (USA) were originally supposed for both An-2 and Yak-40. And this raises strong doubts about obtaining positive results in the future, since the political component has not been removed from the agenda. Even with the complete abolition of Western sanctions, a serious problem may arise from the other side. The future potential president of the United States is determined to have a large-scale revival of his country's industry. For the successful implementation of this project, among other things, it is necessary that energy resources be as cheap as possible. It is for this reason that Trump said in a recent video message: “I’ll lift restrictions that kill jobs in America’s energy production, including offshore energy and coal.” The result of such actions may be a significant reduction in the price of oil, that is, a sensitive decrease in the currency inflows. This will limit the opportunities for the purchase of American engines, and leasing.
Apparently, in connection with this, the Novosibirsk residents switched to the domestic version of the Y-40 re-motorization with AI-222-25 engines (and of a purely Russian production, without cooperation with Ukraine). Note that at the end of 90-x OKB im. A. S. Yakovlev has already considered the possibility of replacing three Ukrainian engines with two American ones.
However, there are open-ended questions on Russian projects of remotorization today. Therefore, it is proposed to consider the possible Ukrainian version of industrial cooperation.
Of course, relations with Kiev are very far from friendly, but you need to think about the future and leave the doors open for that. Readiness for a constructive dialogue was confirmed by Vladimir Putin on September 17 at a political summit in Bishkek. The main thing is to make an imperious decision to start moving in this direction, and our management has already announced this.
If we take as a basis the projects An-2 and Yak-40, then it can be MC-500B-C and AI-222-25, respectively. The first engine - the development of the Cossacks, the second created with their active participation. With regard to MS-500B-S, it should also be said that such a replacement will be possible provided that Motor Sich brings the engine to the horsepower declared by 950 – 1100 in takeoff mode. It should be noted here that the version with MS-500В-С is likely to be preferable to MC-14 previously announced for remotorizing the Antonov machine, since the initial version of MC-500В (helicopter) will become very popular in the near future for rotary-wing machines with take-off mass of 3,5 – 6 tons and MC-500В-С can be built into the well-established high-volume production, and this will reduce the cost.
Where to get horsepower
The situation with the civil engine makes us look for additional options. With regard to aviation MVL worth considering the wider use of aircraft piston engines with the possible connection of the potential of the automotive industry and, probably, the shipbuilding industry.
Since very often the development takes place in a spiral, then workers in the industry need to again pay attention to internal combustion engines (ICE), the best practices obtained today for them or, more strictly, combined power plants.
Piston engines generally have an advantage over aviation gas turbines in terms of fuel consumption, but lose in specific gravities.
To get some idea about the price of this rotation, you should give an example with the Robinson helicopter, which gained popularity in Russia. As a result of the replacement of a piston engine (on the R44 model) with a turboshaft (R66), its price in the United States increased at that time 2,3 times - from 348 thousand dollars to 798 thousand.
But first you need to decide on the fuel. The fact is that now for small aircraft there is an urgent need to supply Russian gasoline. Domestic producers, and here, first of all, it is necessary to note the Omsk refinery, they are just starting to unwind the stopped flywheel of this production. Therefore, aircraft operators are forced to focus primarily on imports, and in the future, apparently, on jet fuel. At the same time, the latter can be used in ICE with compression ignition (diesel engines) and in ICE with spark ignition, as was the case in the first half of the 20th century, but from which they retreated, although the Voronezh OKBM is working on this option on its new “stars” DV series.
Diesels are more structurally more complicated than spark ignition internal combustion engines and are superior in weight, but more economical. In our time, we are witnessing a second evolutionary turn of their development. The first stage was completed in 20 – 40-ies, when the American “Packard”, the “Yumo” diesel engines of the PDP scheme of the German company “Junkers” and the Soviet AF-30 were introduced into the flight practice. It should be said that diesel engines were fixed in Germany in hydroaviation, where they were installed on the Dornier and Blom and Foss flying boats, since they required a large radius of action. At present, modern models of such engines have appeared in the West - German, Austrian, French. Relatively active work is also underway in Russia: Agat-D with horsepower up to 300, RED A05 V6 and RED A03 V12 on 350 and 500 horsepower, respectively, were created together with German partners - RED, headed by Vladimir Reikhlin from Russia. In addition, the leadership of UZGA, which is part of the Oboronprom corporation, previously considered the option of licensed production of AE300. And it was supposed to create, together with the Austrian side, more powerful modifications.
If we talk about aviation MVL, then the problem of its motorization can be solved with the help of piston engines operating on kerosene and gasoline. In this case, in our opinion, it is not necessary to limit the power of 500 horsepower. MVL demand aircraft designed for transportation and 10 – 12, as on the An-2, and 20 passengers, as on the L-410. To do this, you need to create an engine with a capacity of about a thousand horsepower for the updated An-2, and for the 20-local aircraft you will need two installations of this power.
