SCENE
SCENEComposite Planes
Finally, the TVS-2-DTS variant at MAKS
2017 features an all-composite fuselage
and looks totally different to the original
An-2; thus the TVS-2-DTS is an entirely
new aircraft with little in common with
its predecessor. What’s more, the new
aircraft is two tonnes heavier than the An-2
yet achieves nearly twice the top speed,
carries twice as much payload, over three
times longer distances while retaining the
An-2’s impressive take-off and landing
characteristics.Market opportunities
In Russia nearly 500 An-2 aircraft are
currently in service, of which about 70 are
used for passenger transport. In addition
to the civilian market, several dozen An-2s
continue to serve with the Russian military
for parachute training.
SibNIA is negotiating a launch of series
production at the U-UAZ plant in Ulan-
Ude; production launch in a new factory,
which would be built in Berdsk near
Novosibirsk, is also possible.PAK SKh T-500
With the intriguing designation PAK
SKh, or T-500, one might think the
aircraft in question is another Russian
super fighter. Not so, the T-500 is a
new agricultural aircraft designed for
the PAK SKh programme which stands
for Polevoy Aviatsyonnyi Kompleks
Selskogo Khozyaystva (Agricultural
Aircraft Project).
The first T-500 aircraft, registered RA-
2341G, debuted in the Rostec corporation
pavilion at MAKS 2017.
That said, only the designation was
making a MAKS debut; the aircraft itself
was present at MAKS 2015 as the MV-500
Farmer built by the Kazan-based MVEN
company.
The first aircraft in the Farmer series
was produced by MVEN as early as
2002; the latest T-500 variant is made
entirely of composites and powered
by a Lycoming O-540-B4B5 engine.
Tank capacity is 500 litres (132 gallons),
a deliberate design objective to filla niche in the Russian crop dusting
sector currently served by either
amateur designs with 100- to 200-litre
(26 to 53-gallon) capacity and the
larger An-2 fitted with a 1,400-litre
(370-gallon) tank.Piotr Butowski details two new
Russian aircraft unveiled at
the recent MAKS Air Show at
Zhukovsky, near Moscow
TVS-2-DTS
CHARACTERISTICS
Length: 14.7m (48ft 3in)
Wing span: 20.5m (67ft 3in)
Max take-off weight: 7,300kg (16,094lb)
Payload: 3,500kg (7,716lb)
Cruise speed: 189kts (350 km/h)
Range with full payload: 1,200km (648nm)
Ferry range: 4,500km (2,430nm)
Ceiling: 13,123ft (4,000m)
Take-off run: 262ft (80m)
Landing run: 492ft (150m)