The model of the promising long-haul aircraft Tu-454, presented in Kazan, remains more of a concept than a real project. This opinion was expressed in an interview with "Pervy Tekhnichesky" by Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR and Chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor.
According to him, the Russian aviation industry has faced deep problems, and the fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft is gradually depleting its resources.
The realities today are such that everything indicates that in a couple of years, we will simply have nothing to fly.
He noted that the idea of the Tu-454 looks interesting, but the current state of the industry raises doubts about the possibility of rapid implementation of such projects. Smirnov also recalled the existence of the Il-96 project, which has not lost a single aircraft in crashes throughout its operation.
At the same time, the expert emphasized that the Il-96 was created using last century's technologies. The transition from four engines to two will require almost complete redesign of the structure, and suitable power plants are not yet available.
Replacing engines is essentially rebuilding the entire aircraft. Therefore, it is easier to create a new machine from scratch.
Andrey Patrakov, a board member of the Association of Small Aviation Enterprises, explained to "Pervy Tekhnichesky" that in Russia, none of the remaining design bureaus can cope with the development of the Tu-454 alone.