It requires advanced development and technology that is and most importantly - mastered on an industrial scale in the West. And we should try to get them, but for this you need to show first of all the political will, extending a helping hand to the Volkswagen company, which is actively drowned for cooperating with Russia. We need to create a production of aviation reciprocating engines on a high-tech basis - to launch a motor-building plant in cooperation with this German company, the main share of which the Russian side would have to finance in the face of oil and gas producers. The appeal to them is due to the fact that if, in the practical plan of the implementation of this project, we are talking about the creation of an aircraft diesel, then in the future this could be a gas engine.
We are convinced that among the Russian top managers, the majority are not just statists, but there are also those who are not indifferent to the fate of domestic aviation.
Since there may be a barrier in the form of anti-Russian sanctions in the way of the practical implementation of this proposal, it is proposed to create and launch the main production at the Minsk Motor Plant, carrying out a detour political maneuver and simultaneously contributing to further strengthening the foundations of our Union State.
In Russia there are more than 28 thousand settlements, which can be reached mainly by air. In the USSR, these addresses were successfully served by a small aviation. But it so happened that the aviation of local airlines (MVL) suffered the most. And the consequences of the crisis of the nineties are still affecting its recovery. Although it is the aviation of the MVL that should solve the problem of transport communications between remote settlements between themselves and with the mainland. It means - to be effective and most importantly - popular, that is, affordable. The rise and development of many regions of the country depend on this.
Older "kids"
It is necessary to revive - at least on a previous scale - the fleet of IAL. By the beginning of the 90-x small aircraft performed about a million flights a year. Over 500 passenger An-2, about 450 L-410 and An-28 carried almost 10 to millions of passengers. At present, passenger traffic has decreased several times. And if the outgoing L-410 are filled with new machines of the same type, then there are only a few dozen of An-2 left in flight operation, the production of its An-3Т turboprop on Omsk Polet was stopped. An-28 also remained a few, and his successor An-38 did not go into the series. At the same time, there was a clear tendency to replenish the fleet with foreign aircraft. It is possible to prevent this only one way - to saturate the MVL with its own ships.
If you omit the financial component, of course, it is very important, then for the successful solution of this task it is necessary to have available the projects and existing technologies, production capacities, engineering and operating potential for their implementation.
In the first position it should be noted that the development from scratch will require much more time and money compared to upgrading the already created machines. And over time, we have tight, because the solution to this problem should not be found tomorrow, and at the latest today.
On the evolutionary path, despite all the difficulties, they went to the SibNIA to them. S.A. Chaplygin. Taking the An-2 and Yak-40 as a basis, the Novosibirsk people are methodically advancing in their modernization and are ready to go far in this direction. They aim to make An-2 and Yak-40 from composite materials. This, in particular, was proposed in the article “The Offspring of the Cornflower”. Earlier, the institute's management stated that it would seek to re-engine and replace the on-board equipment of the Yak-40 fleet that was preserved and suitable for flight operation (about 100 units) and upgrade to 150 – 200 An-2 for two years. The implementation of these plans, in the opinion of SibNIA, will completely close the issue of transportation on local airlines and alleviate the problem for the next five to seven years, allowing for the creation of new cars during this time.
"Batskins" frames
The second and third positions remain open, the last is the key one. It is worth referring to the dramatic fate of the Saratov Aviation Plant, which was busy, among other things, with the production of the Yak-40 and has ceased to exist today.
If the Soviet approach “cadres decide everything” is unacceptable for someone, you can recall the words of Henry Ford: “You can take my factories, burn my buildings, but leave me my people and they will restore everything”.
The key link in our situation is and will be the surviving qualified personnel. It makes sense to pay attention to the aircraft repair plants (ARZ) of the Russian Federation and Belarus. It is worth remembering the initiative of Alexander Lukashenko, which he officially launched on 2 on April 2014 of the year. Then, when visiting the 558 ARZ in Baranavichy, the task was to master the production of aircraft in addition to repairing it, as well as expand the range of aircraft units and equipment produced in the country. Lukashenko emphasized: Belarusian products should be focused primarily on the needs of Russia.
Our proposals may form the basis of the Allied People’s Aviation program, the aim of which should be the revival of the MVL fleet. It is necessary, relying primarily on the work of SibNIA to modernize An-2 and Yak-40, to enter into close cooperation with Belarus, whose ARP together with similar Russian enterprises would become the main production sites of this program.
Corn heart
However, another very important question remains open: which engines will be installed on these planes? In the projects of SibNIA, engines from Honeywell (USA) were originally supposed for both An-2 and Yak-40. And this raises strong doubts about obtaining positive results in the future, since the political component has not been removed from the agenda. Even with the complete abolition of Western sanctions, a serious problem may arise from the other side. The future potential president of the United States is determined to have a large-scale revival of his country's industry. For the successful implementation of this project, among other things, it is necessary that energy resources be as cheap as possible. It is for this reason that Trump said in a recent video message: “I’ll lift restrictions that kill jobs in America’s energy production, including offshore energy and coal.” The result of such actions may be a significant reduction in the price of oil, that is, a sensitive decrease in the currency inflows. This will limit the opportunities for the purchase of American engines, and leasing.
