The future Russian wide-body long-haul passenger airliner Il-96-400M is awaiting rebranding. It will receive a new designation - Il-496. According to Izvestia, a fundamental decision has already been made, but this name will begin to appear in official documents starting next year. The first prototype will be built before the end of 2019. According to experts, the market for such aircraft in Russia is small. But the Il-96-400 project is important from the point of view of developing competencies in the aircraft industry.

As three sources in the aviation industry familiar with the situation told Izvestia, the wide-body long-haul airliner being created at Il PJSC will receive a new designation - Il-496. This decision has already been approved in principle at the government level.

- The need for rebranding is due to the fact that the aircraft being created is not just a modification of the Il-96, but its deep modernization. In fact, we are talking about a new aircraft,” explained one of the interlocutors.

Il PJSC, the company that developed the aircraft, did not comment on rebranding plans to Izvestia. At the same time, they noted that they expect to prepare all technical documentation for the construction of the first prototype of the Il-96-400M by the end of this year.

“The features of the designed aircraft will be the installation of modern domestic flight and navigation equipment, as well as a modern passenger cabin, which will provide comfortable conditions for passengers,” noted the Ilyushin press service. - The presentation of the Il-96-400M is scheduled for the end of 2019.

In this case, domestic navigation equipment includes the inertial system (responsible for determining the position of the aircraft in space), transponders (automatically transmit data to ground-based radar stations), navigation and landing systems. At the first stage in 2018–2019, it is planned to equip all Il-96-300 aircraft with such systems.

The Il-96-400M development program involves the production of one prototype and six production aircraft. Construction of the first prototype at the aircraft plant in Voronezh is scheduled for the end of 2019, the first production aircraft - for 2020. In the same year, it is planned to complete certification tests of the airliner.

The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia that the implementation of the Il-96-400M project is proceeding in accordance with the approved schedule. The work receives funding within the limits of federal budget funds.

According to Alexei Sinitsky, editor-in-chief of Aviation Transport Review, the niche of wide-body long-haul aircraft in Russia is small - a little more than 80 aircraft of this class are in operation. More than 60% of them are in the Aeroflot group of companies, Utair has several cars, and the rest are in tourist carriers. These airliners can find use in the Far East of the Russian Federation or on international tourist routes. Special versions of the aircraft may be of interest to specialized government customers.

The IL-96-400 in its current form remains at the level of previous generation aircraft in terms of economic characteristics and equipment. But it is not much cheaper than new modern foreign-made airliners. In terms of cost of ownership over the life cycle, the loss is very large,” noted Alexey Sinitsky.

Nevertheless, the Il-96-400M project should help the domestic aviation industry maintain competencies and load production capacity. In the long term, the civilian line of aircraft should be replenished with a new generation wide-body airliner, the creation of which Russia has begun together with its Chinese partners - the COMAC corporation.

The Il-96-400M is being created as an extended modification of the passenger Il-96-300. The take-off weight of the new airliner will be 270 tons. The aircraft will be able to carry up to 400 passengers. This vehicle will use Russian-made avionics, materials and components. According to Izvestia, the total planned budget for the airliner creation program is 53.4 billion rubles.

Il-96 is a wide-body passenger aircraft, the creation of which began at the Ilyushin Design Bureau back in the late 70s of the last century. This aircraft became the first aircraft of this class developed in the Soviet Union. The Il-96 made its first flight in 1993.

Serial production of the Il-96 aircraft was launched at the Voronezh Aviation Plant; a total of 30 airbuses have been manufactured since its start.

Currently, the Il-96 is operated by the Special Flight Detachment "Russia", which includes the presidential flight. Since 1996, Russian leaders have been flying on the Il-96-300PU, a modification of the airliner created specifically for the head of state. In 2003, a new aircraft of this modification was built for Putin.

Il-96 is rightfully considered one of the most reliable passenger aircraft in its class. Since the start of operation, not a single accident has occurred with these machines that would have resulted in casualties. True, the total flight time of these aircraft is much lower than that of their foreign counterparts.

The Il-96 is also operated by the Cuban company Cubana. In 2014, Aeroflot wrote off the last six Il-96s, citing the high cost of operating them.

We can say that this aircraft was very unlucky, because the moment of its birth occurred during the period of the collapse of the country and the economic crisis, when the domestic aviation industry was literally surviving, and there was no time for updating the aircraft fleet. At the end of the 90s, an attempt was made to modernize the aircraft, which resulted in the appearance of the Il-96-400 modification. However, it did not interest domestic air carriers too much; there were no orders for it from airlines.

Il-96 can be called one of the most famous and discussed domestic passenger aircraft. With enviable frequency, interviews with high-ranking Russian officials appear in the press with promises of an early resumption of production of the Il-96 aircraft. But things are still there.

If we talk about the latest news related to this aircraft, then at the beginning of this year, Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin visited the Voronezh aircraft plant and promised government support to aircraft manufacturers. According to the official, the Il-96-400 is quite capable of meeting the needs of domestic airlines for long-haul wide-body aircraft until the new Russian-Chinese airbus is ready.

Earlier, Industry Minister Manturov promised to allocate 50 billion rubles to resuscitate the production of Il-96. True, according to him, it is first necessary to solve the problem of excessive fuel “gluttony” of the machine, because according to this characteristic, the Il-96 cannot compete with the Boeing-767 and 777 or the Airbus 330 - its main competitors.

