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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1611.PDF
RUSSIAN SURVIVOR Tupolev is aiming its Tu-134 replacement, the Tu-334, at the Western market as well as its home market of Russia and the new CIS states. Paul Duffy looks at the programme. n. © Reed Business Publishing Tupolev TU-334 Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Tupolev Tu-334 is that the project has survived Russia's political and economic upheaval. Design work on the Tu-334 — intended as a replacement for the Tu-134, of which there are more than 600 in service, including some 450 in Russia — began in 1989. Seven years was the accepted norm for a programme, from design stage to certification, during the Soviet era. The first flight of the Tu-334 was scheduled originally for late 1992 but, because of the industry's enormous finan cial problems, the Russian Government- funded project has been delayed. This is due in part to the Government making its promised contribution in the fourth quar ter of each fiscal year and, with inflation running at perhaps 10% each week, the funds are of little value when they eventu ally arrive. The first flight is now expected by December 1993. The Tu-134 entered service in 1967 as a 66- to 78-seater, with a full-payload range of 2,000km (l,100nm). Designed at a time when the Soviet Government paid little attention to economics, the aircraft appeared inexpensive to buy because of artificially low prices. As a result, it has a service life of only 30,000h and a cruise fuel-burn of 3t/fhght hour. The design team, headed by Igor Kalygin, was aware of the Tu-134's short comings as it began work on the replace ment. However, the high military content of the design bureau's work has enabled the team to access developments in mate rials and avionics technology, including carbonfibre composites. Kalygin began work by setting out parameters for the new short-haul passen ger and cargo aircraft. These included operation from a 2,200m (7,200ft) run way; a two-crew cockpit; a 102-passenger interior in a one-class layout with a seat pitch of 780mm; Category Ilia operations; noise levels to Stage 2 initially, with Stage 3 later; utilisation of up to 2,600h a year; and a fuel burn of 2t/cruise hour. Kalygin aimed to use advanced light weight materials as much as practicable, and claims to have achieved this on about 20% of the surface area, including wing mechanisms and tailplane, where glass- fibre is used, and air intakes and the rear of the engine, which feature noise- absorption materials. The Tu-334 has a cabin width of 3.57m, allowing for a conventional six-abreast seating arrangement, and a 470mm-wide aisle. The first-class cabin offers two 1.37m rails of two seats with an aisle width of 730mm. The aircraft also offers 2m-long over head lockers and oxygen masks as stan dard. The cabin overwing emergency exits are omitted in the -100 model, but will be a fixture in the -200 model. 54 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 June, 1993
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