The layout usual for a military transport aircraft has been retained, but at the same time the machine has absorbed all the best from its predecessors and is equipped with the latest technology, has the ability to make a manual landing approach at airfields without radio support and load/unload military equipment autonomously using your on-board equipment.
History of creation
Design Bureau of the Aviation Complex named after. S.V. Ilyushina took up the light transport project back in the early 90s. At first, the development was financed from our own funds; in the future, it was planned to continue the program with money received from the sale of Bashkir oil. But these plans failed to be realized.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation held a competition in the spring of 2004 for the best light military transport aircraft and the Design Bureau named after. S.V. Ilyushin won this competition. In 2006, it was assumed that it would take off, and the following year, 2007, the pilot batch would be released.
The assembly of the aircraft was supposed to take place at the Voronezh Aviation Enterprise, where everything slowed down and only by 2010 it was planned to assemble a prototype aircraft, and begin serial production in 2011. It is known that at that time Serdyukov was the Minister of Defense and he was not very concerned about the state of our aviation fleet, so funding was stopped and the OKB was offered to find funds themselves to continue the project.
Only with the arrival of Sergei Shoigu as Minister of Defense, funding was resumed and the first experimental vehicle will be ready in 2017 for state tests. In the summer of 2016, the model was tested for flutter and in December of the same year it is expected to produce one flight prototype and one life-saving one for static testing.
The parent company that assembles the aircraft is the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company, fuselage parts, hatches and doors are supplied by the Aviastar-SP joint-stock company, the Klimov joint-stock company is responsible for the manufacture of TV7-117ST engines, and Aerocomposite supplies parts and components from composite materials.
Design of the light military transport aircraft Il-112V
The aerodynamic design is traditional for modern transport aircraft - it is a monoplane with a high straight trapezoidal wing, a power plant of two engines on the lower surface of the consoles and a T-shaped tail.
Effective wing mechanization consists of single-slot flaps and ailerons, one on each console. The flaps are extended using an original kinematic scheme and provide proper aerodynamics during takeoff and landing conditions.
Relatively low aerodynamic drag and sufficient controllability are ensured by the small area of the tail unit, which effectively operates in a T-shape as a result of its removal from the flow bevel when the flaps are extended.
Fuselage compared to and An-74 has an enlarged cargo compartment, allowing it to transport not only various military equipment, but also standard aviation containers for cargo on aircraft pallets. In addition, the onboard airborne transport equipment makes it possible to autonomously load and unload the aircraft using two hoists moving along one rail in the center of the cargo compartment and an electric winch at the front wall of the cargo compartment.
Standard aviation containers on pallets move along roller tracks and are secured with locks to ensure safety during emergency landings and emergency situations. The ramp and flap cover the cargo hatch; on the flap there is a hoist rail, with the help of which cargo is loaded directly from the car body.
The power plant consists of two TV7-117ST engines of increased efficiency, located on the lower surface of each console in the root part. An “emergency” power mode is provided in case of failure of one of the engines during takeoff, which is activated automatically.
NPP Aerosila has developed propellers for engines with a pulling force with a diameter of 3.9 meters and a low noise level. Later it is planned to install VK-3500 engines on the transport aircraft, developing a take-off power of 3.5 thousand hp.
The aircraft's landing gear is tricycle, the main struts are retracted by retracting upward into the fairings on the fuselage, the front one folds back into the body niche. A unique suspension design is used on the main landing gear - swinging shock absorbers.
The crew includes three people - two pilots and an airborne equipment technician. The pilots are located in the cockpit, and the technician's position is in the cargo compartment. Modern avionics and aircraft equipment allow you to fly in automatic or manual mode. To control the flight, operation of the power plant and aircraft systems, color digital displays are installed in the cockpit.
Flight technical data
- Crew - 3 people
- Maximum speed - 520 km/h
- Cruising speed - 480 km/h
- Range - 3500 km when loading 3.5 tons
- Ceiling - 7600 m
- Take-off distance - 870 m
- Landing distance length - 600 m
- Aircraft length - 23.49 m
- Aircraft height - 8.9 m
- Wing span - 25.74 m
- Empty aircraft weight - 154 tons
- Maximum take-off weight - 21 t
- Amount of fuel in tanks - 7900 l
- Fuel consumption - 500 l/h
- Engines - 2 x TV7–117ST
- Takeoff power - 2 x 2800 hp.
- Load capacity - 6 t
- Number of paratroopers - 44 people.
Video: IL-112V
What is significant about this project is that the new light military transport aircraft will be a truly Russian aircraft, all the parts and components, all the components necessary for its manufacture will be ours, domestically produced.
