Russian Civil Aviation: News #5

Aviators can donate engines, by Aigul Abdullina for Kommersant. 05.13.2024.

S7 has learned to repair the most popular engine.

Having lost the support of foreign aircraft engine manufacturers due to sanctions, Russian airlines are trying to expand their repair capabilities. As Kommersant learned, S7 Technics has mastered a complex type of overhaul of the CFM56 engine installed on the most popular Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. Due to the lack of competition, experts believe, the company has a chance of receiving orders from Russian carriers. Today they mostly just replace such engines with aftermarket ones. However, there is no longer enough used equipment, and prices are high, especially for the Russian Federation.

S7 Technics (part of the S7 Group) has mastered the most complex type of overhaul of aircraft engines CFM56-5B and 7B used on aircraft of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families, sources in three airlines told Kommersant. According to them, S7 Technics plans to provide the service for other carriers. In total, there are about 800 CFM56 engines in Russia, the largest operator is the Aeroflot group. The sanctions deprived Russian aviators of support from manufacturers.

According to one of Kommersant’s sources, now carriers have almost no opportunity to export equipment abroad for overhaul and they, as a rule, resolve the issue by purchasing used engines. A number of types of repairs have traditionally been carried out in the Russian Federation, but the most complex work associated with the restoration of the hot part has not been mastered.

As one of Kommersant’s interlocutors clarifies, S7 will provide services for the overhaul of low-pressure turbine (LPT) modules, low-pressure compressor (LPC) modules and the hot part - the gas generator.

S7 is already engaged in the overhaul of the Honeywell 131-9A and Honeywell 131-9B auxiliary power units (APUs) for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, respectively. According to materials from the Federal Air Transport Agency, in 2024 S7 received permission to overhaul the Honeywell RE220 APU for the SSJ 100.

S7 confirmed to Kommersant that they began repairing the hot part of CFM56-5B and 7B and since October 2022 have completed 12 overhauls in the S7 Technics workshop in Sheremetyevo: “The aircraft are successfully operated in the fleet of Russian airlines.” S7 added that since 2015 they have been engaged in local repairs of the CFM-56: disassembling the engine to eliminate the defect, followed by assembly and replacement of compressor blades, turbines, and combustion chambers. In total, more than 300 repairs were carried out in Domodedovo and Minvody, S7 clarifies. In the future, they are considering creating a stand for testing engines after major overhauls.

Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, and Utair did not provide comments. According to a Kommersant source in the industry, overhaul of LPT and LPC CFM56 in Russia can take 70–80 days. The cost, according to him, will be comparable to prices abroad “and lower than the purchase price” of a used engine. One of Kommersant’s interlocutors estimates the cost of CFM56 on the secondary market with a good residual life at $14–16 million; when imported into the Russian Federation, the price can reach $18–20 million. Another Kommersant source assures that CFM56 can be found for $8–10 million

CFM56 is one of the most common engines in the world, notes Alexey Sinitsky, director of research and development at Infomost Consulting.

According to him, the model is known for its long service life: typical flight time, depending on operating conditions, is 40–60 thousand flight hours, or 10–20 thousand takeoff and landing cycles without removal from the wing, which is 8–12 years.

According to Kommersant’s sources, due to a decrease in production and an increase in demand for used engines, including from the Russian Federation, there is a shortage of CFM56 in the world, and it is especially difficult to find CFM56-7B for Boeing. The situation is aggravated by the increased repair time for CFM56 and the rise in cost of spare parts, clarifies Kommersant’s interlocutor on the European market. According to him, the duration of a simple C-check has grown from three to four months to more than eight months, and the most complex D-check, which lasted less than a year, can now take up to a year and a half.

The level of technology used in CFM56 “does not look prohibitively difficult for Russia,” believes the head of AviaPort, Oleg Panteleev. According to him, the first work in the country on CFM56 was undertaken by the then bankrupt Transaero, having mastered disassembling into modules ten years ago, which made it possible to send only the problematic unit abroad for repairs. Then the CFM56 repair competencies began to be developed at S7 Technics, long before 2022 having mastered more than 20 types of work and received approval from the developer.

