IL-76 Engine Testbed
Last updated: 10 November 2006
China Flight Test Establishment (CFTE) currently operates a flying testbed converted from a Russian-made Il-76MD jet transport aircraft to serve as a flying testbed for future engine development programmes. The first engine to be tested on the aircraft is the WS-10A “Taihang” turbofan, currently being developed as the powerplant for China’s indigenous J-10 and J-11 fighter aircraft. The Il-76MD '76456', acquired by the AVIC 1 from Russia in the 1990s, is currently based at CFTE’s flight test facility at Yanliang, Shaanxi Province.
The IL-76MD flying testbed was designated to accumulate comprehensive in-flight data on new jet engines for civil and military aircraft. The aircraft has a test engine installed at the left inboard position, and can fly only with the remaining three D-30KP turbofan jet engines.
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| '76456' is a specially-built IL-76 testbed originally in service with Russia, and later purchased by China in the late 1990s (Chinese Internet) |
The IL-76MD proved as an efficient flying testbed that can accommodate a wide range of engine sizes and thrusts which may be involved in future developments. The four-engine IL-76, originally designed and developed by Russian Ilyushin Design Bureau in the 1970s, is a very reliable aircraft with exceptionally good flying qualities. The cabin space and payload capabilities are ideally suited for experimental equipment installations and applications.
Until the mid-1990s, CFTE operated a single flying engine testbed converted from a Xi’an H-6 bomber. The aircraft’s internal bomb bay was modified to house a retractable platform for engine testing. The H-6 testbed entered service in December 1976 and had been used to test thirteen jet engine models before the aircraft finally retired in 1996.
In 1993, AVIC 1 required a suitable flying testbed for its WS-10A “Taihang” turbofan engine. As the H-6 testbed was no long airworthy, the single-seat, twin-engine Sukhoi Su-27SK fighter was used as an interim solution to complete the initial airborne tests. One of the Su-27SK fighters acquired by the PLAAF from Russia in 1992 was converted into a flying testbed, with its original AL-31F engine on the port side removed and replaced by a Chinese-made WS-11A.
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