Russian Civil Aviation: News #5

FROM FOUR-JET TO TWO-JET
This is how Russia imagines the Ilyushin Il-96neo

With four engines, Russia's largest airliner was a flop - the Ilyushin Il-96 always remained a marginal phenomenon. Modernized to a twin-jet aircraft, state-owned company Rostec sees a new opportunity for the Il-96. However, with restrictions.

Patrick Zwerger
October 21, 2023

The latest addition to the small Il-96 family has still not flown - and is still technically outdated. The Ilyushin Il-96-400M , which celebrated its roll-out in Ulyanovsk in July after an almost endless construction period , has (slightly) better engines than the standard version Il-96-300. But there are still four, and not two, as is usual for wide-body airliners today. You may find this anachronism somehow pleasant, but it is not particularly suitable for the future. And we know that in Russia too. At the same time, the fate of the CRAIC CR929 twin jet planned with China is more than unclear after the Russians have withdrawn to the second line in the project and only want to act as a supplier.

Make two out of four
Various representatives from politics and industry in Russia therefore repeatedly speculated about a possible conversion of the Il-96 into a twin-engine aircraft. A suitable engine for such an “Il-96neo” is currently being developed : the Awiadwigatel PD-35 . The fact that the large turbofan is currently not expected to be ready for series production until 2029 at the earliest is not particularly disturbing in this context. After all, the modification to a twinjet on the Il-96 would probably not be possible without time-consuming changes to the design. The wings would probably have to be redesigned accordingly to accommodate the new engines. Theoretically, it would even be conceivable to have wings made of carbon fiber , like those used on the (much smaller) Yakovlev MS-21.

“Not efficient enough”
In a conversation with the Russian daily Izvestia , published on October 12, Rostec General Director Sergei Chemezov once again fueled speculation about a twin-engine Il-96. The issue remains “on the agenda,” emphasized Chemezov. However, there are currently no plans for mass production on a large scale, but rather smaller editions for Russian government aviation and for cargo transport are being considered. The head of Rostec did not say whether this was primarily about building new aircraft or rather about converting used Il-96s. However, Chemezov emphasized to Izvestia that the four-engine Il-96 is "not efficient enough" in long-term operation - not even as a freighter.

Bigger and stronger
The PD-35 engine, designed specifically for the CRAIC CR929, will deliver around 340 kilonewtons of thrust once completed. That would be more than twice what one of the PS-90A engines currently used on the Il-96-300 produces. The PS-90A has a maximum thrust of 160 kN. The further developed version PS-90A1 for the Il-96-400M achieves a little more at 171 kN. With a planned fan diameter of over three meters, the PD-35 would also be significantly larger than the PS-90A, whose fan diameter is only 1.90 meters.

The head of Rostec spoke about the purpose of the modernized Il-96
Head of Rostec: the project to create modernized Il-96s remains on the agenda

12 October 2023, 18:11

The modernized Il-96 aircraft with two engines are planned to be produced primarily for cargo transportation and the needs of the “Special Flight Detachment “Russia” (SLO). Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov announced this on October 12.

He noted that the project to create modernized IL-96s with two engines remains on the agenda.

“Most likely, we do not plan to mass produce [the IL-96 with two engines]. They will be produced, as a rule, to order from airlines and special flight squads. In general, most likely, they will be used for transport aircraft, for transporting cargo,” Chemezov said.

According to him, now the Il-96, equipped with PS-90 engines, is not efficient enough for commercial air carriers.

At the same time, he noted that work on the Russian heavy aircraft engine PD-35 continues and software for designing these engines is currently being created. However, Chemezov did not specify the timing of its creation.

lancelot wrote:I thought the Il-96 fuselage was based on that of the Il-86? At this point you would think they would design a new fuselage as well.

A350
The cabin's internal width is 5.61 m (18.4 ft) at armrest level compared to 5.49 m (18.0 ft) in the Boeing 787 and 5.87 m (19.3 ft) in the Boeing 777.

The A350 cabin is 12.7 cm (5.0 in) wider at the eye level of a seated passenger than the 787's cabin, and 28 cm (11 in) narrower than the Boeing 777's cabin .

