Note to skeptics - the prospects for aircraft engines of the TV7-117 family

Approval received

The end of last year was a busy one. However, like all previous twelve months. In the hectic information field, important information was somehow blurred. news aviation industry. The Federal Air Transport Agency or Rosaviatsia issued a number of type certificates for new Russian equipment.

In fact, this document opens the way for mass production of machines and guarantees compliance with aviation regulations adopted in the country. On December 29, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov presented type certificates to three helicopters - the cargo Mi-171A3, a new version of the Kazan Ansat, and for the first time in the domestic stories drone BSA-200.

The first machine is the most high-tech version of the 171 series, designed to service offshore drilling platforms. The helicopter received a reinforced fuselage, special seats in the cabin, which reduce the load during an emergency landing, inflatable ballonets for splashdown and enlarged fuel tanks.

The upgraded Ansat can also take more kerosene into flight, is equipped with new on-board electronics and a different tail unit. The BAS-200 drone, although it received a limited category type certificate, is already quite ready for operation. The machine is distinguished by a rotary piston engine, the ability to lift up to 50 kg of payload into the sky and a flight range of 430 km.

Mi-171A3. Source: rostec.ru

TV7-117ST-01. Source: zhukvesti.ru

The technique mentioned above is extremely interesting, requires a separate analysis and demonstrates the growth of domestic engineering competencies in aircraft engine building.

But now let's focus on the fourth product, which also received a type certificate on December 29, 2022 - the TV7-117ST-01 turboprop engine. The fate of the product is now clearly in the shadow of the older gas turbine engines of the PD series. Meanwhile, the fate of regional air transportation in Russia depends on the speed of putting these engines into operation.

long-suffering motor

Unlike the latest aircraft engines of the PD series, the turboprop TV7-117ST-1 traces its history back to Soviet times. The development of the TV7-117 series began in 1985 for the 60-seat Il-114, which was to be used on short routes. Among the potential carriers of the new engine was also the transport MiG-110, made according to a two-beam scheme with a high wing.

Work on the aircraft began in 1990 and was frozen a few years later. They managed to create a layout only by 1997. Su-80, equipped with American engines, can be considered the ideological successor of the transport aircraft from the MiG Design Bureau.

MiG-110. Source: l-boris.livejournal.com

The turboprop engine for a civil aircraft was not chosen by chance - only such a design made it possible to reduce operating costs, fuel and increase the resource. Speed ​​had to be sacrificed in comparison with gas turbine engines, but this indicator does not seem critical for regional transportation. TV7-117 in version "C" was released for bench tests in 1986, and in 1990 a couple of engines were installed on the Il-114.

It should be noted that the history of the engine did not work out from the very beginning - it suffered breakdowns, and in 1993 it caused a plane crash. An experienced Il-114 with tail number RA-54001 crashed on takeoff from Zhukovsky due to an engine failure, as a result of which four people died on the spot, three more died in the hospital, two survived. It was the first plane to be lost - the second serial Il-114T crashed in 1998 at Domodedovo due to a pilot error. The first catastrophe seriously postponed the certification of the aircraft engine - the Russian Aviation Register issued a permit only in 1997.

At the moment, none of the eighteen produced aircraft is in operation, with the exception of one flying laboratory Il-114LL. Interestingly, this aircraft is equipped with a modernized TV7-117SM engine with a new BARK-65 automatic control and control unit. The needs of Russian carriers in such aircraft are estimated at three hundred aircraft.

IL-114-300. Source: uacrussia.ru

TV7-117ST under the wing of the Il-76LL flying laboratory. Source: vk34.ru

The latest history of the turboprop TV-7-117S is associated with the revival of the Il-114 programs with an additional index of 300 and the light military transport Il-112V.

For the needs of the Russian Aerospace Forces, a version of the TV7-117ST turboprop engine is being designed, capable of developing maximum power in the range of 2–800 hp. For this, four operating modes are provided - take-off (3 hp), maximum take-off (600 hp) and two emergency - 2-minute for 800 hp. With. and 3 minutes at 000 liters. With. A BARK-15STM block is installed on the motor, which allows you to control not only the engine, but also the propeller.

IL-112V. Source: uacrussia.ru

Tragedy is also associated with this motor.

