Beriev Be-30 / Be-32 "Cuff"

The aircraft Beriev Be-30 was designed for medium range transportation. The most unusual factor about the Beriev Be-30 short-haul transport is the fact that it was the first land-plane to be designed and developed by the Beriev design bureau which had previously specialized in seaplanes. Be-30, when NATO code "Cuff", made its first flight on 3 March 1967. Seen publicly for the first time at the Soviet Aviation Day display at Domodedovo in 1967, it appeared subsequently at the 1969 Paris Air Show.

It was of all-metal design and has such features as metal, spot welding and the use of sandwich panels wing with a light filler. Because of the high-wing configuration, the retractable tricycle landing gear incorporated very stalky main units, these retracting into the rear of the engine nacelles.

The power plant consisted of two Shvetsova ASh-21 radial piston engines with an output of 551 kW (740 hp). The very small number of serial production aircraft had two turboprop engines TVD-10, developed in the design bureau Glushenkova.

The plane had a a maximum cruising speed at an altitude of 2000 meters (6560 feet) of 480 kilometers per hour (298 miles per hour) range with maximum fuel and utility loading of 900 kg (1984 lbs) 1300 kilometers (808 miles). Maximum takeoff weight was 5860 kg (12,919 pounds). The wingspan was 17 meters (55 feet 9.25 inches), length of 15.7 meters (51 feet 6 inches), height of 5.46 meters (17 feet 11 inches), wing area 32 square meters (344,46 sq. ft.) .

The plane with a crew of two people could carry 14 passengers. Among the latest developments used in Be-30, was air conditioning system and equipment to fly blind, included autopilot and the automatic approach. It was expected that Aeroflot would order a large number of Be-30 aircraft. In fact, it ordered only a few machines when it entered service in 1969. The reason for this was the choice as an aircraft for local airlines model Czech Let L-410 Turbolet, which had a little more capacity, as the standard short- haul type for service with Aeroflot.

Light passenger aircraft short take-off and landing of the Be-30 with two turboprop engines TVD-10 began to be developed in 1965. GM was the chief designer on the subject. Beriev, lead designer - V.N. Antonov. The development was based on the following basic principles:

1. The aircraft should be operated on almost all local lines of a small length (150–200 km) from unpaved airfields with different runway conditions.
2. The aircraft must be cost-effective in operation.
3. The design of the aircraft should comply with the conditions of mass production.
4. Passenger compartment equipment for comfort should have been consistent with modern trunk liners.

The required length of the runway for the new aircraft was taken to be 550 - 600 m. In this case, it could be based on 95% of the airfields of the Soviet Union. In addition, the Be-30 take-off and landing characteristics had to significantly improve the planned installation of the transmission linking the engines.

In March 1968, the main model of the aircraft was presented, for which the commission had a few minor observations. The protocol was approved on April 11, 1968. The first flight on the Be-30 was performed from the factory airfield in Taganrog on July 8, 1968. The test pilot M.I. Mikhailov. In the same year, two more prototypes were built. Machine No. 02 was put to the test in November 1968, and No. 03 with dual control and a full complement of small-sized equipment — in April 1969. After finishing the factory final testing of the OKB, the technical documentation was finalized, and on December 30, 1968 the aircraft was presented by the IHA for joint state tests of the 1st stage. By September 1, 1969, after performing 203 flights, the test program was completed.

The Be-30 took the first place in the competition, the An-28 took the second place, and the Czech L-410 took only the third place. High flight performance promised the Be-30 a cloudless career. But then high politics intervened in his fate. To support the Czechoslovak aviation industry within the framework of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), it was decided to mass deliveries of L-410 Turbolet aircraft to the USSR.

In connection with this, the USSR Council of Ministers in 1972 decided to stop further work on the Be-30. However, work on the variant Be-32 still continued. In total, eight Be-30s were produced, subsequently refined in the Be-32. One of the machines Be-30 was transformed into a cargo version, equipped with a large side door.