The Baikal aircraft has been tested with a Russian engine. What you need to know

The Russian Baikal aircraft has passed its first flight tests with domestic engines and a propeller. Successful tests will make it possible to obtain certification and establish mass production of the aircraft in the near future. It should replace the An-2 Corncob and take over local passenger transportation in the North and the Far East. What you need to know about the plane is in the Izvestia article.

Baikal Trials

• In Yekaterinburg, at the airfield of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA), tests of the LMS-901 Baikal light multipurpose aircraft with a new Russian VK-800 engine and an AV-901 propeller took place. The prototype reached a speed of 210 km/h and climbed to a height of 400 m. The flight went smoothly, the engine showed stable operation. Also, during the ground tests, all the provided engine modes, the operation of the emergency stop system were checked, and the fuel supply was evaluated.

• These were the first flight tests of the Baikal with a domestic power plant installed on it. The aircraft first took off in January 2022, when it was equipped with a General Electric H80-100 engine and a Hartzell Propeller made in the USA. A total of 174 flights were made in this configuration. However, back in 2022, the American partners withdrew from the project, which required the development of fully Russian equipment for the aircraft.

• Successful tests make it possible to plan the certification of the engine and propeller for the first quarter of 2026, and the entire aircraft until its end. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that Baikal will enter mass production at the UZGA site no later than December 2026. It is planned to produce up to 50 aircraft per year. Its cost at the moment is about 280 million rubles per car.

The purpose of Baikal

• The Baikal aircraft is primarily intended to replace the An-2 aircraft, which was developed back in 1947. Since then, about 18 thousand cars have been built, nicknamed "cornhuskers". Although it continues to be in operation, the need for replacement due to obsolescence is obvious. Suffice it to say that the An-2 uses percale, a lacquer—soaked fabric, as the lining of the wings, stabilizer and keel.

• The development of Baikal began in 2019 by order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Prior to that, attempts were made to modernize the An-2 and adapt it to modern realities. Also in 1994, the T-101 Grach aircraft was tested, which was built according to the Baikal scheme with a fuselage of the same size and an upper wing, but with a turboprop engine instead of a piston engine. Grach showed good results and was operated in northern conditions for some time, but the project did not receive further development.

Take-off addresses: the government plans to make air travel in Russia more accessible

What are the most effective mechanisms for subsidizing air transportation?

• Baikal belongs to the class of small aircraft performing various functions, from passenger transportation to agricultural work. It is planned that the first aircraft will be used for air safety and sanitary transportation. In the future, Baikal will be adapted for local passenger flights in the Far East and the Far North, which will also allow it to become a cheaper alternative to helicopter transportation.

Characteristics of Baikal

• Baikal has similar characteristics to the An-2, and in some respects surpasses its predecessor. The Baikal weighs 2,040 kg, with a maximum take-off weight of 4,800 kg, meaning its payload exceeds 2.5 tons. At the same time, the An-2, with its own weight of about 3.5 tons, lifts up to 2 tons of cargo. At the same time, the LMS-901 will be designed to carry nine passengers, while the An-2 carried 12 people besides the crew.

• The LMS-901 has a maximum range of 3,000 km, which is almost three times higher than the An-2. With a design load of 2,000 kg, Baikal will be able to travel up to 1,500 km. The maximum speed of the new aircraft is 300 km/h, while the AN-2 flies at speeds up to 190 km/h. The Baikal's take—off distance is 220 m, and the running distance is 195 m, meaning even short runways are suitable for it.

• At the same time, experts note a significant drawback of Baikal. Unlike the AN-2, it is not predisposed to modifications and improvements in basic characteristics such as cargo volume and engine power. Its constructive capabilities are a priori at the limit. Also, the aircraft cannot land on all the same platforms as the An-2. In addition to the fact that the Baikal needs to be produced, it is also necessary to train flight and technical personnel for it, as well as update the airfields where the Aircraft is supposed to be used.

When writing the material, Izvestia communicated with:

• aviation expert, Honored test pilot Viktor Zabolotsky.
• aviation expert Dmitry Drozdenko.