| An-180 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A design drawing of the proposed airliner | |
| Role | Wide-body propfan airliner |
| National origin | Soviet Union / Ukraine |
| Design group | Antonov Design Bureau |
| Built by | Production Corporation Polyot Kharkiv Aviation Plant |
| Status | Canceled |
| Number built | 0 |
The Antonov An-180 was a Ukrainian design for a twin-aisle medium-range propfan airliner. Although the design was completed by the Antonov Design Bureau in 1994, the type was not built. [1]
The An-180 was designed as a replacement for the aging Tupolev Tu-134 and Yakovlev Yak-42 airliners. [2] Antonov was discussing this aircraft in Soviet aviation publications as early as October 1990, describing the An-180 as a 164-180 passenger plane with a range of 1,300 to 1,600 nautical miles (2,500 to 3,000 kilometres; 1,600 to 1,900 miles) and a per-passenger fuel consumption of 14 to 15 grams per kilometre (0.79 to 0.85 ounces per mile). [3] The proposed aircraft was introduced to the world at the 1991 Paris Air Show. [4] As of September 1991, the An-180 had a T-tail design with the propfan engines attached to the aft fuselage, [5] but Antonov later modified the design so that the engines were attached to the ends of the horizontal stabilizer in a conventional tail configuration. [6] In 1992, Ukraine and China were studying whether to jointly develop the aircraft. [7]
In April 1994, a prototype of the aircraft was tested at the Russian Central Aviation Institute's transonic wind tunnel, with follow-up tests in July to finalize the design, but financial problems delayed the completion of the study as of November 1994. [8] By February 1995, joint manufacturing was expected to begin at the aircraft factories in Kharkiv, Ukraine and the Production Corporation Polyot plant in Omsk, Russia. [9] Because of extreme funding shortfalls from the Ukraine government, however, the development of the An-180 was fully suspended by August 1995. [10] In 1999, D-27 engines created by the Progress Design Bureau were still expected to be built for the An-180, according to the CEO of Motor Sich, [11] the Ukrainian manufacturer of the D-27. [12] Subsequent attempts to obtain commercial investment failed, though, and by 2004, the An-180 was no longer an Antonov project. [13]
As of 2003, the fuselage of an uncompleted An-180 aircraft remained in storage in a building used for assembly of Antonov's experimental models. [14]
The An-180 was a conventionally designed low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit. The unusual feature was the mounting of an Ivchenko Progress D-27 propfan mounted at the end of each tailplane. [1] Each propfan was to have a coaxial contra-rotating tractor propeller, and the An-180 was also designed with a retractable landing gear with twin nosewheels, and tandem pairs of mainwheels. [1]
It was planned to have a number of variants with seating starting at 150–156 passengers, to a larger variant for 200 passengers, and it was also planned to build a combination passenger/freight and an all-freight variant. [1] The cabin is configured to use two aisles, with a seating row containing two seats each between an aisle and the adjacent windows/cabin walls, and two seats between the two aisles. [15] The undercarriage can store seven LD3-46 unit load devices. [1]
Data fromBrassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory [1]
General characteristics
Performance
The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a 100/120-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet developed in the mid 1970s to replace the technically obsolete Tupolev Tu-134. It was the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines.
A propfan, also called an open rotor engine, or unducted fan, is a type of aircraft engine related in concept to both the turboprop and turbofan, but distinct from both. The design is intended to offer the speed and performance of a turbofan, with the fuel economy of a turboprop. A propfan is typically designed with a large number of short, highly twisted blades, similar to the (ducted) fan in a turbofan engine. For this reason, the propfan has been variously described as an "unducted fan" (UDF) or an "ultra-high-bypass (UHB) turbofan".
The Boeing 7J7 was an American short- to medium-range airliner proposed by American aircraft manufacturer Boeing in the 1980s. It would have carried 150 passengers and was touted as the successor to the successful Boeing 727. It was initially planned to enter service in 1992. This was intended as a highly fuel-efficient aircraft employing new technologies, but it was postponed indefinitely as the price of oil dropped during the 1980s.
The Antonov An-70 is a four-engine medium-range transport aircraft, and the first aircraft to take flight powered only by propfan engines. It was developed in the late 1980s by the Antonov Design Bureau to replace the obsolete An-12 military transport aircraft. The maiden flight of the first prototype took place in December 1994 in Kyiv, now independent Ukraine. Within months the prototype had suffered a mid-air collision. A second airframe was produced to allow the flight-test programme to proceed. Both prototypes were produced by the Kyiv Aircraft Production Plant.
The Tupolev Tu-334 was a Russian short-to-medium range airliner project that was developed to replace the ageing Tu-134s and Yak-42s in service around the world. The airframe was based on a shortened Tu-204 fuselage and a scaled-down version of that aircraft's wing. Unlike the Tu-204, however, the Tu-334 has a T-tail and engines mounted on the sides of the rear fuselage instead of under the wings. With the nationalisation of the Russian aircraft companies in 2009 to form United Aircraft Corporation it was decided not to continue with the programme.
