Any information/updates on…

RE: Any information/updates on…

The TU-324 was supposed to take its maiden flight in Jan 2002 after it got delayed due to some reasons…..and the TU-330 and its varients programme has been stopped and i doubt if they wil continue…..heres a little about the 324…..
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At the S.P.Gorbunov aviation plant in the city of Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan Republic, work has started on the construction of a new TU-324 passenger jet aircraft intended to carry 52 passengers, designed at OJSC A.N.Tupolev ANTK.
The TU-324 will replace the ageing Tu-134, An-24 and Yak-40 aircraft, that have not been in production since the ’80s, and which airlines are forced to use today on regional and international routes.

The close co-operation between the leading Russian experimental design office (incorporating in the Tu-324 aircraft the achievements of Russia¹s well-known aviation science) and the Kazan factory goes back more than 70 years.
It began with the construction of the famous ANT series of aircraft, that broke many world records, and has continued to this day, with the production of the most up-to-date strategic missile carriers and the Tu-214 passenger aircraft. One special feature of the programme is that it was the Tatarstan Republic, and not Moscow, that launched the initiative for creating the Tu-324 aircraft. The Russian government supported this initiative, and also the idea of financing the programme from extra-budgetary sources, that was a new phenomenon for Russia. Moreover, the initial general supervision for the programme was not in the hands of Moscow, but lay with a management group within the Tatarstan Republic.

Guided by the need to achieve a high degree of commercial efficiency, the project managers radically altered traditional approaches to the creation of aviation technology then existing in Russia, starting from the selection of the class of aircraft, the technology for its construction and the production.
The selection of an aircraft which was actually for regional lines was made on the basis of a study of the requirements of route markets in Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Asian Pacific region, and not on instructions from the government. Russian companies assessed their requirement for the TU-324 to be 460 aircraft ­ not a bad basis for starting production.

From the very start, the project managers did not hesitate to invest large sums in creating a basis for automated planning at the main design centre for the aircraft and in the factory in Kazan. The Tu-324 is the first Russian aircraft to be created using the technologies of fully electronic description, both at the planning stage and in the subsequent phases of production preparation.
Specifically for the Tu-324 aircraft, the managers purchased a new turbofan engine and new avionics, during the development of which wide use was made of international co-operation with firms in France, the Ukraine, Switzerland and the US. As a result the characteristics of the engine for the Tu-324 aircraft is equal to any similar engine in the world. The avionics of the Tu-324 conform to all the international requirements, including those scheduled to be introduced in 2005, and the A.N.Tupolev ANTK has announced its intention to adapt it for all its aircraft

The Tu-324 is being made as attractive as possible for passengers. The rear location of the low-noise jet engines, the comfortable seats at 810 mm intervals in the economy class, the flat floor, the high ceiling, the well-equipped galley and the wide range of audio and video services make the flight as comfortable as possible for the passengers.
Specialists will note the high level of automation in flight control and pre-flight servicing, making it possible to function with two pilots, the aircraft¹s maximum autonomy in airports, obtained on account of a powerful auxiliary power plant, the trapdoors, the fact that most of the equipment can be accessed without auxiliary steps, and finally the high degree of fuel economy ­ making the Tu-324 attractive to airlines.

A business class aircraft is being created based on the Tu-324. The dimensions of the fuselage allow luxurious conditions to be provided. VIP passengers will benefit from a study, a bedroom and a shower cabinet and other passengers will find the facilities of a very high standard. A digital satellite link and an on-board computer linked to a server on the ground make it possible to work on documents in flight and to transmit them in legally acceptable form. The technology also makes business contact easy and efficient.
The Tu-324’s maiden flight will be in 2001, and it will be delivered to airlines from 2004 onwards. The aircraft will be available in an economical 52-seat version with a cockpit, a mixed 46-seater variant (10 business class seats, with seats at 960 mm. intervals and 36 tourist class seats, with seats at 810 mm. intervals) and a business class version for 8-12 passengers.
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The project managers have provided a flexible system for working with the airlines, both on order processing and payments and with regard to questions of providing aircraft with additional systems for communications, service and fuselage design.

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