Despite all the difficulties of the early 90s, the new Il-96 had good prospects. At that time, foreign companies were seriously interested in the car. A modification of the Il-96M with Pratt&Whitney engines and advanced Western avionics was developed specifically for promotion abroad. In 1993, a prototype of this aircraft already flew, and soon it received Russian and American certificates. Why was this project never brought to fruition? And does he have a chance to take his rightful place in the sky?

History of creation

Work on the creation of a Soviet wide-body passenger aircraft began in the first half of the 70s. At that time, most long-haul transportation in the Soviet Union and socialist countries was carried out on the Il-62 airliner. However, this aircraft, built in the early 60s, at that moment could no longer cope with the significantly increased passenger traffic. Due to its low capacity, the number of flights had to be increased, which created excessive pressure on airports. In addition, this aircraft was significantly inferior in terms of comfort to its Western counterparts.

A wide-body passenger aircraft is a machine with a fuselage diameter of 5-6 meters. These sizes allow you to place from 6 to 10 chairs in one row. It should be noted that the advent of long-range wide-body passenger airliners almost immediately made narrow-body aircraft unprofitable. They had to be transferred to routes with low passenger traffic. An analysis carried out in the USSR in the mid-70s showed that within ten years Aeroflot would not be able to provide transportation on long-distance routes without a spacious wide-body aircraft.

At this time, in the OKB im. Ilyushin were developing a new large-capacity passenger aircraft, the Il-86. It was on the basis of this machine that it was decided to build a new long-range passenger aircraft. It received the name Il-86D. It differed little from the basic modification: only the wing area and the power plant, which consisted of more economical engines with a higher bypass ratio, increased. The idea of ​​​​creating two aircraft with a high degree of unification seriously reduced the development time of new aircraft, reduced their cost, and in the future should have significantly simplified maintenance.

However, the IL-86D was never realized in metal. At the end of the 70s, on its basis it was decided to create a new long-range passenger aircraft - the Il-96 aircraft. Changes were made to the design of this machine, which significantly increased its technical excellence.

At the turn of the 70s and 80s, aviation technology developed so rapidly that after completing work on the Il-96, the designers had to take up the work again and create a fundamentally new project, because the aircraft they created was already seriously at the start of its career. lagged behind Western counterparts. The new promising airliner received the name Il-96-300, and during its development the components and assemblies of the Il-86 airliner were no longer used.

The first takeoff of the Il-96-300 took place in September 1988, testing continued until the end of 1992, after which the airliner was certified. In 1989, the aircraft was demonstrated at the Le Bourget air show. If we talk about the flight performance characteristics of the new aircraft, it can be noted that the designers managed to reach a new level in comparison with the aircraft created at the Design Bureau named after. Ilyushin earlier. For example, the fuel consumption of the Il-96-300 per passenger kilometer was two times lower than that of the long-haul Il-62.

For their work on the creation of a new aircraft, the OKB team named after. Ilyushin was awarded the State Prize.

The first Il-96-30s were transferred to the Domodedovo air squad, and commercial operation of the airbus began in 1993. Initially, the airliners were mainly used for flights on international routes.

A serious blow to the further development of the Il-96 project was the decision of the Russian government to remove duties on the import of foreign high-capacity aircraft into the country. Aeroflot openly lobbied for him, promising to purchase a large batch of Il-96 if duties were reduced. The decision was made, but the purchase of domestic aircraft never took place.

In 2000, a new modification of the airliner was developed - Il-96-400, which had a larger passenger capacity and an increased flight range. However, domestic air carriers were not interested in this aircraft; only a few Il-96-400Ts, the transport version of this aircraft, were purchased.

In the mid-2000s, three Il-96-300s were sold to Cuba, and one of them was made in the “presidential” version. Now not only Putin flies on the Il-96, but also the top management of Freedom Island.

Over the years, negotiations on the supply of the aircraft were conducted with China, Syria, Iran, Peru and even Zimbabwe. They were not particularly successful.

In 2009, the government announced the need to phase out the Il-96-300, allegedly due to the fact that it cannot compete on equal terms with the latest European and American analogues.

In 2014, Aeroflot decommissioned all of the company's Il-96 aircraft.

However, already next year, the Ilyushin Aviation Complex OJSC announced plans for the next modernization of the Il-96 and the resumption of its serial production. Next year, representatives of the enterprise reported that they were improving the fuel efficiency of the airliner and planned to bring it to the level of modern Western analogues. The General Director of the Voronezh Aviation Plant said that the Il-96-400M will be ready by 2019. And the government has already promised to allocate funds for this project.

In February of this year, a message appeared in the media that a firm contract had been signed between the manufacturer and UAC to carry out design work on the Il-96-400M. The aircraft prototype is scheduled for production in 2019.

Description of design

Il-96-300 is a cantilever wide-body low-wing aircraft with four engines, vertical tail and swept wings.

The fuselage of the aircraft has a diameter of 6.08 meters; depending on the layout of the passenger cabin, it can accommodate from 235 to 300 passengers. With a standard layout (300 seats), the passenger cabin is divided into two salons, with 66 seats in the front cabin and 234 seats in the rear cabin. They are arranged in a row of nine seats with a pitch of 870 mm and two aisles of 550 mm. Aircraft with a passenger capacity of 235 people have a passenger cabin divided into three cabins: first class (22 seats with a distance between rows of 1020 mm), business class (40 seats) and economy class (173 seats). The IL-96 cabin is in no way inferior to the best foreign analogues in terms of comfort for passengers.