On August 17, 2021, an experienced (raw, it would be more accurate to say) Il-112V crashed in Kubinka due to a fire in the right engine. Three test pilots were killed. The catastrophe not only slowed down work on the military aircraft, but also affected the pace of development of the civilian Il-114-300. The United Aircraft Corporation then said:

“It is necessary to analyze the details and circumstances of what happened to the IL-112V, including the analysis of objective data from the flight recorder. Therefore, test flights of an experimental Il-114 aircraft equipped with a similar power plant will not be carried out for some time.

At the moment, three Il-114-300 liners are in varying degrees of readiness at the aircraft plant in Lukhovitsy near Moscow. One of them took to the air for the first time on December 16, 2020, the second is 80-90 percent ready, the third has only a glider assembled. The development program was suspended not only because of the military Il-112V disaster, but also because of serious problems with the TV7-117ST-01 engine. Initially, type certification was planned for the first quarter of last year, but everything happened only at the end of December.

The delay in the design of the aircraft is estimated at several years, and this has already become a reason for personnel decisions - in April 2022, the head of the Il-114 direction of the United Aircraft Corporation quit.

AB112-114. Source: www.aviaforum.ru

Now a little about the motor itself. TV7-117ST-01 is an aircraft turboprop engine with a free turbine. It is a product of modernization of the TV7-117S/SM series, in particular, it is equipped with a new digital engine control unit BARK-65SM. The five-kilogram block provides the engine with better economy and a longer hot end life.

The product was also updated with a propeller - now it is a six-bladed AB112-114. As can be seen from the name of the unit, it was built on the basis of a "military" propeller from the Il-112V. The propeller diameter is 3,9 meters, the maximum thrust is up to 3 kgf.

The engine differs from its predecessor by an increase of 100 hp. With. power - in normal takeoff mode 2 l. With. and at the maximum - 900 liters. With. This year, at least six serial engines should be built, which will allow continuing the delayed tests of the Il-3-100.

TV7-117-ST-01. Source: Telegram

The TV7-117 series is not limited to use only on passenger and military transport aircraft of the Il company. A derated version of the TV7-117-ST-02, producing 2 hp at maximum takeoff power. With. being prepared for the TVRS-600 Ladoga twin-engine aircraft. The regional passenger 44-seat liner should replace the An-44/24 on the airlines.

Ladoga and Il-114-300 are an important part of a wide range of civil aircraft designed to get rid of the dominance of imported equipment. If ready and promising aircraft are lined up, then the couple will be exactly in the center. Higher in rank are the turbojet SSJ-100, MS-21 and, in the long term, the Il-96-400, remotorized by heavy PD-35s.

As an option, the Russian-Chinese CR929 can also be located on top. Below the rank of L-410 from the "Ural Civil Aviation Plant" and a substitute for the legendary "corn" LMS-901 "Baikal". For the latter, a VK-800SM turboprop with a take-off power of 877 hp was specially built from scratch. With.

Taking into account the new realities, it is impossible to extend the construction of the entire line of aircraft within the planned time frame. For example, the development of the large PD-35 has already been shifted to the right for several years.

Turboshaft TV7-117V. Source: cont.ws

The history of TV7-117ST-01 would be incomplete without mentioning the turboshaft version of the TV7-117V engine. It should have been developed back in the early 90s for the Mi-38 helicopter, but the designers decided to use Canadian power plants. As a result, money for the turboshaft version came only in 2003.

A feature of the TV7-117V is a high degree of unification with the turboprop version for the Il-112V light transport. The motor was the luckiest of the series - the units are produced, albeit in small batches, for Mi-38 helicopters. In takeoff mode, the power plant develops 2 hp. s., in emergency conditions, capable of 800 liters. With.

The good news about the TV7-117ST-01 aircraft engine allows us to hope for an acceleration of work in the strategically important for Russia direction of regional transportation. This is not even about import substitution, but about the survival of the entire industry.

Comments

[Nexcom]

Periodically, information about the production of L410 pops up. Where?
We have information in the Urals that the owner has sold a share in the business and a plant in the Czech Republic - there will be no more aircraft kits for assembling the L410 at UZGA. And here and there - they constantly write about "elks" as if they will continue to be produced .... All this is strange.