I would like to believe that the golden time has come for our manufacturers, allowing us to build new projects without looking to the West, without bowing to and depending on suppliers of various technologies and materials that we can and should install and produce in our country.
Il-112 is a Russian advanced light transport aircraft, which is being developed by AK im. Ilyushin. This machine was initially considered as a replacement for the morally and physically outdated An-26 transport aircraft.
Il-112 is one of the most “long-lasting” projects of the domestic aviation industry; its development began in the first half of the 90s, but currently preparations are only underway for flight testing of the machine. Production of the Il-112 is planned to be launched at the facilities of the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VASO).
If we talk about the latest news related to the IL-112, they are not particularly encouraging. At the end of January 2019, another postponement of the aircraft’s first flight was announced. Now this event is scheduled for the second half of this year. But there have already been so many delays and delays in the fate of this project that you simply refuse to believe in its successful implementation...
It is planned that the aircraft will be produced in two modifications: civil (IL-112T) and military (IL-112V). However, at present there is no talk of producing an aircraft for commercial use: for the first few years, only machines for the needs of the military department will be produced.
Back in the early 90s, studies were carried out regarding the need for a light transport aircraft. Already at that time, Russia needed approximately 300 such aircraft, and the former Soviet republics needed about 1 thousand aircraft.
IL-112: how it all began
At the end of the 80s, the Soviet army had an urgent need for a new light transport aircraft that would replace the An-26. This reliable and well-deserved machine was already considered obsolete at that time, because it took off on its first flight back in the early 70s.
Work on the new aircraft began only in the first half of the 90s at the design bureau named after. Ilyushin, who began designing the car with his own money. Initially it was a passenger aircraft with 40 seats, it was named Il-112.
When the process was already at its final stage, the OKB management found a rather original way to finance the work. The Il-Bashkiria enterprise was created, which was supposed to sell Bashkir oil and use the proceeds to complete the construction of the aircraft. Serial production of the Il-112 was planned to be launched at the Kumertau APO.
However, in those days, such schemes, as a rule, were used for banal theft. This happened this time too, so the plane was never completed.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the Russian military department became concerned about the condition of the transport aircraft fleet. It was decided to look for a replacement for the An-26. The military announced a tender in which several projects took part: M-60LVTS, MiG-110, Tu-136T and Il-112V.
As a result, the Ilyushin project was declared the winner, this was officially announced in April 2004. And in May of the following year, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Military Transport Aviation, General Denisov, told reporters that the first flight of the new aircraft would take place in 2006. In 2007, the Voronezh Aircraft Plant planned to create an initial batch of aircraft, and then begin mass production at a rate of 18 aircraft per year. The first vehicles were supposed to enter service with the troops in 2010.
The military promised that funding for the Il-112 would be taken into account in the State Armaments Program. It seemed that everything was going well for the plane, and the path to the sky was open for it...
In 2010, everything was ready at VASO for the start of production; the equipment and stocks were prepared. The plan was to build four prototypes, two for flight testing and two for static testing. However, the plane itself was not yet there at that time - the deadlines, as often happens, were delayed. In this situation, it was the general contractor of the project, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, who gave the “back”. Funding for the work was completely suspended, and the developers were asked to complete the project using their own money. For this, 800 million rubles were needed.
In May 2011, the military completely abandoned the Il-112, instead announcing the purchase of seven Ukrainian An-140 aircraft. In the summer of 2011, the assembly of the head prototype was stopped...
The rebirth of the Il-112 aircraft
A year later, Serdyukov was replaced as Minister of Defense by Shoigu and the Il-112 was remembered again. Already in 2013, the Russian Air Force command presented a rationale for resuming the project. And in June of the same year, AK them. Ilyushin sent an application to develop a new engine for the Il-112. A little later, the management of the design bureau announced the official resumption of work. The contract for the supply of Ukrainian An-140s was terminated.
True, aircraft manufacturers once again had to start everything from scratch: by purging the aircraft mock-up and modernizing the VASO workshops to produce a new aircraft. It cost the Russian budget 1.3 billion rubles...
At the end of 2014 at AK named after. Ilyushin was informed about the conclusion of an official contract with the Ministry of Defense for the development of the Il-112V transport aircraft. The next two years were spent on preparatory work and testing of models, and only by the end of 2016 the first fuselage of the aircraft was manufactured at the Voronezh aircraft plant.
It was originally planned that the flight of the first Il-112V would take place in 2017, and mass production of the vehicle would begin in 2019. It was assumed that the Ministry of Defense would purchase approximately 18 aircraft per year, but then the figure was revised downward.
However, this time the deadlines were missed. In 2017, the first flight did not take place, and at the MAKS-2017 air show it was announced that this event would be postponed to the first half of next year. Sources familiar with the progress of work report that delays are due to the poor quality of project documentation and a large number of errors in the drawings.