The lower deck of the Il-96-300 is occupied by cargo compartments. There are three of them, the first two can accept nine standard ABK-1.5 aviation containers, and the third is intended for the transportation of piece cargo.

The IL-96 has a wing with a span of more than 60 m and an area of ​​391 m2 with large vertical tips at the edges. In area it significantly (by 70 m2) exceeds the wing of the Il-86 and is equipped with complex mechanization. It consists of slats that occupy the entire length of the leading edge and double-slotted flaps.

The vertical tail of the aircraft is also significant; it is one and a half meters higher than that of the Il-86. This feature of the airliner allows it to maintain stability in flight even if one of the engines fails.

The IL-96 has four landing gear: three main ones, located under the center section, and a nose gear. Each of the main struts has a four-wheel trolley with brake wheels, and the front strut has two non-brake wheels. The size of all aircraft landing gear wheels is the same.

The power plant of the airliner consists of four PS-90A turbofan engines with a high bypass ratio, which can create a thrust of 16 thousand kgf. They are installed in pylons that are attached to the wing consoles. PS-90A is made according to a two-shaft design, there is a reverse. The engine is equipped with a four-stage low-pressure turbine and a two-stage high-pressure turbine. PS-90A is distinguished by a modular design, which facilitates its maintenance: if necessary, one or another module - out of eleven available - can be quickly replaced.

For the first time in the history of Soviet aircraft construction, the aircraft's power plant was equipped with an electronic control and monitoring system "Diagnoz-90", which had two channels. This system automatically monitors fuel consumption and protects engines from surge. They plan to equip the promising Il-96-400M with a new PD-35 engine, which is currently being developed.

The Il-96-300 was equipped with the latest (for its time, of course) flight and navigation system, which made it possible to abandon the navigator and make do with a crew of three people. The IL-96-300 is the first Soviet aircraft to be equipped with the VSUP-85-4 electronic flight control system - in addition to traditional analog instruments, electronic indicators also appeared in the IL-96-300 cockpit. This aircraft is equipped with an EMDS system.

The Airbus fuel system is in many ways reminiscent of a similar system in the Il-86. The fuel is located in nine caisson tanks, from where it is pumped into the pre-consumption tank and, further, into the supply compartment, which each engine has. Four tanks are located in the wing consoles, another is located in the center section.

Il-96-300 is equipped with an automatic air conditioning system. Air is supplied to the cabin from the engines.

The aircraft is equipped with an electric pulse anti-icing system. The air intakes are heated by air supplied from the compressor chamber.

Modifications

Since the start of mass production of the Il-96 aircraft, several modifications of the aircraft have been developed. Below are the main ones:

• IL-96-300. Basic modification, equipped with four PS-90A engines. The airliner first took to the skies in September 1988 and entered service with Aeroflot in 1993. A total of twenty aircraft of this modification were produced; in 2009, it was decided to withdraw it from production. This machine has a maximum flight range of 13.5 thousand km, it can carry up to 300 passengers;
• Il-96-300PU/PU(M1). “Presidential” modification of the airliner, which was specially developed on the basis of the Il-96-300 for transporting the country's top officials. A total of five aircraft of this modification were built. The letters “PU” in the designation of the machine mean “control point”. In terms of its characteristics, it practically does not differ from the basic version of the aircraft; the flight range of the aircraft is slightly increased. In essence, the Il-96-300PU is an air command post that allows you to control the country and the armed forces during a nuclear conflict. Externally, this airliner is practically no different from a regular production aircraft. This machine was manufactured in 1995 for the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The second Il-96-300PU was created for Vladimir Putin; it first flew in 2003. The last aircraft of this modification was manufactured at the end of 2019;
• IL-96-400. A modification of the aircraft that was developed in 2000. The vehicle has a longer fuselage compared to the Il-96-300, it is equipped with PS-90A-1 engines (17.4 thousand kgf thrust) and more advanced avionics. This liner can accommodate 435 passengers;
• IL-96-400T. Transport version of the Il-96-400 airliner. The first aircraft was assembled in 2007; a total of four aircraft were produced. In 2014, it was decided to convert one of the Il-96-400Ts into an air control center for the needs of the FSB of the Russian Federation. In 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the purchase of two aircraft in the tanker modification. If the operation of these aircraft is successful, then the military department is ready to order 30 more aircraft;
• IL-96-400TZ. This is a tanker aircraft based on the Il-96-400T. It will be capable of transmitting 65 tons of fuel over a distance of 3.5 thousand km;
• IL-96VKP. This modification of the airliner is a strategic air command center. Currently, Ilyushenites are working on its creation; in the future, this aircraft will replace the Il-86VKP;
• Il-96M. Modification of the base model Il-96-300 with an extended fuselage, Pratt&Whitney engines and Western avionics. The prototype of this aircraft first took off in April 1993 and was later repeatedly demonstrated at various air shows. In 2009, cut into scrap;
• IL-96MD. Modification of the aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW4082 engines;
• IL-96MK. Modification with four NK-92 engines.

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"The production program for long-range Il-96-400M and regional ones based on Il-114 will be modest"published by the newspaper" Vedomosti",Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced plans to begin production of the wide-body long-range aircraft Il-96-400M (a modernized version of the Il-96-300) and a regional aircraft based on the Il-114 on May 27 at the board of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Their production will be carried out by enterprises that are part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) - the Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Association and the Nizhny Novgorod Sokol plant, respectively.

The cost of both development programs is 50 billion rubles. But the scale of the planned release turned out to be small.