But repairing the hot part is the most difficult type of work, notes Mr. Sinitsky. Legally, the development of such work is based on the generally accepted practice of DER repairs in the world, when approval is issued by the aviation regulator, and not by the manufacturer.

According to the expert, before the tightening of sanctions, the development of hot end repairs in the Russian Federation was considered inappropriate due to the high cost in the presence of foreign services.

Before the S7 sanctions, it was difficult to create demand for the most high-tech and expensive repair work, says Oleg Panteleev. Now, he believes, “due to limited competition, the company has a chance to receive orders from a wide range of domestic operators.” According to the expert, the A320neo and B737 NG families still form the basis of the narrow-body fleet of the Russian Federation.

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6690483

The authorities have changed the delivery dates for new Russian aircraft, by German Kostrinsky and Petr Kanaev for RBC. 05.17.2024.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has revised plans for the supply of new Russian aircraft.

The authorities have changed the delivery dates and the number of new Russian aircraft planned for production. The total number will decrease to 994 due to small regional vehicles, plans for mainline ones are maintained, but plans for IL 96-300 are increased.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has revised plans for the number and timing of production of civil aircraft as part of the updated comprehensive program for the development of the aviation industry until 2030, according to a published order of the Russian government. As a result of the program, 994 aircraft will be produced by 2031 - 87 less than planned two years ago, but the reduction will affect only small regional aircraft, not long-haul ones. The main production volumes will now fall in the last third of the decade, as follows from the text of the document.

Regional aircraft production

Almost the entire decrease in production volumes was accounted for by small regional aircraft, which the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) will have to supply to Russian airlines. The total number of the smallest aircraft in the program - the nine-seat Baikals (LMS-901) - will be reduced by 15 units, from the originally planned 154 to 139 aircraft. Moreover, the first five cars will be delivered to the market not in 2024, but in 2025. In 2026–2029, UZGA should deliver 25 aircraft to the market, and in 2030 - 34 vessels.

The quantity and timing of deliveries of 44-seat Ladoga aircraft (TVRS-44) are being adjusted. Instead of 140 aircraft, 105 will be delivered, and the delivery dates for the first aircraft will shift from 2025 to 2028. In 2028–2030, UZGA will have to rapidly produce 35 aircraft per year; the previous version of the program provided for a less stringent delivery schedule of 15–25 aircraft per year.

Another reduction in production volumes will affect 15-19-seat regional jets. The L-410 aircraft, the localization of which was planned by UZGA, were replaced in the program by the Russian-Belarusian project “Osvey” (LMS-192). Instead of 178 L-410 aircraft, 158 Osveevs will be produced.

RBC sent a request to the UWCA.

Amendments according to Ilyushin

The production program for the short-haul turboprop Il-114-300, designed for 64–68 passengers, is expected to be reduced.

It is being developed by PJSC IL, which is part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec). Instead of 70 aircraft, Russian civil aviation will receive 51 aircraft; the delivery dates for the first aircraft have moved from 2024 to 2026, when the first three aircraft should be produced. In 2027–2030, UAC should deliver 12 aircraft per year.

At the same time, the total number of long-range Il-96-300s will increase from 12 to 14 aircraft. The production program remains unchanged from 2025, but one aircraft has already been delivered in 2022–2023, as follows from the text of the order. The recipients of these planes are not indicated in the document.

Deadlines for long-haul aircraft

The first deliveries of import-substituted short-haul SSJ-100 for 98–103 passengers will begin not in 2023, but in 2026, when Yakovlev PJSC will have to produce 30 cars at once. In subsequent years, it is planned to produce 28 aircraft per year.

The first medium-haul MS-21-310 for 181–211 people will be delivered not in 2024, but in 2025. At the same time, in 2025–2026, Yakovlev will have to assemble 40 aircraft, which were originally planned for production during 2024–2026.