Hole wrote:Russia withdrew from the project as a partner and will from now on only deliver stuff as supplier.
Reason 1: Chinese insisted on tech transfer, including the future PD-35 engine.
Reason 2: Chinese are sill using a lot of western "partners" for a lot of parts of the plane, Russia was against that.

GarryB wrote:

And then there is the fact you needed the third crewman i.e. the flight engineer due to lack of automation. Which further increased operational costs.

And that is just bullshit. Saving the expensive of an extra wage for the flight sounds great till you are wanting to take off at an international airport and your takeoff departure time is in 15 minutes and there are only two of you to make all the pre takeoff checks and communicate with the tower. Aeroflot found that aircraft with larger crews could get earlier departure slots because they got through their checks faster with more people working on them... they are able to get through lists faster when they work together. The extra crewman means it is more likely you can engineer a crew where at least one of them speaks the local language which can be very useful too.

Fewer crew can sometimes just mean a bigger work load, which means mistakes are more likely.

GarryB wrote:

The West also supplied these aircraft via leases, and back then Aeroflot did not have a lot of money to buy whole new aircraft. At the same time the government did not provide leasing alternatives for Russian aircraft.

You mean when Russia transitioned from communism where everything is government owned to capitalism where everything is privately owned that westerners often got themselves onto boards of companies because of their "expertise" in the field and they used their positions to destroy everything they could that was Russian and promote western stuff as superior and value for money.

Fortunately Russia is having a really good house clean now mostly because of the west leaving, but there is still a lot to do.

GarryB wrote:
One of the main reasons the B-52 has 8 engines and even with new engines will still have 8 engines is so engine failure wont be a problem... a very big aircraft with only two very powerful engines loses an engine might lose a wing because it can't take flying with assymetrical thrust like that... whereas with 8 engines if it loses two engines it is still not a problem.

GarryB wrote:Some say the new engines are so reliable you can take away two engines and just have two, well you don't always get to pick and choose which engines you lose and if you lose four engines on an 8 engined aircraft you might still be able to fly unless the shutdown engines are all on the same side...

Not to mention you only have two engines when you shut one down you might struggle with electrical power on board with all those computers that fly the plane to keep them still running...

Alexander Inozemtsev: in November-December, three aircraft with PD-14 will fly for certification of MS-21-310RUS

20.10.2023, 13:11  7,642

Russian President Vladimir Putin and General Designer of UEC-Aviadvigatel Alexander Inozemtsev discussed engines for civil and military transport aviation – PD-14 and PD-35 – at a meeting on October 19 in Perm. Alexander Inozemtsev told the president about the current state of certification of the MS-21 aircraft with Russian engines.

“Today there are three MS-21 aircraft flying. Two, the second is now being completed in Irkutsk, will arrive in November-December. Thus, three MS-21 aircraft fly with serial PD-14 engines,” –saidAlexander Inozemtsev at the beginning of the conversation in the presence of the press.

Apparently, the general designer had in mind the experimental MS-21 aircraft with tail numbers 73055 and 73057, which are currently in Irkutsk for the conversion of aircraft systems under the import substitution program. And also the first prototype - 73051, which underwent remotorization from PW1400G to PD-14 in the second half of 2022. Aircraft 73057 (the wing is made of Russian PCM, previously had registration 73361) is currently undergoing re-engining from American engines to PD-14. Thus, within the time frame specified by Alexander Inozemtsev, aircraft with tail numbers 73051, 73055 and 73057 - all with PD-14 engines - will be involved in certification tests.

The general designer of ODK-Aviadvigatel also informed the president that a total of eight PD-14 engines were created in Perm at the ODK-Perm Motors enterprise, with plans to produce 12 engines next year, and 24 engines in 2025.

“The pace is such that the eyes are afraid, but the hands are busy,” commented the designer. Inozemtsev also said that the main task for the next few years is to quickly eliminate problems with the PD-14, which will certainly appear with the start of commercial operation of the aircraft. At the same time, it is necessary to improve the PD-14, modernize it, while simultaneously increasing the production of new engines.

