Week of April 28, 1997
MAKS '97: Olympic Games For Aviators In mid-April Gromov's Flight Test and Research Institute (LII) invited a group of journalists to see progress
on preparation for the MAKS '97 international aerospace show. "We are having difficulty with organizing
MAKS '97," admitted Felix Zolotarev, chief of LII, "but this does not mean that the event may be
cancelled. Let me assure everybody that MAKS '97 will be held whatsoever... and regardless  of the
weather."
Planned for August 19-24, MAKS '97 will be held in the territory of LII at the town of Zhukovsky, 35 km
southeast of Moscow. The show site is located near the huge runway, the biggest one in Europe. The site
consists of 35 various pavilions and 24 chalets with total indoor space of 22,500 and 2,400 sq.m
respectively. Two additional brick pavilions are under construction. Yuri Nagayev, MAKS '97
Among the most famous foreign guests are Boeing, Gulfstream, Bell Helicopters, General Electric,
AlliedSignal, Dassault, Aerospatiale, Eurocopter, DASA and CATIC. The CIS aerospace industry will be
represented by all of the big enterprises, including the Antonov design bureau, which intends to show the
second prototype of the An-70 propfan transport. The newest Russian designs on display will be the Kamov
Ka-50N night assault and Ka-52 battle management helicopters, Mil Mi-28 tank killer and Civil aircraft will also be presented in large numbers, from ultra-lights and piston-powered airplanes up to such monsters like the Ilyushin-96T and Antonov An-124. At a separate site, the S-300PMU-1 anti-aircraft system, the formidable pacifier of the skies, will be deployed. "We have something to show; to demonstrate that the power of the Russian aerospace industry is still alive," Felix Zolotarev said. "Our flight display program is widely regarded as the best in the world and this year we will prove it once again," he added. The number of visitors during the four trade days (August 19-22) is expected to exceed 50,000; the number of participants, VIPs and specially invited guests will be around 10,000. The overall number of visitors is estimated at 500,000 - the show in Zhukovsky has become popular with Russian folks. "This is because the aviation industry is the only thing the nation still can really be proud of," explains Sergei Skrynnikov, the editor-in-chief of Air Fleet Herald, the most popular Russian aerospace publication. Show organizers have firmly decided to keep ticket fares down - a single-pass ticket will cost Rbs 25,000 (US$ 4.35)during the trade days and Rbs 35,000 (US$ 6.10) on the weekend. This year the airshow will be a part of the celebrations of Moscow’s 850th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Zhukovsky. The heart of Russian aviation, the town of Zhukovsky has a population of 100,000 people many of whom work in LII, TsAGI (the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute), the Myasistchev design bureau, NIIP (Scientific and Research Institute of Instruments), or NIIAO (Scientific and Research Institute of Aviation Equipment). Unsurprisingly, Moscow City Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the head of Moscow regional administration Anatoly Tyazhlov are co-chairmen in the MAKS ’97 organizing committee. Among other MAKS ‘97 patrons are Yuri Baturin, the secretary of the National security council and Marshal Eureny Shaposhnikov, former Soviet AF commander and Aeroflot general director, now an adviser to President Yeltsin. Despite such heavy VIP support, LII has a shortage of money for reconstruction of the runway and its navigation/light equipment. Only 8% of the sum allocated in the state budget for LII in the first quarter of 1997 has been provided. Last year, the Ministry for Defence Branches of Industry provided 80% of the Rbs 25 billion (US$ 4.35 million) promised, the Ministry for Science, in cash, 30% out of 16 billion, and the Defence Ministry 1.5 billion out of 5.6 billion. According to Igor Volk, former cosmonaut, now deputy chief of LII, the runway has been kept in working condition with the help of charges on commercial operators using it. To prepare and conduct MAKS ‘97 at a “world-class level” and reconstruct the runway, LII has asked the Russian Government for an extra Rbs 45 billion (US$ 7.8 million). Zolotarev believes that the appropriate governmental decree will be issued soon, giving an official "go-ahead" and money for the show. "Should this not happen we will manage to conduct the show by ourselves, but in this case the quality of services offered to participants and visitors may not be very good," he says. Contingency plans are based on financial help from various state and independent structures. Several foreign organizations are said to be ready to provide cash under guarantees from the Russian Government. Meanwhile, four Russian banks - Mashbank, Elektronika-bank, Promstroibank and ONEKSIMbank - have already donated Rbs 250 m. Another MAKS ‘97 sponsor is the Smirnoff company. Beyond any doubt, the popularity of Smirnoff Vodka will help organizers attract more folks to the show, but in the case of careless usage, the "firewater" may cause difficulties. "For us aviators, the show in Zhukovsky is like the Olympic Games is for sports enthusiasts," Zolotarev says. Which brings this question to you then, comrade Felix - will there be drug testing?
Survey of Test ProgramsGromov's Flight Test and Research Institute is the place where prototypes of new Russian aircraft are tested – it has been this way since the Thirties. Accompanied by Valery Arkhipov, deputy chief of LII, journalists were taken on a tour between the so-called flight test stations - or LISes from "Lyetno-Ispytatelnaya Stantsiya" in Russian - belonging to Yakovlev, Sukhoi, Mikoyan, Tupolev, Ilyushin and LII itself. Here are reports from the first four LISes.
