A new multifunctional biplane TVS-2TDS is going to replace the famous An-2 maize aircraft. Will he be able to become just as successful?
The Russian Federation, with its large latitudes, underdeveloped transport infrastructure to remote settlements of the North and the Far East, vitally needs a light, cheap and structurally simple plane. Analogue of An-2, but with modern equipment and devices.
Unfortunately, the An-3, a modified version of the An-2, which had good expectations, including export ones, did not become widespread. The plane had to be born in difficult post-Soviet times, and in the main, thus, it turned out to be unnecessary.
But in the Siberian Scientific Research Institute of Aviation named after S.A. Chaplygin (SibNIA) decided to go even further, and besides replacing engines with modified (improved) engines to carry out the deepest modernization of the aircraft, which received the name TVS-2MS.
Since the national economy of the USSR ceased to exist, it was necessary to save a lot, therefore, to reduce the cost of operating the aircraft. This first of all caused the need to replace the old ASh-62IR engine with a more economical turboprop power plant - a US Honeywell TPE-331-12 engine with a capacity of 1100 horsepower. The new engine not only had a longer service life, was easier and cheaper to maintain, but also consumed 10% less fuel, while at the same time inexpensive kerosene.
The developers decisively abandoned the archaic fabric covering of the wings, preferring composite materials. This made it possible to make both wings tightly coupled, improve aerodynamic characteristics and place additional 3500 liters of fuel tanks in the wings. This led to the fact that the glider became stronger, and the flight range increased by 1.5 times in comparison with the An-2.
Along the way, the chassis was strengthened, and in general TVS-2MS came out more "stronger" than its famous predecessor.
The first flight of TVS-2MS was performed on September 5, two thousand and eleven, but later, like any other aircraft of Russian design, a string of various postponements, approvals, changes to the project, and so on farther. This had the worst effect on the timing of the start of mass production of the machine. At the same time, the An-2, which had exhausted its resource, were taken out of service during the year, but the long-awaited replacement for them still did not arrive.
The final documentation for the aircraft was prepared exclusively in 2016, the 1st flight of the biplane, which received the name TVS-2DT, took place on July 10, two thousand and seventeen, but large-scale production has not been established before time. It is expected that the aircraft will be built at an aircraft plant in Ulan-Ude, but it will not become as massive as its predecessor An-2. From 2020 to 2025, it is planned to produce about two hundred cars.
The aircraft is capable of taking on board up to 19 people or carrying cargo weighing three thousand 500 kg at a distance of up to 1200 km. The highest speed is three hundred and 50 km / h, and the greatest flight range is four thousand 500 km. Compared to the An-2, the properties of the aircraft went to a very different level, but the "maize" was cheap, ordinary and massive, what TVS-2DT cannot boast of, although such an aircraft is very much needed by the Russian "small aviation ".
Probably the car will have good commercial potential, especially in the ex-Soviet republics and countries of the former socialist camp, where the An-2 is well remembered. Well, other countries are likely to show enthusiasm for the aircraft.
It remains only to start a serial creation, which seems to be just around the corner ...
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