In 2017, new plans for the production of Il-112 were announced - aircraft manufacturers plan to produce 300 aircraft over the next few years. Such figures, of course, sound encouraging, however, serious doubts arise about VASO’s ability to cope with such a volume of work.
Why is IL-112 needed?
As mentioned above, the Il-112 aircraft was originally developed to replace the outdated An-26. Like its predecessor, the Il-112 will be able to operate at small, poorly equipped airfields, both with concrete and dirt airfield surfaces. A military modification of the vehicle will be able to provide landing of personnel and military equipment.
By the way, in this respect, the Il-112 is significantly superior to the Ukrainian An-140, which does not have a ramp and is therefore not at all suitable for transporting military equipment and large cargo. So the contract for the supply of these aircraft looks strange, to say the least...
The IL-112 will be capable of flying in all weather conditions, day and night. Use airfields that are poorly prepared in radio technical terms.
Compared to the An-26, the new Russian transport aircraft has a more powerful power plant, higher cruising speed, flight range and maximum altitude. With the same volume of the cargo compartment of the Il-112, it is taller and wider; another advantage is that the crew is reduced to two people.
In general, the airframe, power plant, and avionics of the Il-112 are superior to the An-26, which, in fact, is not surprising - after all, the Antonov aircraft was developed almost half a century ago. Modern materials are widely used in the design of the Ilyushin aircraft; its engines are almost two and a half times higher than the An-26 engines in terms of fuel efficiency. A number of “secret” systems will be installed on the military modification of the Il-112, so the vehicle will not be sold abroad. Most likely, we are talking about a communications system and a complex to counter anti-aircraft missiles.
True, a number of experts believe that the IL-112, the development of which began almost twenty years ago, is outdated. And the tasks that will be assigned to it can be easily handled, for example, by a Mi-38 helicopter.
Description of the aircraft design
The IL-112 is a high-wing aircraft designed according to the classic aerodynamic design with a T-shaped tail and retractable landing gear. The vehicle's power plant consists of two TV7-117ST turboprop engines. The aircraft crew is two people.
Most of the length of the fuselage is occupied by a pressurized cargo compartment with a living compartment, a ramp and two emergency exits.
The aircraft wing is made according to a two-spar design with spars and ribs of a beam structure.
The IL-112 has a tail unit consisting of a vertical empennage and a horizontal stabilizer of a two-spar design mounted on it.
The five-wheel retractable landing gear allows the aircraft to be operated on soils with a density of 6 kg/sq.cm.
Technical characteristics of the Il-112 aircraft
- Crew, people: 2;
- Passenger capacity, people: 44;
- Load capacity, t: 6;
- Max. take-off weight, t: 21;
- Engine power, l. pp.: 2800;
- Max. speed, km/h: 550;
- Cruising speed, km/h: 480;
- Practical range (max. load), km: 1000;
- Practical ceiling, m: 7600.
Production of two more Il-112V aircraft has been launched in Voronezh. This was announced by the General Director of PJSC "Il" Yuri Grudinin.
JSC "ODK-STAR" supplied experimental units intended for installation on the TV7-117ST engines of the newest military transport aircraft Il-112 V. Created in the interests of the air force and having the prospect of mass production, the Russian aircraft of the new type Il-112 V flew first flight March 30, 2019.
Entirely consisting of Russian components and designed as part of import substitution The SAU-65ST automatic control and fuel supply system was developed using modern design solutions, which made it possible to increase the reliability of the units in accordance with the declared characteristics of the TV7-117ST engine developed and produced by the St. Petersburg company JSC "ODK-Klimov": at maximum take-off mode, the engine power is 3100 hp. s., in increased emergency mode - 3600 hp.
Currently, UEC-STAR JSC has also created a modernized version of the SAU-65ST
Video from youtube.com/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/4TG4EnqOM_4
The light military transport aircraft Il-112V made its first flight.
On March 30, the first prototype of the light military transport aircraft Il-112 V, built under a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, took off from the runway of the airfield of the aircraft manufacturing enterprise PJSC VASO (part of the UAC Transport Aviation Division).
This was reported by the press service of PJSC Il.
“Permission for the first flight of the military transport Il-112V has been received,” the press service reported.
On November 27, at the Voronezh aircraft manufacturing enterprise PJSC VASO (part of the UAC Transport Aviation Division), the procedure for transferring the first flight model of the Il-112 V to the flight test station (FLS) took place.
At LIS VASO, Il PJSC specialists will carry out the entire complex of so-called airfield testing of a promising light military transport aircraft. Based on the results, a conclusion will be given on the readiness of the IL-112 V for the first flight.