It is planned to produce six long-haul ships, and a maximum of 100 regional ones, a federal official and a person close to the UAC told Vedomosti. These figures were confirmed by another federal official, specifying that the number of IL-96s could be increased to eight.

Passenger aircraft Il-114 (registration RA-91014, serial number 1023823024) in the livery of Vyborg Airlines, St. Petersburg, Pulkovo airport parking lot 04/14/2010 (c) Pavel Todenkov / russianplanes.net

Il-96-400M (more than 400 seats, production should begin in 2019) will be intended primarily for government agencies, primarily for the special flight squad "Russia", which transports senior officials, two Vedomosti sources say. It will not have commercial potential, since it is an outdated, fuel-inefficient aircraft, they explain. The previous modification of the Il-96-300 has not been produced since 2009. The idea is being discussed to subsidize the leasing of this aircraft so that the payment would be approximately half that of the competing Boeing 777 and Airbus 330; this may be of interest to individual carriers, given that fuel has become cheaper and the gain in efficiency is no longer so important, the second official objects.

50-100 of the modernized Il-114 (developed in the 1980s) will be produced, the planned capacity is 64 seats, says a federal official. In 2019-2023 It is planned to produce 20-25 cars, and then, depending on demand, increase their number to 100, a person close to the UAC knows. By 2019, six Il-114s located at the plant in Tashkent will be completed, a source in the UAC told Vedomosti earlier.

Currently, Russia operates 100-150 regional aircraft of various capacities, still of Soviet design, the official continues. This market has not been studied in depth, he admits, but a survey of operators revealed a need for about 50 new vessels. The Il-114 fuselage will be redesigned to make the plane lighter, and the engines will be modified, explains a person close to the UAC. If the updated version is successful, the aircraft may have export potential, he hopes.

“With such a scale of output, no program, of course, will pay off,” says the federal official. - But UAC has local tasks: government agencies need some of their own wide-body aircraft, and domestic airlines need some regional aircraft; In addition, production capacities will be loaded.” True, resources are being scattered, he adds, because these models have no further prospects, unlike the short-haul SSJ100 produced by the UAC and the medium-haul MC-21 being developed - the export potential of these aircraft will help create new aircraft.

The production of Il-96 and Il-114 will be financed in the fourth quarter when adjustments are made to the budget, says a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. A UAC representative declined to comment.

“An airplane only for the Russian market is a deliberately unprofitable project,” Fyodor Borisov, leading researcher at the Institute of Transport Economics at the Higher School of Economics, is categorical. “In such projects, one must initially focus on a competitive product for the world market and making a profit, even in a mobilization economy.” However, a regional aircraft may be in demand, he admits: the predominant An-24s in the domestic fleet have been flying for a very long time. But it is impossible to create a wide-body aircraft based on the Il-96 that is in demand on the world market, he is sure.

The history of domestic airbuses, now more often called wide-body aircraft, begins in 1967, when in October a Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which launched the development of the first Soviet medium-range wide-body aircraft Il-86 with a passenger capacity of 350 people.

The first domestic airbus Il-86

The design of the aircraft was entrusted to the Design Bureau named after. Ilyushin. At the initial stage, a version of the Il-62-250, increased to 250 seats, with a fuselage extended by 6.8 meters, was being developed. This project did not receive further development. To accommodate 350 passengers, it was necessary to increase the number of seats in a row, and in order to maintain the level of comfort achieved on the Il-62, options for a double-deck aircraft and a single-deck aircraft with an oval fuselage and two separate passenger cabins were being studied. These studies also remained only on paper.

February 22, 1970 OKB im. Ilyushin was given technical specifications for the development of a wide-body passenger aircraft with 350 seats. On March 9, 1972, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 168-68 on the start of work on the Il-86 aircraft. A distinctive feature of the first Soviet Airbus was the ability to transport luggage according to the “baggage with you” principle. Together with TsAGI, an extensive set of studies was carried out on the choice of fuselage diameter. The result was a fuselage designed with nine seats in a row and two wide aisles. The wing was equipped with slats and three-slot flaps, which were later replaced with double-slot ones. Such mechanization provided high lifting force and made it possible to take off from relatively short runways.

The experimental Il-86 made its first flight on December 22, 1976. In June 1977, the aircraft was shown at the Le Bourget air show. Factory tests were completed at the end of September 1978, after which certification tests began. The application for a certificate of airworthiness was submitted on May 15, 1974, and the certificate itself was received on December 24, 1980. Two days later, the Il-86 performed its first regular flight on the route Moscow - Tashkent - Moscow.

For more than 30 years, this comfortable, handsome giant has carried passengers on the busiest air routes. In the 80s, the Ilyushin Design Bureau received a State Prize for its creation.

At the beginning of 2017, four Il-86 aircraft were in operation. All of them were used in the country's Air Force and did not carry out passenger transportation. A total of 104 production aircraft and two prototypes were produced.

Il-86 RA-86140, SVO, October 4, 2009 Before the flight Moscow - Hurghada - Moscow

Wide-body long-range aircraft Il-96-300

With the growth of air traffic in the Soviet Union, the need arose to create a domestic high-capacity long-haul aircraft. In foreign airlines, a significant part of the fleet of long-haul aircraft were wide-body airliners, which, during multi-hour flights, provided passengers with a significantly higher level of comfort than long-range narrow-body aircraft.

