Another amphibious jet Beriyev Be-200ChS constructed for the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations has taken off from the airfield of The Beriyev Aviation Research and Technical Enterprise of Taganrog and is being tested now. After the tests the plane is going to be passed over to the Ministry to be used at the Krasnoyarsk Air Rescue Center of the Siberian Regional Center.
Design of the multipurpose middle-class jet-engined amphibious Be-200 was based on the best features of the famous Beriyev A-40 Albatros. The Be-200 of the new generation is the latest creation of the world’s seaplane construction and a superb amphibious jet in existence. Thanks to its perfect air and hydrodynamic layout, its aircraft performance characteristics match those of similar landplanes, but the Be-200 can take off and land on both water and land.
The Be-200 can be operated at 3rd-class airfields (with 1,800-meter-long runways) or at inland waters and seas no less than 2.6 meter-deep and with waves up to 1.2 meters (Beaufort number 3). The crew of the jet consists of two pilots. A constructive peculiarity of the plane is that it can be quickly refitted by the crew for different kinds of operations.
The basic modification of the Be-200, a firefighting jet, can take in water at both the airfield and by gliding over an open body of water: at a speed of 150-190 kmph it fills its tanks located underneath the cargo cockpit, within 12 seconds. The maximum takeoff weight of the plane after filling tanks during gliding is 43 tons. The jet shoots one volley of water within 0.8-1 s at a speed of about 250 kmph. If considerably refitted, the Be-200 can be used for SAR operations, delivery of special forces, transportation of cargoes, medical operations, patrolling, environmental monitoring and other kinds of operations.
The plane of this modification made its first flight in August 2002. As of today, Be-200ChS is one of the world’s largest water-bombing jets.