The Il-112V light military transport aircraft, capable of carrying a maximum load of 5 tons, is designed to transport soldiers, military equipment, various types of weapons and other cargo. The vehicle is being created to replace the An-26 and An-24 turboprops. It is planned to be produced in two modifications: for civil aviation (Il-112T) and military transport aviation (Il-112V). Earlier it was reported that the military intends to order 62 vehicles.
Preparations continue for the newest light military transport aircraft Il-112V for its first flight. So specialists from the Transport Aviation Division of the United Aircraft Corporation began testing the systems installed on board the first prototype flight model. The official website of KB "Ilyushin" reports this.
The flight prototype of the promising light military transport aircraft Il-112V successfully passed the first test for the tightness and moisture resistance of the fuselage at the manufacturing plant VASO (Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company PJSC, part of the Transport Aviation Division of United Aircraft Corporation PJSC).
Currently, installation work in the cockpit is being completed. Deliveries to the plant of all main units of navigation and other experimental equipment have been completed. Starting next week, full-scale work on its development will begin.
The Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company (VASO) is manufacturing the first flight model of the Il-112V aircraft, developed by the Aviation Complex named after. S.V. Ilyushin. Around the New Year, it is planned to complete assembly and begin ground testing in order to get the aircraft into the air by next summer. In addition, to ensure the first flight, stands are being built on which various systems and assemblies will be tested. Testing of aerodynamic models of the Il-112V aircraft in TsAGI tubes has been completed.
Air "Gazelle"
“These planes are airborne GAZelles,” says Il-112V chief designer (Il company) Sergei Lyashenko. “In terms of their class and purpose, they only belong to military transport aviation, but they perform tasks mainly within military districts. Il-112V aircraft are designed to perform logistics support tasks at small, including poorly equipped airfields with both concrete and unpaved runways. In wartime, they can also provide airborne landings of light weapons, military equipment and personnel.”
Currently, the Russian Aerospace Forces operate about 140 light military transport aircraft (LVTS) - An-26 and its modifications. In total, from 1969 to 1986, about 1,150 such aircraft were produced, of which more than 600 are in operation around the world. However, they have almost exhausted their service life. That's why they needed a replacement.
In 2014, a contract was signed with the Russian Ministry of Defense for development work on the Il-112V. In 2015, the IL company defended the technical design, and in 2016, all the documentation transferred to the VASO manufacturing plant was released. It is planned that the final assembly of the first flight Il-112V will be completed at the beginning of 2017. By the middle of next year, the cycle of workshop and airfield development should be completed. “The work is being carried out according to the adjustment schedule, in accordance with the terms of the government contract. The schedule provides for the lifting of the first prototype Il-112V in mid-2017. The work is proceeding strictly according to this document,” says Dmitry Savelyev, director of the IL-112 program directorate at the IL company.
The IL-112V project had a number of features. As Sergei Lyashenko said, documentation for the new aircraft was issued in two formats at once - in the usual paper and digital. “We made mathematical 3D models, but there was a drawing nearby,” explained the chief designer of the aircraft. “This documentation was transferred to VASO in this package.” We must also not forget that the main cooperators of VASO - Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SP and Kazan KAPO-Composite - have already switched to “digital”, and they are no longer given anything “in paper”.
Another innovation of the project was the immediate production of virtually serial equipment for the production of Il-112V. “Previously, to assemble the first flight model, experimental, disposable equipment was made,” says Dmitry Savelyev. “Now it is done once and for all, for series.”
Test stands
To test systems, units and equipment, confirm their characteristics, and ensure aircraft safety, 22 stands are being created. Ten of them are first flight stands; without them, the first flight model of the Il-112V would not be able to take off. Five stands are located at the Il company, the rest are located at co-executing enterprises.
One of the stands located at the IL company is the KSU stand or control system stand. The Experimental Machine-Building Plant named after. V. M. Myasishchev and OKB Aerospace Systems in Dubna. It is planned that tests will begin on it by the end of the year. Another stand associated with the control system is the flap rolling stand. The release and cleaning of mechanization is practiced there. Another “Ilyushin” stand is a BUR for testing an emergency recorder. It is used to test the “black box”, all its parameters that it will record from takeoff to landing.
“The SES stand is being built by our colleagues in Dubna,” says Dmitry Savelyev. – All units of the power supply system will be installed on it. Before the aircraft is lifted, all the basic parameters of the electrical load, basic processes, and schedules for turning on and off systems and equipment will be worked out at this stand to avoid overloads and overheating of circuits.
