Chinese investors recently signed a “framework agreement” with Russia’s ministry for development of eastern regions (MinVostokRazvitia) to establish a new assembly line in the Russian city of Komsomolsk-upon-Amur for Xian Aircraft’s MA-60 turboprop.
Timed to coincide with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing last September, the deal involves a partnership between Xian Aircraft and the Jiangsu Baoli International Investment company to help fund the production of 50 aircraft a year.
This aircraft is oriented for export into 16 countries, including Russia,” said Alexander Galushka, Russia’s minister for eastern development. Plans call for building a production line in the TOR Komsomolsk industrial zone.
The Chinese investors–represented in Beijing by Xian chairman Fang Yunfeng and Jiangsu Baoli president Zhou Dehong–expect to spend $100 million on the project.
According to Zhou, the project calls for two phases of development, the first involving final assembly followed by gradual localization of
parts production.
The MA-60 “Modern Ark” is a regional turboprop based on the 48-seat Antonov An-24, whose more-than-1,000-unit production run ended in 1979. Since 2000, Xian has assembled about 80 Modern Arks, including a handful of 60-seat MA-600s powered by U.S.-made Pratt & Whitney PW127J turboprop engines and featuring Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics, also from the U.S.
The Chinese investors believe ailing Russian airlines could afford to replace their outdated An-24/26s withMA-60s. “The decrease in the value of the ruble to other currencies has led to notable changes in the economic conditions in Russia, making them more favorable to foreign investors,” Galushka said.
Officials see the MA-60 as an alternative to the now stalled Rostec-Bombardier plan to build Q400s turboprops in Russia, following the imposition of Canadian sanctions due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged military support of Ukrainian separatists.
Russian aerospace conglomerate UAC has also urged the Kremlin to provide funds for the 64-seat Ilyushin Il-114-300, but the government now finds itself short of cash as a result of the economic slump in Russia. Meanwhile, the inability of the Russian aerospace industry to produce competitive turboprops in sufficient numbers has encouraged Chinese manufacturers to develop competing products aimed at a market expected to generate demand for 400 units.
MA-700 Designed for Russia
At last year’s MAKS’2015 airshow in Moscow, the 19-seat Xian Y-12F, powered by P&WC PT6A-65B engines, flew daily, and its manufacturer appointed FlyAvia to be the official dealer in Russia and the CIS.
China’s AVIC also displayed a mockup of the new MA-700, a 78- to 86-seat turboprop described as a “100 percent a new development.”
In fact, the next step in the unfolding Chinese campaign to capture the Russian market for regional turboprops involves the MA-700. AVIC offers eight cabin layout options, the most condensed of which offers seating of 86 with a 28-inch pitch. A 78-seat version offers a 32-inch pitch, while the standard factory layout shows four business and 68 economy-class seats. The cabin has all-LED lighting and offers a ceiling height of 1.97 meters (6.5 feet) and maximum width of 2.618 meters (8.64 feet). A four-abreast arrangement in the fuselage cross section allows for 17.3-inch-wide seats.
Noise level peaks at 83dB(A) and sound interference level (SIL) inside the cabin measures less than 65dB.AVIC calls the 100-foot-long MA-700 the next step in the evolution of Chinese turboprop designs, with a “focus on the 800 kilometer [432 nautical mile] short- and medium-range air transportation market.” Gross weight totals 27.7 metric tons (61,068 pounds) and maximum payload is 8.6 metric tons (18,960 pounds), while “standard range” extends to 1,700 kilometers (917 nautical miles). Takeoff and landing runs are less than 1,310 meters (4,323 feet) and service ceiling is 7,620 meters (25,000 feet).
A high-wing turboprop with a T-tail empennage and retractable tricycle landing gear, the MA-700 features integrated modular avionics (IMA) and a fly-by-wire flight control system. The cockpit mockup shows fourMFDs with large color LCDs, an electronic flight bag on the left- and right sides and yoke-style flight controls. Designers achieved a high lift-to-drag ratio with the airplane’s high-aspect-ratio, 92-foot-span wings, complete with upward-curved wingtips.
The MA-700 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW150C“next generation engines with newly designed propellers.” The combination of advanced aerodynamics and modern engines should result in an 8- to-10-percent fuel burn reduction compared with in-service Western designs, according to AVIC.
Fuel burn with 78 passengers totals 21.6 grams per seat-kilometer on a typical 600-kilometer (324 nautical mile) trip and 20.0 grams per seat-kilometer for a 1,200-kilometer (648 nautical mile) mission. In the latter case fuel burn totals 1,870 kilograms (4,122 pounds).
The IMA, along with other technical innovations, promises to decrease maintenance costs by 15 percent, according to AVIC. The company has set a target of dispatch reliability at 99.5 percent and turnaround time at “below 20 minutes.” Intervals for A and C checks stand at 600 and 4,800 flight hours.
Other design targets include maximum cruise speed (at 6,000 meters or 19,800 feet) of 630 kilometers per hour (340 knots), economy cruise speed of 550- to 580 kilometers per hour (297 to 313 knots) and single-engine ceiling of 5,690 meters (18,777 feet).
The design calls for short-runway capability even at field elevations of 4,000 meters (13,200 feet) above sea level. Ambient operating temperatures range from -55 to +55 degrees Celsius. Commercial airlines operate in temperatures as cold as -55 degrees C only in Russia’s Yakutia region, leading to the conclusion that MA-700 designers had the Russian market firmly in mind when designing their airplane.
(Culled from ainonline.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment