Reliable airliner Tu 204SM

New aircraft modification Tu 204SM Is a machine with an increased maximum take-off weight and a state-of-the-art automation system, which makes it possible to fly completely from start to finish in director mode. Modern avionics made it possible to reduce the crew to two people, without compromising flight safety.

The history of the creation of Tu 204SM

OKB im. Tupolev, back in 1973, began the development of a new aircraft that would replace. The developers considered many proposals and settled on a variant of a wide-body liner with three engines. The project received the designation Tu-204 and even a mock-up was built, but in the process of further development, the three propulsion machines were abandoned.

The designers came to the understanding that a medium-range aircraft with two engines on pylons under the wing would be more optimal, and this was unusual and radically different from the schemes of machines that were developed at the Tupolev Design Bureau. Such a project was approved by the government in 1983 and work began on further design and construction of prototypes.

In 1985 the chief designer Tu-204 was L. Lanovsky, who widely began to use the universal system "Diana", created in the Tupolev Design Bureau for the calculation of structures. With the help of this system, the calculation of the dynamics of destruction, the frequency and modes of vibration was carried out, and the method of calculating the stress-strain state of the entire structure of the aircraft was tested.

The program incorporated into the "Diana" system made it possible to calculate, with all the complexity of the aerodynamic shape of the wing, its analytical smoothness and to automate the process of machining parts on CNC machines. It was decided to use composite materials where appropriate to reduce the weight of the structure. Technological solutions such as long prefabricated panels, oversized fuselage skins and titanium-fastened non-docking wing panels have been successfully applied to achieve a minimum empty weight.

The installation of drain valves at the bottom of the pressurized cabin, the use of improved paints and varnishes and the installation of thermal and noise insulation according to a new scheme helped to increase the machine's resistance to corrosion. The use of materials with improved characteristics in terms of strength, toughness and slower crack growth rates in the design brought the new aircraft to the level of the best foreign analogues.

In early January 1989, test pilot V. Minashkin performed the first flight on a new liner Tu-204... The fine-tuning and revision of the new car began. But, after the collapse of the USSR and subsequent political events in the 90s, the collapse of the economy, funding for the project stopped.

A few years later, thanks to the then head of the ZhLI and DB V. Klimov, it was possible to obtain permission from the Prime Minister V.S. Chernomyrdin to combine flight tests with commercial transportation. This helped to raise funds to pay for fuel, operate airfields and radio-technical equipment, and financially support people involved in flight tests of the aircraft.

In December 1994, a certificate for operation was received Tu-204... Since then, more than 20 modifications of this machine have been released, among the latest of them is this, which will be discussed below.

Brief description and main differences of Tu 204SM

For the first time, a new modernized vehicle was lifted into the air by the crew under the control of test pilot V. Minashkin at the end of December 2010. The aircraft passed all tests successfully and in 2011 was ready for serial production.

By its design, it is a monoplane with a low wing and two theaters, placed on pylons under the wing. Special supercritical profiles create a negative wing twist, the V-shaped cross-section has a positive angle of 40, and the wing itself has a leading edge sweep for 3015 minutes. At the ends of the planes, there are end flaps to reduce the inductive resistance.

Slats are located on the front edge of the consoles, and double-slotted flaps on the rear. Tricycle chassis with a nose pillar. PS-90A2 turbojet engines with thrust of 16 thousand kgf each.

The main changes made to the modification Tu 204SM:

Equipping the machine with modernized PS-90A2 turbojet engine, more economical with increased power and increased overhaul life.
Placement of the TA-18-200M onboard auxiliary power unit capable of launching and operating at high altitudes.
Installation of a modernized landing gear, the resource of which is equal to the service life of the airframe of the aircraft.
The passenger compartment is more comfortable with an improved interior. They have roomy luggage racks, video and audio systems to pass the time in flight. For a relaxing stay inside the passenger compartment, soft lighting created by LED lamps and reliable noise-absorbing insulation that maintains a low noise level.

The degree of automation of control of the machine has increased throughout the entire flight from takeoff to landing, thanks to the introduction of the concept of "electronic board", which made it possible:

Placement on board of flight and thrust control computer systems, aircraft navigation systems, allowing automatic navigation in the horizontal and vertical planes.
To increase the efficiency and reliability of the air data measurement system by changing the basic elements and their rearrangement.
To equip the cockpit with a new electronic alarm and display system, with trackball manipulators and larger display screens, making it more highly ergonomic.
Place a new BSTO-204 system that monitors the technical condition of the aircraft on-board systems.
Fully automate the piloting process using the new SUOSO-204 aircraft equipment control system. All this made it possible to reduce the flight crew to two people.

Cabin Tu 204 CM

Basic flight parameters of the Tu 204SM aircraft

Wingspan 42 m.
The length of the aircraft is 46.2 m.
Thrust-to-weight ratio - 2PS-90A2 x 16600 kgf.
Maximum takeoff weight - 108 tons.
The weight of an unloaded aircraft is 60.5 tons.
The amount of fuel is 35.8 tons.
The total weight of the payload is 23 tons.
Range with maximum payload - 4200 km.
The range at maximum refueling is 8300 km.
Recommended levels of commercial flights are 10.6-12.1 km.
The optimum speed at the echelon is 830-850 km / h.
The maximum number of passengers is 215 people.
The number of flight crew members - 2 people.

Salon Tu 204 CM

A look at the Tu 204SM from the side of the pilots

At first glance, this car is no different from its predecessors. But this is far from the case, it has all new filling, it is equipped with modernized and new systems. Improved engines, a new auxiliary unit, a lighter landing gear - everything is aimed at making the aircraft comply with international ICAO standards.

In terms of safety, many incidents have occurred due to the loss of spatial orientation, which occurs when switching to instrument flights with “forward” indication to “reverse”. On Tu-204SM, the artificial horizon is made with a lateral roll scale and the transition to another indication is painless.

The disasters due to the loss of speed have not yet been forgotten - these are the An-148 and the airbus, which lost speed and crashed. On the new car, this was taken into account, and now speed data is also taken from sensors located on the aircraft engines and standard sensors. This is a somewhat crude parameter, but now, when the pilot sees the difference in the readings, he already understands the problem, and is trained in further actions.

After the disaster with hockey players on the Yak-42, when the pilot tried to take off with the brakes pressed, a voice informant was installed on the Tu-204 SM, which, if the brakes are pressed on takeoff, gives information about the activation of the brakes.

The new aircraft fully implements the director flight control mode - from takeoff to landing. In this case, the pilot performs a redundant function, the whole process is controlled by the systems. Systems do not allow the pilot to make a gross mistake or do something involuntarily.

The pilot must first understand the problem, then turn off the monitoring system and then only take the necessary action.

The new Tu-204SM fully meets the requirements of Airbus and Boeing, and even surpasses them in the number of control systems.

Interesting facts from the operation of the Tu 204 family

Since June 2009, after the disaster in Yaroslavl Yak-42, the Russian national football team performed flights exclusively by airplanes Tu-204-100 as the most reliable and proven machines.

It is interesting that in the film "The Crew", filmed in 2016, two Tu-204SM aircraft are involved in the filming.

Another case proving the reliability of the aircraft and the skill of our pilots. Performing an approach in Omsk in low clouds and low visibility, Tu-204 exhausted the entire supply of fuel and made an emergency landing with the engines inoperative. There were no casualties during landing, and the car soon returned to service. This happened on January 14, 2002.

I would like to wish that, despite all the intrigues that are going on around this aircraft, the aircraft successfully worked for the benefit of our Motherland.