In cooperation with the Center for Scientific and Technical Services "Dynamics" in Zhukovsky, technical training aids (TSO) are being created, among which, at the first stage, an experimental test bench should be built for testing and testing, including the flight characteristics of the Il-112V aircraft . The center makes technical training equipment for the IL-112V: a procedural simulator, a complex simulator and a training classroom. Training aids must be supplied with the aircraft to retrain the operator's flight crews.
... and aerodynamic models
As part of the program for creating the Il-112V aircraft, aerodynamic models were purged according to the list agreed with TsAGI. 6 models were produced. The first complete aerodynamic model of the aircraft, number “108”, the so-called preliminary one, was made at VASO on a scale of 1:24. Upon completion of the purging of this model, TsAGI recommendations for improving the aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft were taken into account to ensure the achievement of the declared aerodynamic quality; the model was finalized at the Ilyushin production facility. The modified 108 model was blown again at the first design stage and the results obtained confirmed that the level of aerodynamic quality had been achieved. After the technical design was defended, when the aircraft configuration was “frozen,” the model became an executive model and fully corresponds to the Il-112V aircraft. Next, purging of the executive model, which is the main one, was carried out, completed in December 2015.
In the process of this work, all aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft were determined and confirmed, including the effectiveness of the wing mechanization and controls, as well as the influence of the wing airflow from the propellers.
The obtained data were compiled into a bank of aerodynamic characteristics, which is an integral part of the mathematical model of the aircraft movement (not to be confused with the 3D model of the aircraft) and presented to the Customer. After this, the stability and controllability characteristics of the aircraft were calculated in all expected operating conditions, and the developed mathematical model was installed on the TsAGI flight stand. Il pilots completed the flights and highly appreciated the flight characteristics of the future aircraft.
In April of this year, the purging of the isolated “tail” and the isolated “half-wing” was completed, on which the hinge moments of the elevator, ailerons and rudder were determined, including in icing conditions. The results of the purges confirmed that the control forces on the control levers correspond to the normalized ones.
Also in April, purging of the corkscrew model and the propeller model were completed. It was shown that the aircraft is reluctant to enter and exit a spin using a standard method, which will ensure flight safety when tested at high angles of attack. The plane tends to lower its nose, so most likely we will not install an anti-spin parachute.
“The “corkscrew model” must be blown through,” says Olga Kruglyakova. – Her number is 2408. It makes it clear how quickly the plane goes into a spin, and what methods can be used to get it out of there. These purges gave us a fairly favorable result - the IL-112V is very reluctant to enter a spin and recover from it using the standard method. Therefore, most likely, we will do without an anti-spin parachute during flight tests.”
A semi-natural AB-112 propeller was also blown to confirm the calculated thrusts guaranteed by the Aerosila company. This work was completed at the end of April 2016. A flutter model developed by strength engineers at the Il company was also tested.
Project vertical
For VASO, mastering a new product became a kind of exam. Over the course of its long history, the enterprise will once again consolidate its status as a finalist plant and will join the number of aircraft that have rolled off the Voronezh stocks in different years. In connection with the change in the structure of the UAC, a number of innovations are currently being introduced at VASO to improve the project management system. In June 2016, UAC President Yuri Slyusar approved a new structure of the corporation, which clearly expresses project orientation. In practice, this means that vice presidents, subordinate to the program management directorates, are now responsible for the implementation of UAC programs.
The Il-112V program at UAC is supervised by Vice President for Civil and Transport Aviation Vladislav Masalov. The corporation has formed a directorate for the IL-112V program, and Sergei Artyukhov has been appointed its director. At each industrial cooperation enterprise, starting with the main developer of the aircraft, the IL company, working groups or directorates have in turn been created. Along this vertical, the entire Il-112V program will be managed through the UAC directorate. Each level - UAC, subsidiary or dependent company - will receive its own sector of responsibility and authority to make decisions aimed at adjusting deadlines and budget.
“Without false modesty, it should be said that in this regard, VASO is a little ahead of its colleagues,” says Alexander Bykov, director of the VASO project management department. “We have all the infrastructure ready to implement this area of work. A project office has been formed, the composition of the working group has been approved, on the basis of which a directorate for managing the IL-112V program can be created.” While not yet having UAC regulatory documents, VASO, however, has already begun to work out mechanisms of interaction between the management company and the cooperators on the Il-112V project - the companies KAPO-Composite and Aviastar-SP. The Voronezh team developed a unified end-to-end schedule and began procedures for transferring reporting to the aircraft customer.
The IL-112V project has become a new challenge for VASO designers and technologists. Of the total array of design documentation, approximately half is available in the form of electronic models, the rest are drawings on paper and mathematical models for them. “The wing, tail, and engine nacelle were received in electronic form,” says Vyacheslav Belyakin, deputy technical director for the IL-112V project. – Documentation for the fuselage, some of the systems were received in traditional paper form. When serial production of the vehicle begins, Il company specialists will have to provide us with all the design documentation in electronic form.”