However, their total number remains unchanged: 142 SSJ-100 aircraft and 270 MS-21 airliners.

Deliveries of the Tu-214 aircraft, developed in the late 1980s, have also been adjusted. In 2024, one machine of this type will be delivered instead of seven, in 2025 - four instead of ten. But the total number of aircraft should remain unchanged - 115 aircraft.

The UAC press service said that the delivery dates for aircraft are synchronized with the supply of engines and other components under the import substitution program. “The postponement is due to the need to conduct a full-fledged flight testing program of domestic systems and assemblies to ensure the safety of passengers. The updated program provides for a “catch-up” delivery schedule,” explained a representative of the corporation.

According to him, after 2030 it is planned to produce 12 Il-114-300 aircraft annually, since “the need for this type of aircraft is quite great.”

The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the clarifications to the Comprehensive Program for the Development of the Aviation Industry until 2030 were formulated taking into account the changes in the start dates for aircraft deliveries announced in February. The schedule has been adjusted to take into account the need to ensure a short lag between the receipt of approval documents and the transfer of aircraft to customers.

“The certification and serial assembly processes are parallel. A reserve of aircraft has been formed. In particular, 16 SSJs and 12 MS-21 aircraft are in varying degrees of readiness. They will be equipped with Russian systems as they become available. We hope that this will allow, after completion of the tests, to ensure a “follow-up” schedule for the production and delivery of aircraft in order to implement the replenishment of the fleet by 2030,” explained the representative of the ministry.

She added that the change in production volumes of regional aircraft is associated with the progress of import substitution and the replacement of L-410 with Russian-Belarusian LMS-192 Osvey.

RBC's source in the aviation industry emphasizes that the burden now lies on component manufacturers. “It is extremely important that domestic manufacturers of civil aircraft are able to fully and efficiently complete the work on import substitution of engines, components and assemblies. Creating conditions for the safe transportation of passengers is a key condition for new equipment entering the market,” he believes.

AviaPort executive director Oleg Panteleev says that the change in delivery dates for MC-21 and SJ-100 is due to the need to complete certification tests of these aircraft in a completely import-substituted form. Adjustment of deadlines for smaller aircraft is associated with the synchronization of these programs with plans for the production of engines for them.

The editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal, Roman Gusarov, notes that medium- and long-haul ships account for more than 90% of passenger traffic in the country. “Despite the reduction in the new edition of the Comprehensive Program in the total number of aircraft planned for production, it did not affect the main thing - mainline aircraft. This is the segment that most worries domestic airlines, which find themselves under sanctions restrictions on foreign aircraft,” says the expert.

He considers the sequestration of regional aircraft at various stages of development to be expected. “It is important that the aircraft turn out to be reliable and economical, meeting the expectations of airlines,” added Gusarov.

https://www.rbc.ru/business/17/05/2024/66479bc29a794770b69f1820

https://aviation21.ru/superjet-stanet-yakovlevym/

Superjet will become Yakovlev
05/17/2024, 07:59

The United Aircraft Corporation will abandon the Superjet (SJ-100) name for its regional aircraft and associate it with the Yakovlev brand. About this in an interview with RBCstatedhead of Rostec Sergei Chemezov.

“Yes, we will refuse,” Chemezov answered the journalist’s question whether there are plans to move away from the English-language name. – We have it all under the Design Bureau named after. Yakovlev and, I think, that’s how it will be – “Yakovlev,” he explained.

Work on creating a Russian regional aircraft began at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in the early 2000s in collaboration with Boeing. At the beginning of March 2003, in Seattle, the leaders of Sukhoi and Boeing entered into long-term agreements, under which the concern's specialists committed themselves to provide consulting assistance and provide their intellectual property for the design, production, certification, marketing, sales, after-sales service of aircraft of the family and program management.

The aircraft received its first name Russian Regional Jet on April 13, 2001 from Boeing executive director Phil Condit. This name accompanied the project for six years, until in 2006, at the insistence of the French and Italian participants, the RRJ was renamed SSJ100, and in July 2007, Sukhoi presented the official name Sukhoi Superjet 100 at the Farnborough Air Show.

