Published: 12/12/1997

Designers of the Tupolev Aviation Research and Technology Complex have built a full scale model of a new generation Tu-324 regional aircraft. A high level meeting of the so-called model commission, comprising Central Aerodynamics Institute, the Gromov Flight Research Institute, the Federal Aviation Service and other leading institutes, is planned for next February. The Tu-324 is among the four priority programmes of the Tupolev Complex, as the pool of projects, consisting of models mainly developed by the Antonov design Bureau in Ukraine, is rapidly growing obsolete. Valentin Dmitriyev, the Chief Designer of the Tu-324, believes the demand for such an aircraft is high in Russia and the CIS. The first five machines are expected to come off the production lines in 2001. The output capacity of the Kazan Aviation Production Society, where the aircraft will be mass produced, is more than 300 Tu-324 aircraft by 2006. The Tu-324 will be produced in 44- or 50-seat passenger versions, 8-10-seat "VIP role", as a "combi" aircraft and also as a coastguard aircraft. The range will be from 2,500 to 7,450km depending on the version. A distinctive aspect of the programme will be that the aircraft will be designed totally with the use of computer technologies.(IN1297.6) (VZ)

Article ID: 99