Initially, it was assumed that the long-range airbus would be a further development of the Il-86 aircraft and would retain the greatest possible structural similarity with it. In accordance with this approach, the new aircraft, designated Il-86D (“long-range”), had the same design of the fuselage, tail, and main on-board functional systems as the Il-86. This made it possible to reduce the time required to create a new aircraft and quickly introduce it into mass production in parallel with the production of the Il-86 aircraft. The IL-86D differed from its predecessor only in its wing area (470 m2) and new NK-56 engines with a high bypass ratio and low specific fuel consumption in cruising flight.

In 1978, using the results of work on the Il-86D project, the OKB began developing the Il-96 aircraft with a T-shaped tail, a high aspect ratio wing with a supercritical profile and an area of ​​387 m 2. Development of this version of a long-haul Airbus was carried out at the Design Bureau until 1983. By this time, progress had been made in the field of aviation science and aircraft manufacturing, which made it possible to abandon the idea of ​​​​creating the Il-96 aircraft using many ready-made units and systems of the Il-86 aircraft in its design. The OKB decided to develop a fundamentally new wide-body aircraft, the Il-96-300.

Initially, it was planned to equip the new aircraft with four NK-56 engines with a take-off thrust of 18,000 kgf each. But due to numerous complex and contradictory reasons, Minister of Aviation Industry I.S. With his power decision, Silaev relied on the D-90 (PS-90) engine, a single engine for passenger aviation, developed by the Perm Design Bureau under the leadership of P.A. Solovyova. An order was given to stop the development of NK-56, at the same time OKB im. S.V. Ilyushin was ordered to redesign the Il-96 for four D-90 engines. The thrust of the Perm engine being developed (13,500 kgf) turned out to be insufficient. At the request of "Ila", P.A. Soloviev agreed to bring it to 16,000 kgf.

The Ilyushin team had to reduce the length of the aircraft, abandon the T-shaped tail and increase the keel area by increasing its height by one and a half meters. The need to increase the area of ​​the vertical tail was determined by the requirement to ensure directional stability in the event of failure of one engine. The wing span was increased to 60 m and its sweep was reduced, while the wing area was reduced to 350 m 2. Winglets with a height of 3.1 meters and an angle of deviation from the horizontal axis of 15 o appeared on the wingtips.

Wing and airframe structure

The Il-96-300 wing is equipped with complex and effective takeoff and landing mechanization, consisting of slats along its entire span, internal double-slotted and external single-slotted flaps, as well as lateral control elements: internal ailerons and spoilers. In order to reduce wear on the power elements of the wing and make the aircraft more resistant to bumps, a wing vibration damping system was developed, which uses external ailerons operating in automatic mode; they do not participate in the lateral control of the aircraft; the roll is controlled by internal ailerons.

The design of the power wing box was developed using monolithic prefabricated panels with a higher level of design stresses than on the IL-86, while ensuring the required strength, service life and survivability. This was achieved by using new materials in the construction of panels, both with increased characteristics of fracture toughness, low-cycle fatigue, low crack growth rates, and high-strength materials with increased tensile strength and good fatigue characteristics.

To reduce the number of longitudinal and transverse joints, which are the main source of fatigue cracks, long and wide semi-finished products are used in the airframe design of the Il-96-300 aircraft. Another feature of the wing is the large amount of honeycomb structures used. They are used to make the nose and tail parts of the wing, landing gear compartment doors, and various elements of the wing mechanization: spoilers, ailerons, and part of the flaps.

In order to reduce the drag of engine nacelles, thrust losses and, ultimately, to reduce fuel consumption in cruising flight, the Il-96-300 engine nacelles have smooth, rather than stepped, external contours, characteristic of engine nacelles with a high bypass ratio, which were previously installed on domestic and foreign aircraft. And although the gain from gondolas of this shape is relatively small, it is expressed in very significant fuel savings when performing long-distance flights.

The Il-96-300 fuselage has the same diameter as the Il-86 - 6.08 m. However, the fuselage design has been significantly changed to increase its reliability, ensure safety in case of damage, reduce the rate of crack growth, ensure a given resource, reduce weight and improve quality of the outer surface.

Reducing the length of the fuselage led to a reduction in passenger capacity. The various layouts of the passenger compartment provide a capacity from 235 to 300 people. The standard layout of economy class allows you to place 300 seats in two salons: in the first - 66 and in the second - 234 seats with a pitch of 870 mm, nine in a row with two aisles 550 mm wide. The layout for 235 seats provides a three-class cabin: in first class - 22 seats with a pitch of 1020 mm, in business class - 40 seats and in economy class - 173.

Cockpit, avionics and equipment

The IL-96 uses a glass cockpit control system, which includes a modern Russian digital avionics complex with six color multifunction displays, an electric remote control system with a backup mechanical control system, an inertial navigation system and satellite navigation. The aircraft is equipped with a comprehensive system for distributing information to the crew on monitors about the operation of the aircraft systems. The on-board flight navigation system provides almost complete automation of aircraft navigation in difficult meteorological conditions over any region of the globe and automatic landing in conditions corresponding to ICAO category IIIA. The aircraft is controlled by a crew of three: the aircraft commander, co-pilot and flight engineer.

When developing the flight deck, the engineers of the Ilyushin Design Bureau were tasked with reducing pilot fatigue during long-term work on long-distance flights of many hours, and increasing the reliability, safety and regularity of flights. As on the Il-86, the principle of a forward-looking crew located in a single group, which has proven itself in operation, is used here, which ensures mutual control and mutual assistance between its members. All information display devices and controls are located in accessible and visible places. This approach required the integration of individual signaling devices, indicators and controls into a single multifunctional information and control system, providing the issuance of signals (light, sound, speech), display of parameters of the flight navigation complex, power plant and aircraft systems, as well as control of the operation of systems and on-board equipment.