Of course, VASO already had experience working in digital technology, since the production of units for the MS-21 project was based on 3D models. The difficulties arose were purely psychological: development, launch, design, manufacturing - all these processes were based not on drawings, but on computer models of components and assemblies. If previously a technologist compiled a technical process using drawings, now, due to the lack of paper, he needs to prepare sketch maps and measurement maps for the technical process. In addition, there were not enough specialists. In addition, certain difficulties arose when working with digital models in the Teamcenter system.
The budget included funds for staff expansion in a timely manner. And targeted work to attract the Il-112V project is already yielding results: since the beginning of 2016, 62 new employees have been hired in the department of the chief technologist. The ranks of technologists were replenished by both novice specialists who came from the university bench and experienced workers.
Today, the Il-112V aircraft is given priority attention in all VASO workshops involved in the project. Where necessary, work is organized in two or three shifts. Pre-production is running at full capacity. After wing production was assigned to VASO in 2015, localization of production at the Voronezh site amounted to 86.88 percent. VASO is responsible for the production of fuselage compartments, wings, empennage, engine nacelle, joining of units, final assembly, painting and carrying out a set of tests.
Cooperation
“More than 50 organizations are involved in cooperation on the IL-112V. About 80 contracts have been concluded with them for the experimental product alone. The aircraft is completely Russian, with full import substitution,” says Dmitry Savelyev, director of the Il-112V program at the Il company.
VASO has two main cooperators on the Il-112V project - Aviastar-SP and KAPO-Composite. The Kazan company is assigned to supply brake flaps, spoilers, flap rail fairings, wing tail panels, aileron panels, elevator trimmers and rudders. And with Ulyanovsk, which supplies fuselage panels, hatches and doors to VASO, Voronezh aircraft manufacturers are already in close production relations. The first set of fuselage panels for the first aircraft has been received from Ulyanovsk. The assembly of the F-3 compartment has been completed, the assembly of the F-2 and F-1 compartments is underway. Delivery of hatches and doors is scheduled for September 2016.
“Assembling the first cars, as a rule, is more difficult than serial ones,” says Vyacheslav Belyakin. – And there were questions about the first units we received from Ulyanovsk. I must say that the Ulyanovsk residents responded promptly. Specialists arrived at VASO and eliminated all our comments. I think that the units for the next machines will not raise quality issues.” In order to coordinate the work of cooperators and promptly resolve all emerging issues, specialists were hired in Kazan and Ulyanovsk. They locally monitor the progress of the production process and, if necessary, provide consultations to VASO employees.
Another important cooperator of the Il-112V project is one of the leading Russian developers of gas turbine engines, the St. Petersburg company Klimov. It is developing the TV7-117ST engine for the aircraft. “The engine for the Il-112V is from the TV7-117 engine family,” says Sergei Lyashenko. – This line was originally created for both airplanes and helicopters. At first, they started making an aircraft modification at Klimov, but the helicopter version appeared first. Now, according to the technical specifications for the Il-112V, a new aircraft version is being made using the developments obtained when creating a helicopter version of the engine. We have signed a contract for the engine. There will also be a gradual achievement of the required characteristics. Their deadlines are linked to ours.”
At the start of the series
The result of the efforts of hundreds of specialists is now concentrated in the stocks of VASO. It's a busy time for factory aggregators. “A total of twenty people are now working on the assembly of all the compartments,” says Yu.N., head of the unit assembly production at VASO. Shestakov. “As the volume of work increases, the number will increase accordingly.” Of course, assembly is not without difficulties that are inevitable at the stage of mastering a new product. For example, there are issues with the molding of the lower wing panel at the Voronezh mechanical production plant. They are considered and resolved jointly by technologists and designers of VASO and Il. “The difficulty, I would say, is only in one thing: the aircraft is experimental, and its production time is serial,” says Shestakov. “But it’s okay, we’re coping, and we’ll try to do everything right and on time.” By the end of the year, we must manufacture the aircraft frame - the fuselage and wing - and transfer it to the pre-assembly shop. At the same time, we have a lot of young people who are still gaining experience. Young girls-technologists, guys-masters, of whom there are now more than half in the same workshop No. 38. But their eyes are burning, they are interested. They have never launched new products before. When the first pylon for MS-21 was made, both workers and engineering specialists came out. You could feel how proud they were of what they did. One can only imagine their feelings when we make the Il-112V.”