Apparently, in connection with this, the Novosibirsk residents switched to the domestic version of the Y-40 re-motorization with AI-222-25 engines (and of a purely Russian production, without cooperation with Ukraine). Note that at the end of 90-x OKB im. A. S. Yakovlev has already considered the possibility of replacing three Ukrainian engines with two American ones.
However, there are open-ended questions on Russian projects of remotorization today. Therefore, it is proposed to consider the possible Ukrainian version of industrial cooperation.
Of course, relations with Kiev are very far from friendly, but you need to think about the future and leave the doors open for that. Readiness for a constructive dialogue was confirmed by Vladimir Putin on September 17 at a political summit in Bishkek. The main thing is to make an imperious decision to start moving in this direction, and our management has already announced this.
If we take as a basis the projects An-2 and Yak-40, then it can be MC-500B-C and AI-222-25, respectively. The first engine - the development of the Cossacks, the second created with their active participation. With regard to MS-500B-S, it should also be said that such a replacement will be possible provided that Motor Sich brings the engine to the horsepower declared by 950 – 1100 in takeoff mode. It should be noted here that the version with MS-500В-С is likely to be preferable to MC-14 previously announced for remotorizing the Antonov machine, since the initial version of MC-500В (helicopter) will become very popular in the near future for rotary-wing machines with take-off mass of 3,5 – 6 tons and MC-500В-С can be built into the well-established high-volume production, and this will reduce the cost.
Where to get horsepower
The situation with the civil engine makes us look for additional options. With regard to aviation MVL worth considering the wider use of aircraft piston engines with the possible connection of the potential of the automotive industry and, probably, the shipbuilding industry.
Since very often the development takes place in a spiral, then workers in the industry need to again pay attention to internal combustion engines (ICE), the best practices obtained today for them or, more strictly, combined power plants.
Piston engines generally have an advantage over aviation gas turbines in terms of fuel consumption, but lose in specific gravities.
To get some idea about the price of this rotation, you should give an example with the Robinson helicopter, which gained popularity in Russia. As a result of the replacement of a piston engine (on the R44 model) with a turboshaft (R66), its price in the United States increased at that time 2,3 times - from 348 thousand dollars to 798 thousand.
But first you need to decide on the fuel. The fact is that now for small aircraft there is an urgent need to supply Russian gasoline. Domestic producers, and here, first of all, it is necessary to note the Omsk refinery, they are just starting to unwind the stopped flywheel of this production. Therefore, aircraft operators are forced to focus primarily on imports, and in the future, apparently, on jet fuel. At the same time, the latter can be used in ICE with compression ignition (diesel engines) and in ICE with spark ignition, as was the case in the first half of the 20th century, but from which they retreated, although the Voronezh OKBM is working on this option on its new “stars” DV series.
Diesels are more structurally more complicated than spark ignition internal combustion engines and are superior in weight, but more economical. In our time, we are witnessing a second evolutionary turn of their development. The first stage was completed in 20 – 40-ies, when the American “Packard”, the “Yumo” diesel engines of the PDP scheme of the German company “Junkers” and the Soviet AF-30 were introduced into the flight practice. It should be said that diesel engines were fixed in Germany in hydroaviation, where they were installed on the Dornier and Blom and Foss flying boats, since they required a large radius of action. At present, modern models of such engines have appeared in the West - German, Austrian, French. Relatively active work is also underway in Russia: Agat-D with horsepower up to 300, RED A05 V6 and RED A03 V12 on 350 and 500 horsepower, respectively, were created together with German partners - RED, headed by Vladimir Reikhlin from Russia. In addition, the leadership of UZGA, which is part of the Oboronprom corporation, previously considered the option of licensed production of AE300. And it was supposed to create, together with the Austrian side, more powerful modifications.
If we talk about aviation MVL, then the problem of its motorization can be solved with the help of piston engines operating on kerosene and gasoline. In this case, in our opinion, it is not necessary to limit the power of 500 horsepower. MVL demand aircraft designed for transportation and 10 – 12, as on the An-2, and 20 passengers, as on the L-410. To do this, you need to create an engine with a capacity of about a thousand horsepower for the updated An-2, and for the 20-local aircraft you will need two installations of this power.
It requires advanced development and technology that is and most importantly - mastered on an industrial scale in the West. And we should try to get them, but for this you need to show first of all the political will, extending a helping hand to the Volkswagen company, which is actively drowned for cooperating with Russia. We need to create a production of aviation reciprocating engines on a high-tech basis - to launch a motor-building plant in cooperation with this German company, the main share of which the Russian side would have to finance in the face of oil and gas producers. The appeal to them is due to the fact that if, in the practical plan of the implementation of this project, we are talking about the creation of an aircraft diesel, then in the future this could be a gas engine.
We are convinced that among the Russian top managers, the majority are not just statists, but there are also those who are not indifferent to the fate of domestic aviation.
Since there may be a barrier in the form of anti-Russian sanctions in the way of the practical implementation of this proposal, it is proposed to create and launch the main production at the Minsk Motor Plant, carrying out a detour political maneuver and simultaneously contributing to further strengthening the foundations of our Union State.
Information