The use of multi-channel redundant systems on the IL-96-300 with automatic shutdown or switching of faulty channels basically frees the crew from any actions in the event of failures. The information display system notifies the crew about the failure that has occurred, and only in some cases does the crew need to manually duplicate the operation of the automation. Only in individual cases, when untimely switching on or off of the most critical systems, such as engines or the second and third fire extinguishing stages, can significantly affect flight safety, automation is not used and decision-making is entrusted to the crew.

All information about the operation of on-board systems, as well as the display of data necessary for piloting and navigation, are combined into a single information display system, the basis of which is two subsystems - screen display and integrated information signaling.

Cockpit of the Il-96-300

The screen display system is part of the flight navigation complex and its main means of presenting information to the crew are four color screen indicators at the edges of the instrument panel, two of which are intended for the ship’s commander and two for the co-pilot. Each pair of these indicators consists of an integrated flight indicator and an integrated navigation situation indicator, which provide the crew with the information necessary for piloting the aircraft and navigation.

The integrated alarm information system indicators are located in the middle of the instrument panel. The right screen is intended mainly to display engine operating parameters, and the left one is for signal information.

In addition, it is possible to manually call up any information that the system has on each of these screens. It has storage devices that allow, after the flight, to display information on the screens about failures and malfunctions of on-board systems that occurred during the flight. To quickly document failures and malfunctions, there is a printing device on board the aircraft, which, if necessary, issues a form with a list of systems and assemblies that failed during the flight for ground maintenance personnel and crew.

The fuel system of the Il-96-300 was developed on the basis of the fuel system of its predecessor, the Il-86. The fuel system operates automatically, without requiring crew participation, and manual control is provided only when necessary. The fuel is located in nine caisson wing tanks, of which eight are located in the wing consoles and one in the center section.

The fuel system is made separate for each of the four engines, in turn, each engine is fed with fuel from the supply compartment of its tank. The consumable compartments are filled with fuel throughout the entire flight, which ensures its reliable supply to the engines in all flight modes. Fuel production from the console tanks is delayed to unload the wing and increase the critical flutter speed.

The Il-96-300 landing gear consists of three main supports located behind the aircraft's center of mass, and a front support located in the forward part of the fuselage. Each of the three main legs is equipped with a four-wheel trolley with brake wheels, and the front leg has two non-braking wheels. All fourteen wheels are the same size 1300x480 mm and the pressure in the tires is 11.5 kg/cm 2.

Current state of the IL-96 program

As of January 1, 2017, 15 Il-96 aircraft were in operation. Of these, 4 aircraft in the Il-96-300 version are operated by the Cuban national airline Cubana de Aviacion (one of them is in storage), two Il-96-400 and 9 Il-96-300 aircraft are operated by the special flight squad "Russia" . Aircraft are used to transport first persons (RA-96019, RA-96102). The Il-96-300PU aircraft, tail number RA-96019, is Air Force One, Control Point, on which the president of the country flies; board RA-96102 is intended for the Minister of Defense.

The Il-96-400T aircraft is a cargo modification of the Il-96-300. The fuselage length of the Il-96-400T aircraft has been increased by 9.35 m compared to the base Il-96-300 aircraft.

The main difference between the Il-96-400T cargo aircraft and its passenger version is that the passenger cabin has been converted into a cargo cabin with reinforcement of the cabin floor and the installation of additional rails for attaching floor mechanization intended for loading and unloading international aviation pallets and containers. The layout of the cargo deck of the IL-96-400T allows the use of various loading schemes and packaging means when stowing cargo. The maximum payload is 92 tons.

Regular passenger transportation in our country is not carried out on this type of aircraft. At the end of 2013, Aeroflot management proposed to the company’s board of directors to abandon the operation of the Il-96, citing economic considerations as the reason for their proposal.

On March 30, 2014, the Aeroflot airliner Il-96-300 with tail number RA-96008, flying from Tashkent, made its last landing at Sheremetyevo Airport. These planes no longer carried passengers on regular flights.

As of January 1, 2017, five Il-96s were being built in the assembly shops of the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company (VASO) - three Il-96-400T and two Il-96-300, the UAC plans to produce two or three aircraft per year at period until 2023-2025.

PJSC "Il", on instructions from the Ministry of Defense, developed the Il-96-400TZ fuel tanker based on the Il-96-400T cargo modification. It was planned that it would be a “clean” tanker with an overhead tank, capable of transferring over 65 tons of fuel at a distance of up to 3.5 thousand km from its home airfield. However, in May 2018, it became known that the military department abandoned the development of this vehicle in favor of the Il-78M-90A 2 tanker.

Airplane Il-96-400M
Dimensions
wingspan (m)	60,105
aircraft length (m)	63,939
aircraft height (m)	15,717
wing area (m2)	350
wing sweep angle along the 1/4 chord line (deg)	30
fuselage diameter (m)	6,08
Main engine characteristics
engine quantity and model	4 x PS-90A3M 1
maximum take-off thrust, not less (kgf)	4 x 17400
compliance with ICAO standards	Appendix 16, Chapter 4
Mass characteristics
maximum take-off weight (t)	265
58
maximum fuel tank capacity (l)	152620
Flight performance
cruising speed (km/h)	870
flight range with maximum number of passengers (km)	10000
flight altitude (m)	9000-12000
take-off distance (m)	2700
landing distance (m)	1650
Number of places
flight crew	3 (2)
passenger	single-class layout - 436 two-class layout - 386 three-class layout - 315

Il-96-400M

There are only three manufacturers in the world that are capable of producing wide-body airliners - the American Boeing, the European Airbus and the Russian Ilyushin. And the Euro-Atlantic duopoly does not need a competitor in the form of our country.

