TsAGI Conference on small aircraft
28 September 2018
About 15 million Russians live in hard-to-reach regions, practically not covered by ground transportation. Aviation becomes the main transport connection for the population of these regions. In this regard, industrial and transport industries organizations of our country are tasked with the development of local flights. TsAGI held a conference on small aviation in its Scientific and technical information centre in September.
Andrey Dunaevsky, the Head of implementation programs for scientific projects on the development of general aviation and aeronautic systems of TsAGI delivered a report at the Conference. He presented an overview of the Institute’s work on small aircraft. In particular, he spoke about a concept of affordable multipurpose aircraft with advanced features for 9, 13 and 19 passengers. The aircraft may be operated from small airfields and has low fuel consumption, which is relevant in areas of Siberia and the Far North. The comparative technical-economic assessment approved that its technical solutions were capable of a transport cost reduction up to 45% compared with other aircraft.
In addition, Andrey Dunaevsky reported about two promising TsAGI developments in hybrid electric aircraft. Aircraft with this type engine may be advantageous from an economic point of view and meets the more stringent environmental requirements. Electric motors have some obvious advantages: they are more reliable, lighter and have smaller dimensions than internal combustion engines. Besides they hardly require maintenance, are highly efficiency, do not lose power with altitude, have low noise and vibration, and do not pollute the atmosphere. The combination of all these qualities can significantly improve consumer properties of the aircraft.
Another TsAGI development is a concept of a short-haul aircraft with hybrid power unit. It consists of gas turbine engines which activate generators, and provide with energy to the basic electric propulsion system which is optimized for cruising. The usage of accumulators allows to briefly increasing the power at takeoff. Coaxial propellers force air to the empennage improving controllability at takeoff and landing, and help avoid asymmetry issues during an engine failure. The propellers are placed beyond the area of the passenger compartment providing increased acoustic comfort for passengers.
The Conference participants also discussed measures to support developers and operators of flight equipment for aviation of local and general purposes. A proposal was made to launch an integrated development program for small aircraft. In addition, specialists’ attention focused on the production of a pilot-navigating complex for light aircraft with informative and intelligence assistance to the crew and to the fuel supply improvement for small aircraft.
The Conference participants were members of the board of directors of aviation technology platform “Aviation mobility and flight technology,” as well as representatives of the Group of companies “Rusfinholding,” test pilots from the Gromov Flight Research Institute school, “Wise-Technique LLC,” “TZK Tupolev-service,” etc.