In February 2020, as part of the creation of the civil aviation division, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft JSC became part of Irkut, lost the status of a separate legal entity and received the name “Regional Aircraft” - a branch of PJSC NPK Irkut. In mid-summer 2023, UAC rebranded and the UAC Civil Division, represented by the Irkut company, was named PJSC Yakovlev.

The aircraft's certification name is Russian Regional Jet (RRJ), marketing name is Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ100), ICAO designation is SU95. Since July 2023, the imported version of the aircraft has been called SJ-100.

The LMC-192 OCVEY is the joint Russian-Belarussian aircraft.

To be assembled in Belarus.

Propelled by two VK-800 engines. So, a twin engined version of the "Baikal".
Up to 19 or 20 passengers. Will replace the Czech designed Let-410.

The restart of the Tu-324 project (at least in the business jet version) has been already planned.

The regional jet version can be done as well on piggyback.

As far as the longer Tu-404, it is more probable with a derated PD-8 than a modified, uprated and enlarged SM-100.

The first flight of the [complete substituted] imported SJ-100 is scheduled for next year, 06.07.2024.

Alikhanov: the first flight of the imported SJ-100 is scheduled for next year.

ST. PETERSBURG - RIA Novosti. The first flight of the completely import-substituted short-haul aircraft SJ-100 - with the domestic PD-8 engine - is scheduled for next year, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Anton Alikhanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“As far as I know, flight tests of the SJ-100 begin next year,” he said, answering a corresponding question.

The minister also commented on the shift in delivery dates for civil aircraft announced earlier by the Russian government.
"
“There are a number of reasons... It is clear that certification requires a fairly large amount of time, testing, and there cannot be any concessions, accelerations or exceptions, because, as my colleagues from the transport block say, these rules are often written in blood, and they must be observed," he said.

At the same time, Alikhanov emphasized that despite the postponement, the total number of mainline aircraft planned for production in the Russian Federation until 2030 will remain unchanged: production and certification processes are parallel.

https://ria.ru/20240607/samolet-1951247283.html

https://www.interfax.ru/spief2024/965432

Moscow. June 6. INTERFAX.RU - Aeroflot is discussing with PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) the transformation of an agreement for the supply of 339 domestic aircraft, company CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky said in an interview with Russia 24 as part of SPIEF-2024.

In accordance with the current agreement, by 2030 the Aeroflot group must receive 210 MS-21, 89 SSJ-NEW (import-substituted version of the Superjet 100) and 40 Tu-214 aircraft under leasing terms.

“We are now discussing the transformation of this agreement and the complete transfer of the entire fleet to MS-21, both to the basic version and to the short version that will be developed (...) We are talking about transforming all 339 aircraft into MS-21.” , - said Aleksandrovsky.

This means that the orders for tu-214 and SJ-100 will probably go to Rossiya and to Red wings (which name will probably change to Rassvet (that means Dawn) soon) which will also operate il-114

An aviation expert named the aircraft that will be replaced by the new SJ-100, by Tatyana Kosolapova for VZGLYAD. 06.10.2024.

Aviation expert Panteleev assessed the prospects of the SJ-100 after passing flight tests.

The new Superjet-100 aircraft, after successfully passing flight tests, will be able to compete with the Canadian CRJ 1000 and the Brazilian ERJ 195, Oleg Panteleev, head of the industry portal “Airport”, told the newspaper VZGLYAD, commenting on the start of flight tests of the SJ-100.

“As a rule, certification tests take more than a year, sometimes they drag on for three years. However, in this case there is no reason to believe that the tests will be delayed. Three aircraft will be involved in the flights, which will make it possible to conduct some tests in parallel,” says Panteleev.

He says that during the tests it is necessary to prove compliance with flight safety requirements of the solutions implemented on this version of the aircraft. And since the SJ-100 is being created under the program of import substitution of systems and components, the tests are primarily aimed at confirming the capabilities of the new systems.