The birth of the aircraft and VASO specialists, capable of essentially reaching the level of modern challenges facing the domestic aviation industry, is happening simultaneously today. This is difficult, but it also gives hope that the Voronezh Aviation Plant, as in previous years, will produce the latest aircraft for various purposes and maintain its worthy position in the industry.
Great prospects
Under the contract for development work, two aircraft will be built at VASO. The first will be used in flight tests. The second aircraft will be a resource aircraft for testing at TsAGI. “According to the rules, the first aircraft must be manufactured for static testing, the second for flight testing, and the third for endurance testing,” clarifies Sergei Lyashenko. “But due to limited funds and tight deadlines, we will give a preliminary load on the first flight to allow you to fly.” The second, resource aircraft is also a combination aircraft. It will first “pump up” the resource that will allow the first aircraft to fly for 2,500 hours of testing. After this, the same instance will be converted into a static one, and it will be “broken.” But the question is that these two prototypes, manufactured under the OKR contract, do not allow all tests to be fully carried out within the given time frame. Therefore, it is proposed to transfer the first two aircraft from the pilot batch to Il for use in testing. Negotiations are currently underway with the customer on this issue.”
The Il-112V project has attracted close attention from both the future operator, the Russian Ministry of Defense, and federal departments, in particular, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. This was stated during a meeting in Voronezh by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. He also announced the plans of the Russian Ministry of Defense for the Il-112V - the Russian military department intends to sign a contract for serial production of 48 transport aircraft in 2017. “According to this contract,” says A.I. Bykov, - two production aircraft with serial numbers 0103 and 0104 will be used in development work from 2019.
This is done to reduce the implementation time of the development work. Thus, four aircraft will be involved in carrying out the entire range of ground and flight tests scheduled for 2020, taking into account those already stockpiled at VASO.”
The release of a batch of experimental aircraft, and then the Il-112V series, is based on the improvement of all links in the production chain: organizational, technological, and intellectual. Information about the new transport aircraft is already spreading around the world. Potential customers began to take an interest in him. “For the first time, supplies under government orders within the country are being considered,” says Sergei Lyashenko. – All An-26s, including special variants, their operators want to replace. There are about one and a half hundred of them in the Air Force alone. This is also the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB border service, the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Everyone needs a business jet. Recently, a private company approached us. He also wants to replace about 10-12 of his aircraft. Therefore, I hope the IL-112V has great prospects.”
Personal file: IL-112V
The Il-112V light military transport aircraft is designed to transport and carry a wide range of cargo, including various types of weapons, military equipment and personnel. The Il-112 will replace the An-26 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The possibility of automatic landing at categorized airfields according to the ICAO category II minimum and manual approach to poorly equipped and radio-unequipped airfields is provided.
The length of the aircraft will be 24.15 m, height 8.89 m, wingspan 27.6 m, fuselage diameter 3.29 m. The power plant will be two TV7-117ST engines with a maximum power of 3,500 hp. pp., equipped with AB-112 propellers. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft will be 21 tons, the maximum payload will be 5 tons. The Il-112V will have a cruising speed of 450-500 km/h. Its maximum flight altitude is 7,600 m, and its flight range with a payload of 3.5 tons is 2,400 km.
The developer of the Il-112V is the Aviation Complex named after. S.V. Ilyushin, the final assembly of the aircraft will be carried out at VASO. In December 2014, VASO began preparations for putting into production prototypes of the Il-112V aircraft.
The Il-112V light military transport aircraft is designed for transportation and airdropping (by parachute) of light weapons and military equipment, cargo and personnel and is intended to replace the fleet of obsolete An-26 aircraft.
The work is being carried out in accordance with the state contract for development work on the creation of a light military transport aircraft Il-112V, concluded between the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and JSC Aviation Complex named after. NE. Ilyushin", part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The terms of the contract provide for the construction of two prototypes of the aircraft - one for flight testing and one for strength testing.
This is the first prototype of the Il-112V, the construction of which is carried out at VASO according to the design documentation developed by the Aviation Complex named after. S.V. Ilyushin. It is planned that the entire airframe of the aircraft will be docked by the end of February 2017 (wing attachment and installation of the tail), after which the installation of engines, systems and equipment will begin. The first flight of the Il-112V is planned for the summer of 2017.
Director of the Il-112 program at the Aviation Complex named after. Ilyushina Dmitry Savelyev: “As you can see, the first flight model of the Il-112V was recently removed from the general assembly slipway in order to complete off-site work and transfer it to the final assembly shop for installation of the wing and the start of installation of all aircraft systems. The layout of the airliner is planned to be completed in February 2017, then the installation of systems and airfield testing will begin, which will end in May. For the first flight, frequency tests will be carried out - this is a check of the natural vibrations of the fuselage and control system, as well as power calibration of the first aircraft for strength in order to ensure the lifting of this aircraft at the end of June 2017. Here in Voronezh we plan to make about five flights, and then fly to Zhukovsky, and there we will begin preliminary tests within the framework of the agreed flight program, followed by transfer to state tests in February 2018.
