Artur Chilingarov announced in Orenburg that he plans to test the plane on the ski body in the North Pole. Who had the idea to put the plane on skis?
Model L-410 is the result of technological cooperation between Orenburg production Association "Strela" and Czech airlines "Aircraft Industries".
For "skis" that can ride even on the Pole Russian designers have developed a special construction.
"Ski chassis consists of 3 parts: a metal, wooden and plastic structures. This is a fundamentally new technology that has never been used in the production of chassis before. On wood, or as it is called, moving parts, carefully selected varieties of wood are glued together in three layers: two layers of ash and one layer of pine. Ash is a material that has high strength, at the same time it has a very low specific weight. In addition, ash is very well adapted to vibroload, which is inevitable during takeoff and landing. The layers are stacked not in solid pieces but in sawn laths. These rails are initially adjusted at the snap dry, i.e. without glue, and then start working to gluing. Currently developed technique allows to detect even the most minor "gaps," said chief engineer of the production Association "Strela" Sergey Konarev.
Polyethylene is a final part. As explained by chief Metallurgist AT Basil oil Seals, it was one of the most difficult parts as polyethylene almost doesn’t glue. Technology was borrowed from companies that produce mountain, cross-country skiing. After gluing polyethylene it is tested including fragility tests: it must withstand temperatures up to minus 70 degrees.
The final stage of the construction work was a test installation on the basis of the Orenburg international airport. Replacement of a single wheel with a ski landing gear took about an hour.
This figure has granted developers — plane can be "shoed" in a short time without any difficulty, which is very important in Arctic conditions.
Tests at the North Pole model L-410, according to Artur Chilingarov, will be held before the end of 2015. The introduction of new technology will help solve the problem of take-off and landing in the harsh Arctic conditions.