Yakovlev: Yak130 pitches upThe Yak-130D development prototype is busily conducting high-alpha trials. Andrei Sinitsin, the Yakovlev chief test-pilot, says, "A big part of the test program has already been covered, including stability and controllability tests. The aircraft has reached 30-degree alpha, performing a controllable flight at this angle. This is not a limit, it is what we have achieved so far." The aircraft has already made 52 flights and spent 36 hours in the air.The major efforts are now concentrated on the four-channel remote flight control system. "The system is fully automatic; we are now making fine adjustments," Sinitsin says. The plane has made 20 flights with the system activated. The high-alpha tests were conducted with and without the system in order to assess the aerodynamic performance of the plane, and then the control system was tuned to the peculiarities of the aircraft. Yakovlev people state structural problems with the plane’s wingtips have been solved. Vitaly Naryshkin, who is responsible for the Yak-130 test program at Yakovlev, says, "At one time we had the wingtips removed in order to assess their effectiveness. The aircraft made only six flights without them." He adds that the wingtips noticeably increase the wing's effective aspect ratio.
Sukhoi: working for IndiaThe LIS of the Sukhoi design bureau continues tests on the Aircraft 711, better known as the Su-37. This super-agile plane has logged "between 200 and 300" hours in 150 flights.It has become clear now that Aircraft 711 is merely a demonstrator and that the Su-37 will hardly ever enter service. Fidail Shigiziganov, the chief of Sukhoi's LIS, confirms that Aircraft 711 does not even have a radar. "This aircraft is intended chiefly for assessing aerodynamic performance," he explained. The other plane's task is to prove usefulness of thrust-vectoring. Sukhoi engineers seem to have succeeded in creation of the integrated flight control system, working out optimal control inputs on canards, leading and rear edges of the wing, differential stabilizers and engines with their moving nozzles. "The integrated flight control system of Aircraft 711 has been finally adjusted and now works very well," says the chief of Sukhoi's LIS. "In terms of 'brain' this system is well thought out." The design bureau is now developing a flight control system for the series-built Su-30MKI ordered by the Indian Air Force - in the final configuration the Indian Su-30s will have canards and Lulka-Saturn AL-37FU engines with thrust-vectored nozzles. Fidail Shigiziganov says Sukhoi instructors have finished training the first 60 specialists for the Indian Air Force, including 10 pilots and 50 technicians. Two pilots have mastered aerobatics. Performing his final training flight from the LII runway before journalists' eyes, Lieutenant Colonel Uni Krishna, a wing commander with the Indian Air Force, showed the same level of flying skills as such world-famous masters as Igor Votintsev and Anatoly Kvochur.
Mikoyan: MiG AT is getting more RussianThe famous developer of Mach 3 interceptors now seems to be paying much more attention to the MiG AT subsonic trainer than any other projects. Never unveiled, but already world-famous, the prototype of the fifth-generation counter-air fighter [editor: MFI, or Multi-Function Fighter, also known as the MiG 1.42] stands forgotten in a hangar while the rather simple subsonic "flying desk" is counting its flight hours. Although the initial sketch of the MIG AT appeared on paper well after first metal had been cut on the MFI prototype, the former project is now well ahead. The first MiG-AT prototype fitted with Sextant avionics and Snecma Larzac engines has logged some 500 hours and made 178 test flights from the LII airport.Mikoyan promises to display the second and third prototypes during the Paris Air Show or, at worst, MAKS ‘97. The MAPO factory has already manufactured parts for 20 MiG ATs and started assembly of a fourth aircraft. Mikoyan people working at the company's LIS, state the new aircraft will feature a purely- Russian avionics suite. All the instruments are said to be from enterprises included in the VPK MIG MAPO finance-industrial group. The decision to make the MiG AT more Russian is caused by the Russian Armed Forces' unwillingness to accept any Western parts in military aircraft. Because of this the Yak-130 has now more chances to win the RusAF tender for 200 new generation jet trainers. In order to continue the fight for the order, Mikoyan intends not only to replace the avionics suite, but engines as well. It is understood that the Larzac engine will finally be superseded by a new engine from Klimov. Outside Russia, however, the MiG AT will continue to be offered with French engines and avionics. Mikoyan people say the plane is of interest to Brazil, India and the South African Republic.
Tupolev: going supersonicThe Tu-144LL supersonic flying laboratory has made five test flights, including three in the spring. The Mach One barrier is planned to be broken in the sixth flight. Tupolev's LIS people say they are not certain about the day the first supersonic flight may occur. Planned for the end of April, it may be delayed by a couple of weeks.Answering the question what is the most interesting to their Boeing partners, Tupolev people say: "Our test pilots. The Americans are amazed by their qualification. Our crews do not merely "drive" the Tu-144LL; they actively participate in planning experiments and analyzing flight data. Boeing people have kept asking us numerous questions about how we prepare our test pilots."
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general
manager, says that 150 companies from 18 countries have already booked 9 chalets and 5,310 sq.m of
indoor space in pavilions. As of today, requests for exhibiting 56 aircraft have been received by the
organizers.
Yakovlev Yak-
130D next-generation jet trainer. According to Felix Zolaterev, VPK MAPO leaders promise to show the
Article 1.44 development prototype of the MFI air superiority fighter, the Russian reply to the F-22.