In the years after the collapse of the USSR, Russia has lost a lot in the field of civil aviation. Often the industry surrendered its position voluntarily, but for the most part the anti-industrial lobby put a lot of effort into destroying the Russian aviation industry. We now have the results of this “fruitful” work - the overwhelming number of aircraft in Russian airlines are foreign-made.

In 2010, the most experienced Aeroflot pilot, with over 20 thousand flight hours, Il-96 crew commander Vladimir Salnikov, said that Airbus directly states in the contract for the sale of aircraft: the intermediary receives 10 percent of the transaction amount. The Boeing Corporation, without any hesitation, reports that in 2009 it spent $72 million on bribing officials in the CIS. And if, for example, Aeroflot, instead of IL-96, purchases several Boeings or Airbuses worth a billion dollars, 100 million of them will immediately go into the pockets of interested people.

In addition to direct bribery of officials, efforts are being made to restrict flights for domestic aircraft to Europe and the USA, and such restrictions did not begin yesterday. Suffice it to recall the end of the 50s, when in order to improve safety, a ban on jet aircraft with two engines was introduced in Europe. This measure was a response to the appearance in the USSR of the breakthrough jet passenger airliner Tu-104. To overcome this limitation, the Tupolev Design Bureau had to develop the Tu-110 aircraft with four engines.

The sanctions introduced in 2014 and constantly extended by Washington and Brussels are aimed, among other things, at limiting the import into Russia of new technologies that our country does not possess. In such conditions, Russia has no choice but to take care of strengthening its defense and the means of maintaining air traffic between the European part of the country and its eastern borders. We need an updated version of a wide-body long-haul airliner.

Reports about the resumption of production of the Il-96 in the Il-96-400M version and the development of the ShFDMS project - a wide-body long-range aircraft - appeared almost simultaneously in 2014-2015. Initially, it was not entirely clear why it was necessary to develop two similar aircraft. Complete clarity was made in September 2016 by Dmitry Rogozin, who, during a visit to Voronezh, said that in the period until the creation of a strategically new passenger aircraft (Russian-Chinese CR929), which is approximately 2027, the Il-96-400M will cover the basic needs of Russia as on long-haul flights to the Far East from the European part, as well as charter flights during the holiday season to those countries where spacious aircraft are needed.

The IL-96-400M is developed on the basis of the transport version "-400T", so its fuselage will be 9.35 m longer than the base aircraft Il-96-300 and will be 63.939 meters.

The main differences between the "-400M" version and previous modifications are two pilots in the cockpit and the replacement of the PS-90A1 engines with the next generation PD-14M engines, which develop a take-off thrust of 16-17 tons. As is known, the basic PD-14 with a thrust of 14 tons is designed for installation on the MS-21 airliner, and the version with the “M” index is being developed for the Il-214 military transport aircraft (in June 2017, the Il-214 aircraft (MTA/SVTS) received official name Il-276 1). Replacing the PS-90A1 with the PD-14M promises a significant reduction in fuel consumption and power plant maintenance costs.

Note from Russian Aviation: information about the future replacement of the engine was taken from the UAC Horizons magazine No. 4 2016 (#12) p. 31, where this data is provided by Olga Kruglyakova, deputy head of the preliminary design bureau of the Il company. In our opinion, the power of the PD-14M is not enough for the new Il-96, and we can talk about the promising PD-18R with a take-off thrust of 18-20 tf. Probably, until a new engine with a thrust of at least 18 tf is created, tested and certified, the same time-tested PS-90A1 will be installed on the aircraft.

At the beginning of March 2017, the general director of Perm Aviadvigatel, Alexander Inozemtsev, announced that the PS-90A1 engine will be upgraded to the PS-90A3M version, which will ultimately be installed on the Il-96-400M 1.

The rearrangement of the passenger cabin will further improve the aircraft's fuel efficiency. If business class is available, the capacity will be 370 seats, and in economy class - 436.

These improvements will bring the Il-96-400M closer in operating economics to the popular Western models Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-200.

OKB im. Ilyushin compared the Il-96-400M, in the version with 332 passenger seats, and the serial Airbus A330. Calculations showed that, taking into account the entire complex of planned improvements, the PER indicator (direct operational costs, in the Western style - direct operational costs, DOC) was almost equal. “The planes turned out to be close in terms of operating economics. And taking into account the price difference due to changes in the exchange rate, the Russian car reaches a competitive level,” says Ila General Designer Nikolai Talikov.

It is not intended to make any other major changes to the time-tested airframe and systems. Also no additional testing is required. The aircraft has a high confirmed design life of 70 thousand hours. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft consistently increased from 235 to 250 and then to 270 tons. It will not increase further either.

In 2019, the first prototype of the Il-96-400M passenger aircraft will be assembled at VASO facilities, at the same time the aircraft will receive a new designation - Il-496, according to reports from PJSC "IL", a fundamental decision on this has already been made 3, for the implementation of the project It is planned to allocate about 50 billion rubles for the production of Il-96-400M for the period until 2021. From 2020 to 2023, five new aircraft should be accepted by the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC). It is expected that they will be operated on lines between Moscow and Vladivostok with Khabarovsk.

