The Sukhoi Su-80 (formerly known as the Sukhoi S-80) is a Russian twin-

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

twin-boom A twin-boom aircraft has two longitudinal auxiliary spars, or “auxiliary booms” , that may contain ancillary components such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support the tail ...

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

transport aircraft.

Design and development

The Su-80 program was supposed to start in the late 1990s, but due to lack of funds, it was postponed for several years. A prototype of the combined Freight/Passenger Su-80GP was built and its first flight was planned for early 1998, but the program was delayed again. The first flight of the prototype was at the 2001

MAKS MAKS or Maks may refer to: People *Maksim (Maks), a Slavic given name * Kees Maks (1876-1967) Dutch painter Places * Maks, a settlement in northern Poland Other uses *MAKS Air Show, an international airshow held near Moscow, Russia * MAKS (space ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

issued Zhukovsky. On 4 September 2001, Igor Wotinzew started with the prototype, 82911, on his first flight. In early 2006, the Su-80 entered production in the

KnAAPO Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAPO or KnAAZ; ); based in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East, is the largest aircraft-manufacturing company in Russia. The company is among Khabarovsk Krai, Khabarovsk Krai's most successful enterp ...

factory in

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

. The first model of the

transporter Sukhoi S-80 was shown at the 46th Paris International Air and Space Show, 2005. The plane is being developed by

Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (, ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and military aircraft. Sukhoi was founded in the Soviet Union by Pavel Sukhoi ...

OKB and the aircraft factory in Komsomolsk/Amur under the "konversija" program. The aircraft is intended to replace the An-24/26, An-28 and Yak-40, and to compete with the Antonov An-38 . The design of the machine is very similar to the Scaled Composites ATTT and the Rockwell OV-10. It has three lift-generating surfaces: the primary wings; two fins at the rear of the fuselage which join the booms to the fuselage; and the horizontal stabilizer which joins the two vertical fins at the rear of the booms. Two General Electric CT7-9B turboprop engines are housed in bays at the front of the tail booms. The sleek hull offers space for 30 passengers, and a "beaver-tail" cargo ramp is fitted at the rear of the fuselage, which allows for easy loading and unloading of

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

Operational history

Eight aircraft from the second production (first definitive) batch were earmarked for delivery to customers.

Commercial orders

Blagoveshchensk Airlines, Chukotavia, Dalavia, the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Enterprise, and Polar Airlines all signed preliminary agreements to acquire the type. The

factory airline was expected to be the Su-80's first operator.

Military orders

The Kazakhstan Border Guards tentatively ordered ten Su-80s, while the Chinese

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

, Jordanian Air Force,

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force formations of the British Royal A ...

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...

and

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...

all expressed interest. Ultimately, no aircraft performed active service. In 2022, it does not appear that any of these aircraft are operational.

Variants

There are two different models of the Su-80. The four pre-series aircraft were of a short-fuselage design, while the fifth, sixth and seventh prototypes were stretched by 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) allowing an extra row of passenger seats.''Air International'', August 2006: "Pre-series Su-80GP First Flight" ; S-80PC (Su-80GP) : Combination Passenger and Freight carrier ; S-80TC : light military troop transport ; S-80A :

Air Ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

; S-80F : Fishery patrol ; S-80PT : (patrol transport) for the Russian Border Guards, can be armed with machine guns, light auto-cannon, rockets, bombs, and surveillance devices. ;S-80GE : Geological support ;Su-80GP-100 : Transporter

Specifications (Su-80GP)

References

External links

Sukhoi official page

KNAAPO (the manufacturer's) page
{{Sukhoi aircraft 2000s Russian civil utility aircraft Su-80 Twin-boom aircraft High-wing aircraft STOL aircraft 2000s Russian airliners Aircraft first flown in 2001 Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Twin-tail aircraft