“Direct analogues and competitors of the SJ-100 are the CRJ 1000 and ERJ 195, which were produced in Canada and Brazil. But there are almost no such cars on the Russian market. Now the main task is to satisfy the demand for 100-seat aircraft and then rejuvenate the fleet already flying in Russia,” Panteleev concluded.

Earlier, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) reported that certification flight tests of a prototype of the import substitute short-haul aircraft SJ-100 had begun.

https://vz.ru/news/2024/6/10/1272498.html

https://aviation21.ru/aleksandr-dolotovskij-o-samolyotax-s-ovalnym-secheniem-fyuzelyazha/

Alexander Dolotovsky - about aircraft with an oval fuselage section
06/13/2024

Studying the efficiency of long-haul aircraft with an oval-section fuselage is one of the tasks that specialists from the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute are working on, where aerodynamic designs of long-haul aircraft designed to transport 220-250 passengers over a range of 8000-9000 km are also being developed and compared. In our country, the idea of an aircraft with an oval fuselage is not new; the most famous of all projects can be called the EMZ aircraft. Myasishcheva. The conceptual model of the M-60 aircraft, created jointly with TsAGI, has been demonstrated more than once at the MAKS air show and foreign air shows.

General Designer of UAC for Civil Aviation, Deputy Director for Development of the Yakovlev PJSC branch - Regional Aircraft Alexander DolotovskytoldTG channel “Notes from Aircraft Manufacturers” about TsAGI’s research in the field of designing promising long-range aircraft with an oval fuselage.

“This topic has a long history; back in the 90s, Myasishchev Design Bureau studied similar layouts; there was also an idea to make a wide fuselage based on the Tu-214. In theory, the idea is attractive. The practical goal of such research is to reduce the area of the fuselage washed surface per passenger. But here we are faced with the fact that the fuselage of any aircraft is, in fact, a gas cylinder, and cylinders are always round in cross-section for a reason - this shape takes pressure loads well, and they are easy to count,” says Alexander Dolotovsky.

According to him, any fuselage that is not circular in cross-section must still be some combination of circular sections. He cites the A380 as an example, noting that it is a kind of “tribubble” with an oval fuselage in the form of a “figure eight” of two circles.

“When this “eight” is positioned horizontally, the strength requirements do not allow for optimal use of the resulting space - you will either have to place the floor exactly in the middle, or install some columns or beams to strengthen the frames, which will eat up space and add weight. In addition, with this arrangement, the fuselage itself becomes a load-bearing surface, which generates inductive resistance in addition to frictional resistance and interference with the wing and tail,” comments the UAC general designer.

Retreat. A solution to a similar problem was proposed in the mid-2010s for the Fregat Ecojet aircraft by TsAGI scientists and designers of the Rosaviaconsortium FIG OJSC. The choice of the geometry of the cross-section of the aircraft fuselage made it possible, due to the optimal distribution of material between the frames, skin, stringers and floor beams, to minimize structural deformations along the fuselage from pressurization. The proposed solution ensured their compliance with regulatory requirements for aerodynamics, while the weight of the airframe structure remained within accepted limits.

In addition, such a cross-section configuration made it possible to use in the power circuit not only cargo floor beams, which do not interfere with the placement of cargo containers and systems, but also an upper transverse beam located above the ceiling of the passenger compartment. The abandonment of vertical power struts and the transition to a structural-power scheme, which uses the floor of the passenger cabin, the floor of the cargo compartment and a ceiling beam to absorb internal pressure, ensured the required weight perfection of the aircraft.

To date, the Frigate Ecojet aircraft project has been closed and no work is being carried out on it.


“The double-deck version with a vertical oval looks more interesting - in this case there will be no problems with aerodynamics, and in terms of the weight of the structure per passenger, it potentially outperforms the horizontal “eight” and a conventional cylindrical section. But the winnings, frankly speaking, are small; we did the calculations at one time and realized that the game was not worth the candle. A gain of less than 5 percent cannot be considered as a reason to start a new program,” noted Alexander Dolotovsky.