On January 18, 2019, General Director of PJSC Il Alexey Rogozin outlined priorities for the year, one of which was the launch into serial production of the wide-body long-haul passenger aircraft Il-96-400M 4 .

In the spring of 2018, VASO began manufacturing parts for the first prototype of the Il-96-400M. At the same time, the slipway was cleared for assembling the fuselage of the aircraft, which had previously been occupied by the fuselage of the unfinished fifth Il-96-400T. The production of the prototype Il-96-400M should be completed by the end of 2019; in the first half of 2020, preliminary and certification tests of the airliner will take place, which by June 2020 should end with the issuance of an addition to the type certificate - approval of the main design change 3.

Creation IL 96 by the designers was another attempt to stop the emerging leadership of Airbus and Boeing in the production of long-haul vehicles. In the 90s, when Russia was experiencing an economic recession, a Russian airliner appeared, cheap to produce, but still inferior in efficiency to Western aircraft. IL 96.

The history of the Il 96 aircraft

With the growth of passenger traffic in the late 80s, the need for a new wide-body aircraft increased.

By the end of the first half of the 70s, long-distance flights were carried out on airplanes IL-62, but the increased flow of passengers forced an increase in the number of flights, the load on airports increased and it became obvious that IL-62 how a long-haul aircraft cannot cope with the difficulties that arise. And the comfort on the Ilyushin is far from the same as that offered by the world’s first wide-body aircraft, the Boeing 747, which was in operation since the end of 1969.

The new car was created on the basis IL-86, where they left the same passenger capacity and flight range of 9 thousand km. The aircraft that received the designation Il-86D, increased the wing area and equipped them with engines NK-56, which were later abandoned in favor of Perm engines PS-90. Therefore, the designer of the car, Novozhilov, reduced the length of the fuselage, reduced the number of passenger seats and made the wing area somewhat smaller.

The plane named Il-96-300, took off for the first time on September 28, 1988 under the leadership of crew commander Hero of the Soviet Union S. Bliznyuk. This machine flew across the North Pole to Portland in 15 hours and made a non-stop flight Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Moscow, covering 14,800 km.

Description of the Il 96 aircraft

Though IL-96 looks like his ancestor IL-86, but the differences are still noticeable. It has a low-lying supercritical wing with a span of 60.1 m2 and reduced sweep. At the ends of the planes there are winglets that reduce inductive reactance.

The T-shaped tail was abandoned on the wide-body aircraft, but to improve directional stability in the event of engine failure, the fin height was increased by one and a half meters. The wing is equipped with mechanization; there are slats in front along the entire tip, and double-slit flaps at the rear. These devices create the necessary lift at high angles of attack without disrupting the air flow.

Cabin Il 96

The airframe uses new composite materials, which reduce the weight of the structure and extend its service life. The chassis of the vehicle is designed according to a three-wheel design: the main struts have four-wheel brakes, the nose two-wheel strut does not have brakes.

IL-96 equipped with four PS-90A engines with a takeoff thrust of 16 thousand kg each. The power plants are located on underwing pylons, two on each side of the fuselage. A special feature of the engines is the “Diagnoz-90” electronic control system, which allows you to control the operating parameters of the power plant, fuel consumption and prevent the occurrence of surge.

Thanks to the flight navigation system and the electronic flight control system VSUP-85-4, the IL-96 crew consists of three people (without a navigator). In the cockpit there are displays that display information about flight parameters and navigation conditions; on the central panel there are two more displays indicating the operating parameters of the power plants. The aircraft is controlled by fly-by-wire, three-channel.

Unlike IL-86 The new aircraft has fuel tanks with twice the capacity: four tanks in each console and one inside the fuselage. The air conditioning system is automatic, supplying each passenger with 25.7 kg/hour.

The wing and tail are equipped with an electric pulse anti-icing system that protects their leading edges. The engine air intakes are heated by hot air from the compressor chamber.

Salon Il 96

The comfortable passenger cabin accommodates 300 people, but for a two-class configuration the capacity is 235 passengers. The lower deck is divided into three compartments for luggage and cargo.

Flight characteristics of Il 96 400

The deep modernization of Ilyushin was Il-96-400, below are the characteristics for this modification:

• Wing span – 60.1 m.
• Wing area – 391.6 m2.
• The length of the aircraft is 63,961 m.
• Maximum take-off weight – 265 tons.
• The total payload weight is 58 tons.
• Flight range – 10 thousand km.
• Cruising speed – 870 km/h.
• Cruising echelon – 12 thousand m.
• Number of passengers – 436 people.
• Power plants – PS-90A1.
• Crew members – 3 people.

Interesting facts from the operation of the Il 96 aircraft

1. Il-96 is the only aircraft with a wide fuselage created in the USSR.
2. In the history of operation of the Il-96, there have been no flight accidents associated with the loss of life - it is a reliable wide-body airliner.
3. One of the modifications of this aircraft is the Il-96-300PU, which serves as an air control center for the President of the Russian Federation.
4. Many IL-96 aircraft received their own names in honor of famous pilots and cosmonauts.
5. In the history of operation of the Il-96, only once was there a flight ban due to a manufacturing defect in the landing gear of the presidential aircraft. The ban lasted 42 days - Aeroflot suffered significant losses as a result of this precedent.
6. The area of ​​the tennis court is one and a half times smaller than the area of ​​the IL-96 wing.

Video: Il 96 400 hard landing in crosswinds