New aircraft flies at Paris Air Show (325 words)

Published: 6/22/2001

Ukraine's Antonov An-74TK-300, first flown in April 2001, has made its international debut at Paris after 35 flights, 20 of these being part of the aircraft's certification programme. The aircraft differs from the An-74 in that the ZMKB Progress D-36 engines, with a thrust reverse system derived from that on the An-124 Ruslan's D-18Ts, are on underwing pylons as opposed to being placed over the wing. It was expected to fly at the end of the H1 2000 . According to Aleksandr Makiyan, from Antonov, the An-74TK-300 has a fuel burn in cruise flight at 600 km/h 300-400 kg lower that of an An-74, at 1300-1400 kg per hour. The aircraft, with a 37.5 tonnes takeoff weight, is a tonne lighter than that of the An-74TK-200 36.5. The first aircraft uses the existing An-74 fuselage, but Antonov plans to extend it to accommodate 60-68 passengers, as opposed to 52 currently carried. The company claims that the aircraft has a ferry range of 5,250 km with 3,000 km carrying 60 passengers, compared with 4,600 km and 3,000 km with 52 passengers for the An-74TK-200. Makiyan, who is responsible for aircraft's flight programme, said that the flight test and certification programme calls for 300-400 flights to be made over a year. The first goal is an additional certification to reflect the changes to the aircraft, on top of the An-74's type certification under NLGS-3 Russian national airworthiness requirements. The An-74TK-300 two man cockpit, although currently fitted with a navigator's chair, includes the Ukrainian-made SM3301 dual GPS receiver operating in three modes (NAVSTAR, GLONASS and two satellite constellations simultaneously). A BUR-92 recorder storing 150 parameters was previously tested on the An-140. Additionally, Orlan VHF radio with 8.33 kHz channel spacing, Arlekin long-range HF radio and G-002M management system allows the pilots to control the aircraft's major systems. The aircraft's cabin has 52 French-made seats, arranged four abreast.

Article ID: 2605