By me All photos me too, copyrighted When aviation people mention Paris and its bi-annual air show, the first things that come to mind are often striking Boeings and fancy Airbuses, huge orders and major exclusives, big names and game-changing events. For the show’s 2017 iteration however, the Paris that had grabbed my attention the …
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- The (now demobbed) fleet of the Croatian AF rolling in after a formation flight. As can be seen, the primary goal of moving the engines higher up was to create extra space for the props due to the curve of the upper fuselage, thus avoiding the structural and aerodynamic headaches of having to move the engines further out – as well as efficiency shortfalls should propeller span be significantly reduced.
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- Not a bad look I must say! Noticeably less cluttered than the original setup, the Primus Epic installation contains everything you need to fly in modern, congested airspace – and in sophistication and capability rivals pretty much anything found in a modern airliner. Interesting details are the two trackball controllers on either side of the throttle quadrant – used to control most of the system’s function via an on-screen cursor – and the presence of a long-range HF radio as standard, an indication that the 132 is still meant to be flown “off the beaten path”.
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- … all of which compares favorably – from an operational perspective at least – to the original three-man setup. One of the key issues of the 32’s flight deck was its closed architecture, making it costly and complicated to integrate many non-Soviet systems (especially on smaller, cost-sensitive aircraft such as this). For operators outside the Eastern Bloc, changes to the cockpit were thus limited only to the absolute necessities needed to operate in Western airspace, such as a modern Mode C/S transponder, TCAS system and the occasional basic GPS unit (like here).
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- The new setup also includes digital representations of just about any system installed on board; the only analogue indicators on the main panel were an old style AOA indicator and G meter, installed mainly for flight test purposes. The MFDs can also display interactive airport maps, further simplifying operations on complicated and busy airports – thus allowing the 132 easier access to places few 32s could visit on a regular basis.
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- An overhead panel that was once hard to imagine in a Soviet aircraft. Like all modern layouts, this one also follows the so-called “dark cockpit” concept, in which normal system operation is indicated by the ABSENCE of any switchlight illumination. While this makes the cockpit duller from a photographer’s perspective, it reaps huge benefits in actual operations, since the crew can now quickly scan the panel for any issues without having to verify the status of each group of switches – if nothing is illuminated, you’re good to go!
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- With a roughly 50 cm shorter span than the AV-68 (and only 20 cm longer than the AV-72 of the An-26), the R408 had allowed the engine to be moved back down below the leading edge of the wing for improved aerodynamics. The exhaust is now vented to the side and downward, eliminating the interference with the horizontal stabilizer that had briefly plagued the 32.
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- Unlike the 32 – which in Soviet times was always sold pretty much solely in a single multi-purpose configuration – the 132 offers several interior and equipment options for specific missions. These range from common bulk transport + paratroop and medical layouts to the more exotic maritime patrol, surveillance, jamming and even firefighting and gunship***** configurations.
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- Will this be the 132’s only mode of locomotion? Time will tell…
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- The first turboprop to come out of the Ivčenko works, the AI-20 was first run in the mid 1950s – and can likely trace its roots back to German jet engine research in the closing days of WW2. As such, it has always been a powerful – but very crude – unit, well known for its tendency to smoke like mad at higher throttle settings. Honestly, I don’t understand why the Croatian AF had even bothered painting them in low-visibility grey… you could spot them miles out without trying.