The Yakovlev Yak-44 was a proposed twin-turboprop Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, resembling the United States Navy's E-2 Hawkeye, intended for use with the Soviet Navy's Ulyanovsk class supercarriers. Along with the aircraft carrier it would have flown from, the Yak-44 was cancelled after the demise of the Soviet Union. A full-scale mockup with foldable wings was built.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-94X was a planned propfan-powered airliner, intended to begin production in 1994. Announced in January 1986, the aircraft was to seat between 160 and 180 passengers, possibly using a twin-aisle configuration. An all-new design that was investigated internally since at least 1984, the MD-94X was developed in the mid-1980s to compete with the similar Boeing 7J7. The price of oil would have to be at least US$1.40 per gallon for McDonnell Douglas to build the plane, though. Configuration was similar to the MD-80, but advanced technologies such as canard noseplanes, laminar and turbulent boundary layer control, side-stick flight control, and aluminum-lithium alloy construction were under consideration. Airline interest in the brand-new propfan technology was weak despite claims of up to a 60% reduction in fuel use, and both aircraft were canceled.
The Kuznetsov Design Bureau was a Russian design bureau for aircraft engines, administrated in Soviet times by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. It was also known as (G)NPO Trud and Kuybyshev Engine Design Bureau (KKBM).
On 10 February 1995 at 16:09 CET, the first Antonov An-70 prototype aircraft collided with an Antonov An-72 that was assisting with the An-70 test program over Borodianka Raion in Ukraine. All seven crew members on board the An-70 were killed; the An-72 was able to make a safe emergency landing at Gostomel Airport in Kyiv with no fatalities.
The Yakovlev Yak-46 was a proposed aircraft design based on the Yak-42 with two contra-rotating propellers on the propfan located at the rear. The specification of the Samara turbofans was in the 11,000 kg thrust range. Though proposed in the 1990s, production of the Yak-46 never commenced.
The Progress D-27 is a three-shaft propfan engine developed by Ivchenko Progress, and manufactured by Motor Sich in Ukraine. The gas generator was designed using experience from the Lotarev D-36 turbofan. The D-27 engine was designed to power more-efficient passenger aircraft such as the abandoned Yakovlev Yak-46 project, and it was chosen for the Antonov An-70 military transport aircraft. As of 2019, the D-27 is the only contra-rotating propfan engine to enter service.
The IPTN N-250 was a turboprop regional airliner designed by Indonesian firm IPTN. This aircraft was IPTN's first major effort to win the market share of the regional turboprop class of 64–68 seat airliners. The aircraft's development was eventually terminated after the Asian financial crisis of 1998.
MPC 75 was an aircraft project of MPC Aircraft GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Airbus. Work on the project was done mainly between 1988 and 1992 in Hamburg, Germany. Predevelopment work was finished, however the project never got the "go ahead" and never made it into full development.
The light multipurpose aircraft T-101 "Grach" or "Rook" in English, was based on the An-2 biplane and planned as a replacement for it. The design is focused on low cost, high reliability, and operating from unprepared airfields. The T-101 can carry 10 passengers, or transport 1600 kg of cargo. It can be used for agricultural, patrol, aerial photography, search and rescue, airborne and other utility functions. The T-101 has a strut-braced high-wing, fixed landing gear with tail wheel and a single engine in the nose.
EKIP is the Soviet and Russian project of a multifunctional aerodrome-free aircraft, built according to the "flying wing" scheme, with an elliptically shaped fuselage. Also known by its Russian nickname of Tarielka, the EKIP can land on water or unpaved ground through the use of an air cushion instead of a wheeled undercarriage. The EKIP is a short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft.
The Progress D-236 was an experimental aircraft engine, a hybrid between a turbofan and a turboprop known as a propfan. Also known as the Lotarev D-236T, the three-shaft geared engine was designed in the 1980s and 1990s to power proposed propfan aircraft such as the Tupolev Tu-334, Ilyushin Il-118, and Ilyushin Il-88.
The Kuznetsov NK-93 was a civilian aircraft engine, a hybrid between a turbofan and a turboprop known as a propfan. The engine was also unique in having a separate duct around the contra-rotating propellers, as most other propfans are unducted. Once described in a respected aviation encyclopedia as "potentially the most fuel-efficient aircraft jet engine ever to be tested", the NK-93 was targeted for derivatives of Soviet/Russian airliners such as the Ilyushin Il-96, Tupolev Tu-204, and Tupolev Tu-330. Five in-flight engine tests were conducted on the NK-93 from December 2006 to December 2008.
The Saturn/Lyulka AL-34 was an unbuilt turboshaft/turboprop engine for rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, proposed by the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. In turboprop form, the engine was offered for light aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-86 eight-passenger business airplane, the Myasishchev M-101T Gzhel business jet, the ROS-Aeroprogress T-101 Grach nine-passenger aircraft, its derivative T-108 Zolotoy Orel nineteen-passenger aircraft, and the Krunichev T-511 "AIST-M". As a turboshaft, the AL-34 was proposed to power the Mil Mi-54 and the Kazan Ansat helicopters. The engine was also considered for unconventional aircraft such as the Mil Mi-30L Vintoplan tiltrotor aircraft, and it was to be an auxiliary engine for powering the boundary layer control system and air cushion on the EKIP flying saucer.
European Future Advanced Rotorcraft (EuroFAR) was a proposed tiltrotor aircraft that was pursued during the 1980s and 1990s. It was a collaborative programme undertaken by the EuroFAR consortium, which comprised Aerospatiale, Agusta, Aeritalia, Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, Westland, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA).
The Advanced Technology Regional Aircraft 90 (ATRA-90) was a propfan-powered regional aircraft that was proposed in 1986. Conceived by Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) of Indonesia, the multi-national project was also backed by Boeing of the United States, Fokker of the Netherlands, and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of West Germany. The ATRA-90 was targeted for introduction between 1992 and 1995, but the project was put on hold in 1988.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)