Wind tunnel tests on a scale model of the CRAIC CR929 is carried out by TsAGI

Aerodynamic wind tunnel tests on a 1:39 scale version of the advanced wide-body aircraft – in the airframe-plus-wing configuration – have been carried out in Russia (TsAGI)

Russia’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) has completed a series of wind-tunnel tests on the CR929 new wide-body aircraft programme that is being developed jointly by Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and China’s COMAC.

A 1:39 scale high-speed standard model (HSM) version of the advanced wide-body aircraft in the airframe-plus-wing configuration was tested for an entire week at the T-128 aerodynamic wind tunnel at Zhukovsky near Moscow.

The HSM model was designed as a joint effort of Russian and Chinese aerodynamic experts. Similar CR929 programme tests have already been conducted in China and Europe.

“A series of tests in different countries has allowed us to accumulate data from which we can correctly compare results. The information we have gained is important for a more precise prediction of the CR929 aircraft’s aerodynamic performance in real flight,” explains Maxim Litvinov, the programme’s chief designer from the Russian side. Currently the data is being analysed by a working group made up of Russian and Chinese engineers who will compile a report, the details of which will help propel the programme to the next stage. As well as the practical implications for the future wide-body aircraft, the HSM testing is of great significance to the Russian aerospace industry in general, he adds.

“We can compare the results of the same model in different testing equipment in several countries. This is an unprecedented experience for us,” insists Anton Gorbushin, head of the aerodynamic laboratory at TsAGI.

The base version of the wide-body long haul CR929 is designed to carry 280 passengers over distances up to 12,000 kilometres. The maiden flight is scheduled for 2023, with certification approvals between 2025 and 2027. UAC’s president Yury Slyusar has previously indicated that the programme has thus far attracted 200 ‘soft’ orders. The programme, launched in 2017, is a Russo-Sino joint project being developed by CRAIC [China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation]