Beriev Be-32 "Cuff"

The Be-32 is a modified version to meet the requirements of Western Operators. It is almost the same aircraft slightly updated to just modern standards. Russia is developing an air traffic system based on hubs. This means that to the top ten hub airports located in the vast territory of the Russian Federation it will be necessary to deliver passengers via regional and local routes. To stretch the air branches to the most inaccessible places, operators need a small and economical machine that can land and take off from short, including ground and pebble airfields.

While there were tests in the OKB GM Beriev one of the machines Be-30 was modified, giving it a modification Be-32. Changed mainly the internal layout. Now in the passenger compartment it was possible to place up to 17 seats, and in this form the plane got to the final stage of state tests. According to the results of tests conducted in from 1969 to 1971, the OKB modified the Be-30 aircraft. The main improvements made on the aircraft were as follows:

1. new TVD-10 engines were installed with increased power in take-off mode - from 950 to 1050 hp;
2. increased the number of seats for passengers from 14 to 19 people;
3. mounted (on the same plane) reclining passenger seats and a folding trunk (testing the concept of "luggage with you");
4. a side cargo hatch with a size of 1300 x 1400 mm was installed (on the No. 05 OS plane);
5. installed all-mode autofluger;
6. the maximum paid load has been increased from 1,500 to 2,000 kg;
7. Installed additional fuel tanks.

As a result of the improvements, the technical and economic characteristics were significantly improved. Modified Be-30 with TVD-10 was assigned an index Be-32.

The report on state tests of the Be-30, approved on March 30, 1971, concluded: “To recommend the Be-30 to mass production after modifications according to list No. 1 and No. 2”.

The operational tests of the Be-30 in the Bykovsky squadron showed the reliability and safety of their operation. Based at the airport Bykovo, the aircraft carried out technical flights to many cities of the USSR, flights were performed both day and night. The raid ranged from 6 to 14 hours per day. During the operational tests of the Be-30 aircraft, there were practically no failures of the material part.

In general, the experience of operating the Be-30/32 at various airports in the Baltic States, Central Asia, Ukraine, the middle band of the RSFSR, Siberia and other areas at temperatures from +45 to -40 ° C showed high reliability and ease of maintenance. More than 4,000 flights were performed with a flight time of about 3,000 hours. 1,500 landings were made on one of the aircraft.

In the period from October 1972 to July 1974, the Be-32 aircraft carried out tests to test the “Airworthiness Standards of Civil Aircraft of the USSR” (USSR NLGS), which showed that the Be-32 aircraft conforms to the “Airworthiness Standards of Civil Aircraft” .

In the period from August to October 1976, at the initiative of the Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR B. P. Bugaev, comparative tests of the Be-32 and An-28 aircraft were carried out under a single program. They participated aircraft Be-30 #01 "OS" in the layout for 19 seats and No. 05 "OS" in the layout for 14 passenger seats.

Miraculously one Be-32 survived, which for 17 years stood in the open air on the outskirts of the factory airfield. It was this experimental aircraft - series -01 "OS" - that was decided in 1992-1993 to rebuild, re-equip to the administrative business aircraft and then conduct ground and flight tests. Chief Designer for the Be-32 S.A. Atoyants was most surprised that when the car was turned on, everything turned on and everything worked. Some parts even had to be removed from the Be-32 -05 "OS" at Monino.

Reappearing 24 years later at Le Bourget in 1993, the “new, old” Be-32 summoned a lively interest, showing that it was not only not outdated, but could compete on equal footing with the newest cars of its class. From August 31 to September 5, 1993, the aircraft, along with A-40 and Be-12P amphibians, was demonstrated at the Mosheeroshow in the town of Zhukovsky.

At the Dubai-93 air show the Moscow Airlines company even stated that it already orders 50 of these aircraft (though, unfortunately, it didn’t come to real funds.

The Be-32K aircraft became the modernization of the Be-32 aircraft for Canadian Pratt & Whitney PK6A 65B engines. All work on the Be-32 TVD-10 were discontinued. New engines had a number of advantages over TVD-10. First of all, they had a high resource - 6000 hours, more power - 1100 hp, lower fuel consumption and lower noise. Firm Pratt & Whitney and St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise "Plant them. V.Ya. Klimov ”created a joint venture Pratt & Whitney / Klimov and, in the future, was going to start production of the engine PK6A-65B in Russia, to receive a certificate for it, thus turning it into a Russian product. In 1994, Canadians interested in advertising their engines provided the TANTK for installation on the Be-32K two RC6A-65B engines on preferential terms.

The deployment of full-scale work on the conversion of the aircraft was hampered by the lack of the necessary financial resources. The money appeared in the summer of 1995, literally on the eve of the beginning of the International Aerospace Salon MAKS-95 in Zhukovsky.

The Be-32P passenger seaplane project based on the Be-32K was developed in 1999. It was supposed to be used for transporting passengers, baggage and mail on local air lines that run over territories with a large number of rivers and lakes, primarily in Siberia, in the North and Far East. The Be-32P seaplane is a variant of the Be-32K equipped with floats. Two floats, of metal construction, separated by watertight bulkheads into compartments, are fastened by means of braces to the fuselage and the front spar of the wing center section. The distance between the floats is 5.2 m, the length of the floats is about 11 m and the height is about 1.2 m. Operation of the Be-32P is possible on rivers, lakes and other water bodies with a water area of up to 1000 m and a depth of 1.3 m at wind wave no more than 0.5 m.