1.
No Need for Airfield
Flying vehicles "EKIP" are capable to perform takeoff and
landing from airfields of any category, from the ground and water
surfaces. Runway length even for heavy vehicles does not exceed 500
meters.
Such performances are achieved with the use of the following design
elements:
- air-cushion landing gear (using combined jet-chamber design);
- large plan area of aircraft allowing during landing at high angle
of attack to perform deceleration of "Ekip" vehicles to
100 km/h;
- vortex system, ensuring steady airflow in the boundary layer during
approach at high angle of attack (up to 40 degrees);
- jet control engines incorporated in the system of control and stabilization
of the aircraft under all flight conditions (primarily, during takeoff
and landing).
2. High Economy Characteristics
The estimated cost of transportation of passengers and cargoes aboard
the flying vehicles "EKIP" shall be 1.5-2 times lower than
on airplanes "Boeing-747X" or A3-XX "Airbus Industry"
due to the following:
- high level of lift-drag ratio (K) under cruiser conditions of flight
(K=16 for aircraft with takeoff weight of 50 tons and K=18 for aircraft
with takeoff weight of 300 tons. High level of lift-drag ratio is
gained by low level of inductive resistance (Cxi) as the flight is
performed at low levels of lift coefficient (Cy=0.2-0.25), low level
of friction drag (Cxt) due to lami-
narity of flow on face surface of the aircraft and reduced surface
friction provided by operation of vortex system of airflow control
in the boundary layer mounted on the stern surface of the flying vehicle;
low level of power consumption of the vortex system of airflow control
in the boundary layer, ensuring steady airflow in the boundary layer
of flying vehicles "EKIP");
- reduced level of operating expenses (simplified airfield infrastructure,
closeness of takeoff and landing areas to initial and final points
of transportation process, takeoff and landing from airfields of any
category, including ground and water surfaces, simplification of out-of-season
maintenance of the power unit, located inside the flying vehicle);
- use of natural gas as the engine fuel (use of natural liquid gas
reduces the expenses for the fuel in the Moscow region 3-4 times,
and 10 times in the Northern regions);
- increase of commercial load by reduction of specific empty weight
of the main structure (for flying vehicles "EKIP" of high
load-carrying capacity the specific weight of the structure represents
0.3-0.35 compared to 0.5-0.55 for airplane A3-XX "Airbus Industry");
reduction of production cost of flying vehicles "EKIP" compared
to the cost of traditional airplanes as a result of exclusion of the
cost of such high-priced units as wheel landing gear and long load-carrying
wings equipped with a mechanization system;
- reduced specific fuel consumption under cruising flight conditions
as a result of optimization of operation of the power unit (the takeoff
condition is provided by operation of afterburners).
3. High Load-Carrying Capacity and Transportation of Large-Scale
Cargoes
The flying vehicles "EKIP" are capable to carry heavy (100
and more tons) large-scale cargoes due to:
- large plan area of flying vehicles "EKIP" (3-4 times exceeding
the area of modern airplanes), permitting to obtain high values of
lift even at low levels of lift coefficient (Cy=0.2-0.25);
- high relative thickness of the body of "EKIP" aircraft
providing usable interior volumes for accommodation of passengers
and loads several times exceeding the usable interior volumes of existing
and designed airplanes of the same load-carrying capacity;
- air-cushion takeoff and landing gear, ensuring low and uniform distribution
of load during takeoff and landing of the flying vehicles;
4. Flight Safety
The flying vehicles "EKIP" perform takeoff and landing at
speeds 2-2.5 times lower than takeoff and landing speeds of modern
cargo-passenger carrying airplanes (the takeoff speed of flying vehicles
"EKIP" with takeoff weight of 300 tons does not exceed 140
km/h, whereas the landing speed does not exceed 100 km/h).
In case of failure of all power units the "EKIP" aircrafts
are capable to perform a safe landing on airfields of any category,
ground and water surfaces. In case of emergency situations during
takeoff the flying vehicles "EKIP" may land with fully loaded
fuel tanks at full load (note, that the airplanes A3XX-200 in such
cases should have their takeoff weight decreased by 170 tons). Such
performances are provided by:
- effective deceleration during approach due to large plan area and
steady airflow in the boundary layer at high angle of attack (up to
40 degrees) provided by the vortex system;
- jet control engines which ensure control and stabilization of the
flying vehicle jointly with aerodynamic control surfaces (under normal
conditions at low speeds during takeoff and landing, and under emergency
situations caused by failure of aerodynamic control surfaces during
cruising flight);
- 4-fold reserve (as per gas generators) of auxiliary power units,
providing for operation of air-cushion landing gear and vortex system
of steady airflow around the vehicle (dual generator turboshaft engines
are mounted, operating in economy cruising mode with the use of recuperative
cycle to ensure operation of the vortex system and operating at maximum
power mode during takeoff and landing to ensure operation of air-cushion
landing gear);
- effective fire extinction of burning engine by filling the interior
engine compartment with fire-fighting agents.
5. Passenger Comfort
The flying vehicles "EKIP" have usable interior volumes
several times exceeding the usable volumes of cargo-passenger carrying
airplanes of equal load-carrying capacity.
Thus flying vehicles "EKIP" designed for transportation
of 75 tons of commercial load have interior volumes 6-7 times exceeding
those of the airplanes A3-XX200. This makes it possible to state that
the conditions provided for passengers in flying vehicles "EKIP"
will be more comfortable than in foreign airplanes.
6. Special Use of Flying Vehicles "EKIP"
Apart from transportation of large numbers of passengers and heavy
(large-scale) cargoes to the regions which are not equipped with a
well-developed infrastructure of airfields (southeastern regions of
Asia, northern and north-eastern regions of Russia, etc.) the flying
vehicles "EKIP" may be effectively used for the following
purposes:
- fighting forest fires;
- in rescue operations on water surface and in cases of emergency;
- tourism (including in tours around the world);
- transportation between existing airfields and large city centers
located on rivers.
7. Environmental Safety
High level of environmental safety of flying vehicles "EKIP"
is the result of:
- decreased level of contaminating emissions due to replacement of
traditional fuel (kerosene) with natural gas or hydrogen;
- reduced size of airfield (the runway for flying vehicles with takeoff
weight of 300 tons does not exceed 500 meters);
- decreased noise level along air routes due to active destruction
of flat exhaust jet from the engine nozzle and absence of vortex atmospheric
disturbances due to steady airflow around the vehicle body;
- reduced noise provided by interior arrangement of engines and lining
of the interior of engine compartment with noise-absorption materials;
- reduced noise in the airfield area due to takeoff and approach at
high flight path.
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