China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft

Blitzo

Blitzo

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@ kroko, actually we have had another photo of WS-20 on the test bed from about early last year too, and it is the new full photo which confirmed the earlier smaller phoo.

So it definitely isn't impossible for Y-20 to have WS-20 by sometime next year if Il-76 testbed runs began early last year (or more likely late 2012 considering there was most probably a delay in releasing the first photos)
 
L

latenlazy

Brigadier
kroko said:
True. In november last year, AN-225 went to china to pick cargo.

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Why 2015? we have seen only one photo of WS-20 being tested since january this year (have that photo been confirmed?). Could they install that engine in a prototype? prototype engine in a prototype plane?
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In this case probably. Having four engines means redundancy, which means less risk during testing. Furthermore the engine itself has already been partially validated because it is a derivative design.
 
Blitzo

Blitzo

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Also, "prototype engine in a prototype plane" is the way many new aviation projects go. China will eventually be comfortable enough with the place it's engines are in relation to airframes that prototype new generation designs will also feature prototype new generation engines.

And if the plane is a transporter with multiple engines for redundancy then the chances of that happening is even greater
 
A

AeroEngineer

Junior Member
kroko said:
True. In november last year, AN-225 went to china to pick cargo.

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Why 2015? we have seen only one photo of WS-20 being tested since january this year (have that photo been confirmed?). Could they install that engine in a prototype? prototype engine in a prototype plane?
Click to expand...



WS-20 has been testing on IL-76 test bed since late 2012. The typical testing period is 3 years, for example the PW-2000 for C-17 was tested 3 years. This means WS-20 should be ready by the end of this year and actual flight test in 2015.

After that, another 3 years of actual flight test is required for certification and mass production. Which means WS-20 will be ready for mass production in 2017 or 2018 !!
 
Air Force Brat

Air Force Brat

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Bltizo said:
Also, "prototype engine in a prototype plane" is the way many new aviation projects go. China will eventually be comfortable enough with the place it's engines are in relation to airframes that prototype new generation designs will also feature prototype new generation engines.

And if the plane is a transporter with multiple engines for redundancy then the chances of that happening is even greater
Click to expand...

That's correct, I'm sure the F-119s flew in the YF-22,,,, so there are lots of ways to skin a cat....
 
K

kroko

Senior Member
Bltizo said:
Also, "prototype engine in a prototype plane" is the way many new aviation projects go. China will eventually be comfortable enough with the place it's engines are in relation to airframes that prototype new generation designs will also feature prototype new generation engines.

And if the plane is a transporter with multiple engines for redundancy then the chances of that happening is even greater
Click to expand...

Dont Forget that PLA is very conservative in deploying new equipment. They will probably want to develop plane and engine separatly. Even if they enter service together.
 
Blitzo

Blitzo

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kroko said:
Dont Forget that PLA is very conservative in deploying new equipment. They will probably want to develop plane and engine separatly. Even if they enter service together.
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The PLA is moving very quickly these days and their conservatism is going to start tapering off eventually once they become more confident in the capabilities of the indigenous arms industry.


If WS-20 performs well during testbed runs and had a good track record prior, and if all is normal on the Y-20 prototype thus far, it wouldn't be particularly rushed at all to either convert a current prototype with WS-20 or build another one with WS-20. In fact that would still be quite conservative compared to other nations
 
Engineer

Engineer

Major
I expect them to start production of the Y-20 with D-30 engines first, then convert these early airframes to use WS-20 later on.
 
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