Yeysk-based designer Sergey Borisenko, co-founder of the company "Tekhnoregion," intends to hold the first presentation of the prototype of the light multipurpose aircraft TR-303 in the coming months. A distinctive feature of the project is its unconventional powerplant consisting of three Subaru EJ255 opposed gasoline engines, widely known from the automotive industry.
We are preparing the An-2 fuselage and welding the engine mounts. This engine [Subaru EJ255] is the best in the world for us, reliability is 100 percent, noise and vibrations are minimal. Gasoline consumption is half that of the An-2.
According to the developer, the main goal of the project is to offer the market an affordable and economical replacement for the aging An-2, whose operation may become impossible in the coming years due to a shortage of spare parts and the exhaustion of the service life of the standard piston engines. Borisenko emphasizes that his initiative is purely commercial in nature: he does not consider himself an aviation enthusiast, but views the TR-300 as a business solution for the regional and agricultural air transport segment.
Borisenko predicts that within three to five years, the An-2 fleet will begin to fail on a massive scale precisely because of engine life exhaustion, which will open a window of opportunity for new models.
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