He believes that modern aviation has already reached the limit of perfection, taking into account the technologies that are available to developers. The low-wing layout with an engine under the wing is the result of almost 100 years of evolution in aircraft development, and the next qualitative leap in development will be associated with new energy sources and new propulsors. Now it makes sense to pay attention to the issues of flight control automation.

“There is an ICAO global navigation plan, which, by the way, today lags behind the main milestones by more than 10 years around the world. And this is a serious reserve for optimizing costs, because losses from non-optimal routes today amount to approximately 15 percent, which is a lot and this is something that is worth working on, for example, introducing 4D navigation at airports,” Dolotovsky said.

At the same time, he recalled that ensuring the achieved level of aerodynamics is a real “high-tech” that requires an excellent connection of specialists from different areas of the design bureau’s work: aerodynamicists, general types, strength engineers, frame framers, technologies, as well as a connection between the design bureau’s work and production.

“Building a simple flying plane is no longer a challenge. The real challenge is to build a mass-produced aircraft with performance at the level of the best analogues. Our operators have little interest in how much innovation we have introduced into our design. They are interested in the cost of a flight hour and the complexity of maintaining the aircraft in operation. And this is the most important challenge for me. After all, client recognition is the best reward for a creator,” emphasized Alexander Dolotovsky.

They need to return to the Fregat Ekojet project

flamming_python wrote:They need to return to the Fregat Ekojet project

Yes but that was planned to be a wide body short to medium range project (from 2500 to 4500 km, less range than the typical narrow body). It can be an interesting project, but It Is a unusual niche (It would have be interesting for Japan, as the airline ANA often uses widebodies like the 787 for internal Japanese routes).

Anyway, I like it, and I would like it more with the original designation tu-304, but there are currently no modern engine available in the desired thrust range (between 18 and 23 tons of takeoff thrust). They have later presented a four engine version, but I doubt it will have success.

So either they wait for PD-18R or maybe PD 24 for the largest version, or they maybe have to hope that the modernised version of the D-18T will be good enough.

How far has the production of the Tu-214 started?
Will there be one or two more civilian aircraft coming out of the factory this year?

And what does the version with the two-man cockpit do? Is there anything to report already?

It's still too early & may take a few years fpr this plan to become a reality.
Time will tell!

https://simpleflying.com/mc-21-6-tons-heavier/

The Tu-214 may be needed to pick up the slack.

https://simpleflying.com/lessors-reach-settlement-with-aeroflot-over-stuck-aircraft/

Tsavo Lion wrote:https://simpleflying.com/mc-21-6-tons-heavier/

The Tu-214 may be needed to pick up the slack.

https://simpleflying.com/lessors-reach-settlement-with-aeroflot-over-stuck-aircraft/

A lot of BS, I it is based on a very stupid article from kommersant which was full of lies and completely missing the point.

And all of those points had already been discussed months ago and all of them had been properly refuted.

Tsavo Lion wrote:https://simpleflying.com/mc-21-6-tons-heavier/

This is a lie by Kommersant. The aircraft isn't 6 tons heavier.

Even if it's 500kg-1T over the desired weight, the performance will be worse than ideal. The tyrrany of geography is a constant in Russia.

Tsavo Lion wrote:Even if it's 500kg-1T over the desired weight, the performance will be worse than ideal. The tyrrany of geography is a constant in Russia.

We do not know if it is heavier. What is true is that Russia was able to increase the MTOW, which is the max allowable takeoff weigh, but it does not mean that the dry weight of the aircraft is higher, it could just mean that they are allowed to carry more payload or fuel.

Considering that most of the other things reported in that kommersant article, which I read months ago, are complete bullshit, we do not know anything about the performance.

I would also recommend before posting an article to check it sources, and especially avoid posting propaganda which has already been refuted in this very same thread.

AFAIK, in general, most newly designed transport aircraft anywhere have weight issues, so the MC-21 is no exception; statisticaly it would be a miracle if it didn't.