“Our task now - of course, at the beginning of operation there will be “childhood diseases”, there is no other way - to quickly eliminate them, modernize them, and improve them. These are the tasks for the next few years with a simultaneous increase in production volume. This is the situation today regarding PD-14,” said Alexander Inozemtsev.

Next, without the press, there was a discussion of the PD-35 high-thrust engine.

First flight of the Russian widebody Il-96-400M
01.11.2023, 15:20

On November 1st, perhaps one of the main events of 2023 took place: the Russian widebody Il-96-400M made its first flight. Now we are waiting for the certification of the PD-8 engine and the first flight of the SJ-100 aircraft with this power plant.

The day before, a commission arrived on a flight from Zhukovsky on an MS-21 plane to Voronezh, which was supposed to decide on the date of the first flight. On November 1, the weather in the central European part of the country was not clear and warm like autumn. At the VASO factory airfield, documents were signed on the hood of the black Volga, allowing the airliner to take off. The flight sheet was signed by the managing director of PJSC Il, Daniil Brenerman, and the head of the flight test center of PJSC Il, Konstantin Letov. The tradition was introduced more than 50 years ago by Genrikh Novozhilov, at that time the general designer of the Ilyushin Design Bureau, by putting his signature on the flight sheet of the Il-76 transport aircraft on the hood of his official car. That flight was successful and such signing became a good Ilyushin tradition.

The Il-96-400M was lifted into the air by a crew led by the aircraft commander, chief pilot of Il PJSC, Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation Sergei Sukhar, consisting of: Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation Igor Zinov, Honored Test Navigator of the Russian Federation Sergey Goremykin , flight test engineer 1st class Pavel Litvyakov and on-board test electrician Dmitry Semenov.

During the flight, the stability and controllability of the aircraft, the operability of systems, the power plant and radio equipment for landing were checked. The test program went as usual. The flight took place at altitudes of up to 2000 meters, speeds of up to 390 km/h and lasted 26 minutes.

The Il-96-400M is equipped with PS-90A1 engines (previously, according to the general designer of UEC-Aviadvigatel, Alexander Inozemtsev, we reported that the Il-96-400M is equipped with PS-90A3 engines) and can accommodate up to 370 passengers. The UAC said that the passenger cabin of the airliner can have a one-, two- and three-class layout. It is equipped with a modern infotainment system, providing access to the Internet, television and satellite communications, and modern pantry and kitchen equipment. The maximum flight range in a two-class passenger configuration is 8100 km.

The Il-96-400M is developed on the basis of the transport version -400T, so its fuselage is 9.35 m longer than the base Il-96-300 aircraft and is 63.939 meters. The main differences between the -400M version and previous modifications are two pilots in the cockpit.

In the future, the liner can be used for transportation to the Far East, China, Thailand, India, and Egypt. It may be in demand on long-distance routes with high passenger traffic. But for Russia, with a population of 150 million people, there are few such directions, and therefore “driving” a four-engine giant from Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kaliningrad to Novosibirsk or Irkutsk may not be profitable. On such routes, and we have the majority of them in our country, the A321 size is sufficient.

A TASS source in the aviation industry spoke about the prospects of the Il-96-400M in August 2022. According to him, the decision on the feasibility of mass production of the vehicle will be made after certification tests, and the first copy of the Il-96-400M will be used as a flying laboratory.

At the same time, the Il-96-400M is not mentioned in the comprehensive program for the development of the aviation industry for the period until 2030. Instead, plans for this period include the construction of 12 Il-96-300 aircraft. The specialists contacted by the editors of the Russian Aviation website cannot explain such a metamorphosis.

But today’s event, despite all of the above, is significant. The first flight of the Il-96-400M suggests that our civil aircraft industry is not in the fold, it is developing, and only Boeing, Airbus and UAC are building aircraft of this class in the world. In the future, we can expect that, based on developments on the Il-96-400M, a new ShFDMS will be designed for two PD-35 engines with a passenger capacity of 280-320 people.