New "Black Wing" Futuristic Jet Design Crowning Achievement of New Era of Russian Aviation

This news may seem difficult to understand for those who don't know a thing about aviation. We are going to tell you about a new wing which has been invented in Russia.

We continue to talk about economics. This news may seem difficult to understand for those who don't know a thing about aviation. We are going to tell you about a new wing which has been invented in Russia. Let's take a look.

Actually, the wing is a secret of the aviation industry. Sometimes, it's a state secret. There are various types of wings, everybody knows that. These wings are straight. This is a biplane, it has two parallel wings. This plane has an arrow wing. And this one is called "a wing with a negative sweep".

 

As for the wing we are about to see, it's called the Black Wing. It was invented in Ulyanovsk. Some might say it's not black, but it's just protective cover. What is under it?

Our correspondent Sergey Arsenichev is reporting from Ulyanovsk.

It is called "the black wing" for it looks like that in the beginning. It's shiny black, like charcoal. Actually, this compound material is made of charcoal tape.

Pavel Dyagilev, AO "AeroComposite": "Depending on the curvature, we pick up the needed number of tapes. 10, 12, 6, 7, 4 — it all depends on the curvature of the panel".

Black is the color of mystery. Historically, the production of a wing is always a secret. Anyway, we've been told some details.

In the head of this robot 16 such carbon tapes come together. Then, guided by laser, the machine is rolling the tapes on each other with a tilt of 90 degrees. This is called "a preliminary cake" which will become a wing.

The Wright brothers and the Russian engineer Mozhaysky struggled with the problem of the wing. The world aviation industry continues this struggle.

The first flight of an airplane took only several seconds, because of the lack of lifting force. First, the biplane was invented, then monoplanes and mono-wings appeared. The first wings were made of fabric. Later, they started to imbue the fabric with special treatments to make it firm. The wings of the next generation were made of plywood. They were used during WWII. As casting technology developed, aluminum wings appeared. Their shape was constantly improved. When the aircraft manufacturers achieved maximum power of engines, they invented arrow wings.

Today, it's the beginning of a new era - the age of compound materials which reduce weight.

Let's get back to the plant where the new era is starting. The resin is pumped under the vacuum cover at the temperature of 180 degrees. This process is called thermal infusion. Put simply, carbon tapes are imbued with the resin like layers in a cake.

This process is closed for strangers' eyes, but the plane equipped with such wings is already being tested.

The wing has a unique shape due to the compound material it's made of. It's thin and long, so the resistance of air is reduced as well as fuel consumption. It's reduced only by 6%, but this will turn into the economy of millions dollars for airlines.

Anatoly Gaydansky, Director General: "Aviation industry changes slowly. But in 10-15 years, new design solutions will take place, and this technology will come handy. When it happens, we'll manage to reduce the fuel consumption by dozens per cent. The weight will be reduced by 10-15% which is a great deal for aviation industry".

Long before the first flight, the wing was subjected to the durability test. It was broken at a special testing mechanism, but its destruction happened under the conditions which will never occur in reality. Compound materials don't have metal fatigue, so the wing will remain firm even after the plane has worked for 30 years. This is the key feature of the material.

The final production stage is the assembling of the wing. It may take up to a month for there are about 10,000 holes in it and everything is made by hand.

By the way, the compound material is so harder than aluminum that it can't be bored with a regular drill.

Konstantin Arinin, assembly fitter: "We use a special drill here. It can make 80-100 holes before it's worn out. This drill was specifically designed for compound materials".

The main advantage of this technology is that it can be called the future technology. This is a super-wing for the new super-jet MS-21 which has opened a new page in the history of world aviation.

Sergey Arsenichev, Dmitry Cherkasov, Alexander Bazhenov, Vesti on Saturday, Ulyanovsk