TTS-IS (Russian Тяжелый транспортный самолет интегральной схемы (ТТС-ИС), heavy transport aircraft integrated circuit (HTA-IC)) is a project by
TsAGI for a very large
wing-in-ground-effect,
lifting-body cargo aircraft with a take-off weight of 1000 tons, a payload of 500 tons, with a flight range of over 6000 km, a cruising speed of 500 km / h.
Although the aircraft typically flies at above water, ice, or ground to reduce
drag
Drag or The Drag may refer to:
Places
* Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway
* ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania
* Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street adj ...
, it is designed to take off and land at conventional airports, unlike most
ground effect vehicles but similar to the
Boeing Pelican. As with the
Airbus A380 and the
Boeing 747-8, the aircraft is designed to land at airports that meet the
Aerodrome Reference Code code 4F standard of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It is also notable for the use of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) as its
aviation fuel
Aviation fuels are petroleum-based fuels, or petroleum and synthetic fuel blends, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground use, such as heating and road transport, and contain additives to enhanc ...
source, and for the use of
intermodal containers that are standardized in train, ship, and truck freight instead of the smaller
unit load devices that are common in air freight transportation.
Also called Heavy Cargo Aircraft with Lifting Body (HCA-LB),
the aircraft is the result of work beginning in 2014 as a proposal by TsAGI under a Russian government contract.
The HCA-LB was formally introduced to the public in January 2017,
and it began wind tunnel testing in 2018. The aircraft is targeting for a service entry in the 2030s or later.
It carries
twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in four rows of six containers side by side on the
port and starboard
Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front).
Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
parts of the aircraft, for a total capacity of 48 TEUs. The two cargo areas are separated by an insulated fuel tank stretching the length of the center
fuselage, holding
cryogenic
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
liquefied natural gas (
LNG).
The HCA-LB is nominally powered by a row of four turboprop engines positioned behind the cargo, atop the fuselage in a
pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
, although the propulsion method will be investigated with greater detail in the future.
The HCA-LB has a pi-tail
empennage, with the twin vertical tails extending from near the back outer corners of the cargo sections. Outboard of the cargo sections are non-cargo bearing, shorter, thinner
swept wing
A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...
s with downward-pointing
wingtips.
The HCA-LB is similar in configuration to the
Boeing Model 754.
Specifications
See also
References
{{reflist
Soviet and Russian cargo aircraft
Proposed aircraft of Russia
Lifting bodies
Ekranoplans
Four-engined pusher aircraft