Maybe they don't want the Russian's catching the blood in the water and pull a Il-76/Il-78 stunt? (Raising price, delaying production)
Better to order incrementally.
Chinese-European transport helo project
- Thread starter Sczepan
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Maybe they don't want the Russian's catching the blood in the water and pull a Il-76/Il-78 stunt? (Raising price, delaying production)
Better to order incrementally.
AC311 making first flight from Tianjin on the 8th of November. It's basically Z-11. Unfortunately, they still have not moved onto any new design, nor does it look like they are going to. According to this, Z-15 will be given the designation AC352.
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Pointblank
Senior Member
You ideally want as big as a helicopter as you can get onto your platforms. Size has a quality all its own, especially in endurance and payload. Bigger helicopters mean more time aloft, and of course, more sensors and storage space. On the USN's SH-60R, there is very little room inside the helicopter because they tried to cram it full of sensors and computers. A larger helicopter like the EH-101 or something similar allows one to carry the required sensors, plus say, a couple of personnel that you probably would not be able to carry in the first place without having to strip out equipment.
I'd expect the Chinese successor to the S-70 and AS532 to fulfill that role at some point.
Some photos from the plant in Tianjin of AC-301 assembly line. We also have an assembly instruction and all of the helicopters in AC series. AC301 basically is just Z-11 from what I can see. AC-311 is also like Z-11 (2 ton + 1 turboshaft engine), but fuselage is a little different. AC-310 looks like S-300C that China is building. AC-312 is Z-9. AC-352 is Z-15. AC-313 is Z-8.
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Pictures of AC-313 from Zhuhai airshow. Not much new here, but has a paint job like the J-10s from the airshow.
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said that AC-313 got 5 initial domestic orders after its first flight. And then, followed that by getting 32 export orders from south east Asian, west Asian, African and South American countries.
China is developing the 1-ton AC-310, 2 ton AC-301A, 6-ton AC-352 and 13-ton AC-313.
the news here is that Ukraine is planning to try out TVZ-117VMA-SBM1V in China. It is their latest engine for Mi-8/17 series. China has apparently shown some real interest
according to this article
This new engine helped Mi-8mtv to break the current world record by ascending 8100m in 13 minutes, exceeding its previous trial achievement of 5000m in 9 minute
The benefits of this new engine could also possibly be applied to other designs as well as improving Mi-17 performance.
