A new upsurge: helicopter industry has real prospects
Author's articles
A new upsurge: helicopter industry has real prospects

A new upsurge: helicopter industry has real prospects

 

Over the past few years, the helicopter industry has slowed significantly, which was mainly due to the fact that these aircraft could not compete with airplanes, and helicopter wear itself usually occurs much more slowly than it is observed with other aircraft. Nevertheless, experts point to the fact that before the year of 2020, global demand for helicopters can grow again, which is due to the emergence of new technologies, in a number of cases, allowing to compete even with the aircraft manufacturing sector.

 

 

Helicopter manufacturing is effectively developing only in the military sphere, while the demand for military helicopters is growing almost every year, which is primarily due to the fact that here with the help of these aircraft it is possible to perform a variety of tasks, which include transportation of military personnel, increasing the country's defense , carrying out intelligence, patrol and surveillance activities. In the civilian sphere, helicopters are mainly used for transporting goods - for the most part, this is the only effective sector where helicopters can compete on an equal footing with aircraft.

Why is there no demand for helicopters that allow carrying passengers? In most cases, helicopters do not ensure the efficiency of passenger transportation, moreover, in most populated areas and cities with which air traffic is conducted, there are small airfields capable of receiving both helicopters and airplanes, the latter being more simple in terms of their operation.

 

 

Nevertheless, experts believe that thanks to innovative developments, helicopters can squeeze small aircraft from the aviation market, as new engines provide 30% more fuel economy, and, therefore, reduce the cost of flights through these aircraft. Among other things, world aircraft builders were able to increase passenger capacity of helicopters, which makes these aircraft suitable for operation on local airlines.

Is it worthwhile for Russian aircraft manufacturers to pay attention to the increased interest in civilian helicopters? Definitely worth it, because it is a great opportunity to create aircraft capable of competing with the world's largest aircraft builders, and, of course, Russian airlines will also show interest in helicopter passenger transportation, at least this could be an excellent solution for flights on local and regional airlines . Of course, demand will depend primarily on the cost of helicopters, however, ensuring the acceptability of this indicator is entirely the responsibility of aircraft manufacturers.

 

 

From all of the above, we can conclude that the helicopter industry sector definitely has the potential, however, it is hardly worthwhile to talk about any significant substitution of aircraft, at least for the next 10 years.

 

Kostyuchenko Yuriy specifically for Avia.pro

"The helicopter industry has slowed down significantly over the past few years, mainly due to the fact that these aircraft could not compete with aircraft, and the wear and tear of helicopters usually occurs much more slowly than it is with other aircraft."

Dear Yuri Kostyuchenko, helicopters have never "been able and will not be able to compete with airplanes in the future," because they are initially and still economically very unprofitable in comparison with airplanes. And if engines with a "30%" fuel economy (due to which you expect to increase the economic efficiency of helicopters) will go into series production for helicopters, then the same engines will be installed on airplanes.

For clarity, let's compare the LTX of the Il-114 and Mi-38 aircraft with the same engines, which will be proportional to the helicopters of another weight category.
Il-114 - max. carrying capacity -6,5; cruise. speed - 500 / h; The flight range with the maximum load (6,5т) - 1500 km.
Mi-38 - max. carrying capacity - XNUM; cruise. speed - 5 / h; Maximum flight range with main tanks and commercial load 295 kg: 3300 km (Wikipedia).
Yes, I almost forgot about the cost:
IL-114 on 2009. -12,5mln. Doll.; Mi-38 -16mln.
And where did you get the idea that "the wear of helicopters usually occurs much slower than it is observed with other aircraft", when in life - the opposite is true!

Pages

Blog and articles

upstairs