[Stirbjorn]

Quote: Nexcom

We have information in the Urals that the owner has sold a share in the business and a plant in the Czech Republic - there will be no more aircraft kits for assembling the L410 at UZGA. And here and there - they constantly write about "elks" as if they will continue to be produced .... All this is strange.

I once studied this issue, in the end it turned out that the entire assembly is carried out in the Czech Republic, up to the flight of the finished aircraft from there. What they do there at the UZGA is not really clear - the nameplates are interrupted, but tinted, if only. So the loss is small, in terms of import substitution

[Zaurbek]

The company was sold, all rights and licenses remained in our country. We can do it legally. Physically, I don't know. And no TVD.

[svp67]

The UAV BAS-200, although it received a type certificate of a limited category, is already quite ready for operation. The machine is distinguished by a rotary piston engine, the ability to lift up to 50 kg of payload into the sky and a flight range of 430 km.

Can an engine for a strike UAV, like Geranium-2, be used?

[Aristarkh Pasechnik]

Geranium only flies one way! And this UAV still needs to return home!

[Evgeny Fedorov]

You can, of course, use. But this motor is most likely imported. Rostec does not disclose the brand of the product, and in Russia they have forgotten how to make such engines. And the prospects for BAS-200 in this regard are vague. He appeared even before the special operation, when they had not really thought about sanctions yet. Meanwhile, the rotary-piston design is well suited for drones due to its compactness and high power. It's just the oil consumption going up.

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: Evgeny Fedorov

The rotary-piston design is well suited for drones due to its compactness and high power. It's just the oil consumption going up.

Well, there is still an "alternative" ... axial piston engines ...! (Somehow there was a message that a suitable axial-piston engine for UAVs was created in a certain private "firm" ... and even the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation seemed to be interested in it! The Ministry of Defense even agreed to finance further development; because the Ministry of Defense turned out to need a "ruler "such engines of different power in a certain" range "! But, alas! Nothing has been heard about the further fate of this engine for a long time!)

[Dimax-nemo]

They are essentially disposable. Repair is almost impossible. Just for "Geraniums" - one way. But for a returning drone, a strange choice ...

[Jackson]

What's strange? Motor replacement. And it’s not a fact that the drone will survive before this replacement. Do you propose to dismantle the drone on the front line and spend capital on the motor - change rings, grind valves, etc.?
And so to replace the vankel - what to change the electric motor.

[svoroponov]

And ours put it on UAVs like Geranium there, only a somewhat simplified version.

[Orange Bigg]

Quote: svp67

The UAV BAS-200, although it received a type certificate of a limited category, is already quite ready for operation. The machine is distinguished by a rotary piston engine, the ability to lift up to 50 kg of payload into the sky and a flight range of 430 km.

Can an engine for a strike UAV, like Geranium-2, be used?

We have only APD-2 with a power of 45 hp for Gerani-50. and 100 hours of flight. Google it.

[Evgeny Fedorov]

What should have been proven

The documents published by the Federal Air Transport Agency indicate that the BAS-200 uses an IAE50R-AA rotary piston engine “certified as part of an aircraft” from the Austrian company Austro Engine GmbH.

[andrewkor]

In 2001, the airline of Uzbekistan received IL-114-100 (10 in total) with Pratt-Whitney engines precisely because of problems with the TV7-117.
The resource without removal from the wing is four times longer. In the past 2022, the company took them all out of service

[ailcat]

Poor engine, they are forcing it, and the pilots are still not enough, but the requirement to give out 3600 mares in the dimension of a 2500-horsepower engine is already far beyond common sense ...
What is the place here for the saying "father, you either put on your underpants, or take off the cross" (either allow me to increase the dimension, or remove the excessive power requirements) ...

[Dead duck]

He is not poor, he is stillborn.
Someone stubbornly tries to push him through for not having anything else.
It looks like sabotage or another opportunity to finish quietly for years (both the engine and the budget).

[Dimax-nemo]

In Soviet times, he would have been brought to mind. They had already squeezed everything out of TV3, so the decision to make a new engine was logical. Here's another thing .... the MMP them was supposed to become a serial plant. V.V. Chernyshev. Full cycle. All equipment, documentation remained with them. But this enterprise is like a thorn in the eye of UEC and Rostec. It seems to them that two such plants for Moscow are already too much. Therefore, what parts could be distributed to other factories. But not all.