Here you see the parts of the second aircraft for strength and life tests, which will be placed in the vacated assembly slipway. This board is coming out in August next year, we are transferring it to TsAGI for testing, which will last until 2020. In order for the aircraft to enter production, it is necessary to conduct a cycle of factory and government tests. In general, our contract ends by 2020, but we can talk about manufacturing an installation batch no earlier than mid-2018. In principle, our equipment was not initially made as experimental equipment, but was intended for mass production. The issue of producing from 8 to 12 aircraft per year is now being considered.”
Since the aircraft is a military transport, it will be equipped with a hydromechanical control system. The flight and navigation complex meets all modern requirements. Also, defensive means will be installed to protect the aircraft from portable ground weapons such as Strela and Igla, as well as defense against air-to-air missiles. This is a fairly modern Ekran complex.
Simultaneously with the work on the fuselage, the manufacturing of the first Il-112V wing is being completed in the adjacent workshop. The one-piece upper and lower wing panels, elements of the power set, and the wing toe are laid in the slipway. This is the most interesting and surprising part of the project. For the first time in Russia, a “monowing” is being produced for a transport aircraft, instead of two separate consoles, which are usually attached to the center section. In this design there is no center section at all. The wing is attached from above to the eyes on two power frames using special fasteners and braces.
Element for attaching the wing to the fuselage
The design of the Il-112V uses only Russian-made parts and components. Several dozen enterprises are involved in production cooperation. For example, the Ulyanovsk aircraft manufacturing plant Aviastar-SP produces fuselage panels, hatches and doors for the Il-112V, and the Kazan enterprise KAPO-Composite produces brake flaps, spoilers, flap rail fairings, elevator and rudder trimmers, and other parts from composite materials. Since digital documentation was developed for the Il-112V, all the parts, including those received from other enterprises, fit almost perfectly onto the first aircraft, which surprised the factory workers quite a bit. The docking of the fuselage of the first prototype took place in a record time for the enterprise - two days.
The wing will be attached to these eyes on the power frames
Working in a paperless digital format also implies the use of modern electronic visualization and information systems. For this purpose, special terminals were developed at the Voronezh State Technical University, allowing workers to receive all the necessary information, and with which assembly shops are equipped. In a single information window, all the necessary documentation is in electronic form: 3D models, drawings, interactive documentation on assembly processes. Literally 3 button presses, and the worker receives documentation on this unit, 3D objects, sees the technical process - the sequence of assembly of parts. If necessary, the desired picture or specification can be printed on the printer built into the terminal.
The touch screen allows you to rotate 3D models and zoom in on objects. I looked at the technical process and assembly sketch on the screen, unfolded a specific unit and went to install it. All terminals are linked into one information center. If changes have been made to the design, this is all recorded in the electronic documentation of each board. This simplifies further operation - you dial the number of the aircraft and the part that has failed, and you receive all the necessary information. Or if a part must be replaced after a specific time, the operator will also have such a system that will inform him about the service life and provide him with all the necessary information. A request is automatically sent to the technical center, and the plant receives an order for its production. Thus, production and the life cycle management system are connected together.
Wing assembly
The aircraft's propulsion system will be powered by two TV7-117ST turboprop engines developed by Klimov JSC with a power of 3,500 hp. with AV-112 propellers developed by JSC NPGT Aerosila. At the moment, the first engine has been manufactured, which was installed on a test bench in St. Petersburg on September 15. At the moment, it has passed acceptance tests and is now being disassembled to assess its technical condition. Assembly of flight engines will begin in January 2017 to ensure delivery of engines to Voronezh at the end of February. The installation of engines is planned for the second half of March.
.JPG)
TV7-117ST engine on the test bench of JSC Klimov in St. Petersburg
Aviation complex named after. S.V. Ilyushina expects that the signing of a state contract for the supply of serial Il-112V aircraft for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation may take place in 2017. The intention of the military department to conclude this contract was previously repeatedly stated by Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov. According to his estimates, the military department's need for aircraft of this class is at least 35 units. The Il-112V light military transport aircraft may be offered for export.
The IL-112V must solve the tasks assigned to it in various geographical and climatic conditions, day and night, in simple and difficult weather conditions. The aircraft is equipped with modern on-board radio-electronic equipment, which, in addition to the effective solution of assigned tasks, provides the possibility of an automatic approach to categorized airfields at a minimum of ICAO category II and a manual approach to airfields that are poorly equipped in terms of radio technology.
Loading...