[ailcat]

This is a very good, moreover, well-proven engine ... But in its traction class 2500 hp!!!
It is not the engine itself that is problematic, but its super-forced modifications, the consequence is to shove a small-sized engine into large aircraft (akin to how to force the engine from a "corn plant" to install for the IL-18. No, but what - both with screws!)

[Dimax-nemo]

P&W of comparable power is lighter than TV7-117. How much it is possible to force TV7 is an interesting question. I do not yet see that the production of this engine is transferred only to new equipment. In my opinion, there are still enough purely technological issues.

[anclevalico]

IMHO, production was shifted by a few years. I think that the situation there is the same as in MO. Bravura reports, but the output is zilch. There is something somewhere and even buzzes, but when you try to fly, you get broads and a plug. And there is no engineering school capable of quickly and efficiently solving problems, education has been destroyed. Well, and most importantly, there are no managers, the level of Beria, who are able to master the task. All these Manturovs are nothing more than leeches on the body.

[Ryaruav]

Something I didn’t read anything breakthrough in the article, including about the long-suffering engine, the situation with aviation cannot be called rosy

[Aviator_]

the most high-tech version of the 171 series, designed to serve offshore drilling platforms.

"People's Treasure", however! And what does this bourgeois project for the super-profits of the oligarchs have to do with military aviation?

[vovochkarzhevsky]

The turboprop engine for a civil aircraft was not chosen by chance - only such a design made it possible to reduce operating costs, fuel and increase the resource. Sacrifice compared to gas turbine engines I had to speed, but this indicator does not seem critical for regional transportation. TV7-117 in version "C" was released for bench tests in 1986, and in 1990 a couple of engines were installed on the Il-114.

First, the term engine is accepted in aviation.
Secondly, turboprop, turboshaft engines are also gas turbine.

[Fitter65]

Su-80, equipped with American engines, can be considered the ideological successor of the transport aircraft from the MiG Design Bureau.

Good plane, and beautiful. I saw it live. But ... All Russian aircraft that hoped to fly with American engines remained on the ground. Il-96M was also certified with Western avionics and Pratt & Whitney PW2337 engines.

[Dimax-nemo]

And, sho - the investigation of the Il-112 crash ended (yes) and led to some conclusions (no)? Deficiencies in the design and manufacturing technology of the TV7-117S engine, I don’t remember which one were corrected, and was this confirmed by tests?

[wladimirjankov]

For almost 40 years we have not been able to bring to mind TV7-117. This speaks volumes. Maybe it's time to start developing a new engine, since the old one during this time simply could not help becoming morally obsolete. It's like fiddling with an old decommissioned sack and it's a pity to throw it away and wear it indecently. There have always been problems with turboprop and gas turbine engines in Russia after Ukraine left it with its motor sich. As with piston gasoline and diesel. We have engine building, like many other things in the corral.

[senima56]

Hmm .... With engines (any, whether aviation or ship) in Russia, it has always been difficult. Maybe someday we'll learn how to make them? Are we really worse than the Finns with their "Vyartsilya"?

[Zaurbek]

You can cut down an attack aircraft with such a motor.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

From the characteristics of the Su-25
Thrust: 2 × 4100 kgf (40,2 kN).
So, even for the Su-25, this engine does not have enough power.

[Zaurbek]

Su 25 and more carrying capacity ..... And this one can be unified with the Mi28 in armament and that's enough

[d4rkmesa]

To the authors - opponents of skeptics, sadly - but in fact there is no engine. This is a prototype, the unreliability of which has been repeatedly confirmed. "Barks" will not change any essence, on the contrary, they themselves can be the cause of engine failure due to unreliability.
In addition, the Mi-38 is already making a new engine, the PDV-4000. Although there, to be honest, given that this is also Klimov, there are no particular reasons for optimism. Well, let's see.

[Dimax-nemo]

Ha, but the UEC did not want to do the VK-3500 for the Il-112. Well, well ..... the question is different. They will be doing it (PDV-4000) for 650 years. They still hang VK-1600 and VK-800, in which, by and large, the horse did not roll. Yes, and Ulyanovsk alone, without a developer, will not cope with the fine-tuning of the VK-XNUMX.

[Pavel57]

I always thought that the MiG-110 and Su-80 were competitors. The Su-80 was a little more fortunate.