Russian aircraft manufacturers seem to have been moving, although slowly, from the "Soviet-time" view of the passenger as merely a subject of transport operations, towards a more friendly attitude to the needs of travellers, especially business travellers with money.

Now several Russian aeronautic design houses are looking at various business jet projects, while the airlines outfit their fleet with more convenient multi-class cabins.

This tendency was absent in Soviet times, when even the political and military leaders of the nation had to make journeys in ordinary passenger aircraft, (Il-62, Tu-154, Tu-134, An-24, Yak-40 etc) all with relatively small changes to the standard all-economy interior that was ordinary to all aeroplanes produced by the factories in Voronezh, Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Kharkov and Kiev.

Furthermore, Soviet aeroplanes, both military and civil, were obviously lagging behind their western counterparts, mostly in comfort, while being competitive in aero-dynamics and flight performance. Meantime, despite the abundance of all sorts of aeronautic designs attempted in the Soviet Union there was no specialised aircraft in the business class, except for the rather funny Mikoyan proposal of the modified MiG-25 Mach 3 interceptor with a cabin for several vips. These days the largest Russian and Ukrainian design houses work actively on vip planes, including Sukhoi (S-21 supersonic business jet), Tupolev (Tu-324), Antonov (An-74VIP), Mikoyan (supersonic and a small-sized subsonic business jets) and Yakovlev (Yak-48).

Yakovlev was the first to begin work on a "classic" business jet. Almost immediately after studies on two business jet models (Yak-48 and Yak-77) began, Yakovlev was approached by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) which at that time was considering similar designs. The two companies decided to join efforts. They signed a general agreement in 1992, in which the sides determined their relations and divided the market.

This agreement provided framework for the Galaxy development. Yakovlev would be responsible for overall design of the fuselage and wing for the Galaxy, which could also be used on the Yak-48.

Under this agreement Yakovlev secured rights on its drawings as "intellectual property" and also that to sell Yak-48 inside CIS and certain countries in Asia and the Middle East. The market for the Yak-48 was estimated at 200-250 units.

However, economic difficulties in Russia reduced Yakovlev's share in the Galaxy project to contractual work with IAI: In 1993-95 the Moscow-based design produced CAD/CAM fuselage drawings. These were supplied to IAI and the factory in Saratov (SarAZ). The latter had prepared tooling for the Yak-48 production, but the economic crisis did not allow the set up of a production line.

Although a brand-new wing was shaped for the Yak-48 and the Galaxy by Yakovlev and Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI), IAI decided to make do with an enlarged variant of the existing wing (from the Astra). \rWith the political and economic situation in Russia unstable in the mid-1990s, IAI decided not to order Galaxy production to SarAZ as it had been proposed by Yakovlev. Instead, the production line was set up in Israel, with fuselage parts production performed in France.

The Yak-48 project was cancelled. However, the rather unexpected recent appointment of Aleksandr Dondukov, Yakovlev ceo and general director, to the post of the minister for economics in Putin's new administration might turn the wheel of fortune for the Yak-48.

On June 26, a Galaxy belonging to Lions Air charter air company of Switzerland landed in Vnukovo airport of Moscow for presentation to local officials and businessmen. This visit attracted an unexpectedly high number of high-ranking state officials and leaders of the industry, including Tatiana Anodina, chairwoman of Interstate Aviation Committee; Anatoly Gurtovoi, deputy vice-president at Yakovlev; Vladimir Dmitriev, director of TsAGI; Anatoly Kornukov, commander of RusAF; and Yuri Klishin, RusAF first deputy commander and chief for armament.

There is an indication that vice-premier Ilya Klebanov also inspected the aeroplane. It seems that such an audience was gathered in Vnukovo by Aleksandr Dondukov, who, except for being the minister, continues to hold the post of Yakovlev CEO. He himself was also present at Vnukovo-3 terminal that day, obviously trying to get support for relaunch of the Yak-48 project.

Having inspected the Galaxy - with a takeoff weight of 35,000 lb, two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306A engines, and passenger cabin of 868 cubic feet - the RusAF commander said, "Today we (the ministry) usually send a 70-seat Tu-134, and sometimes a 160-seat Tu-154 or Il-62 to deliver a group of 10 people somewhere. With a plane like the Galaxy with its fuel burn lower by the order of times, we would able to cut considerably our expenses on such a trip."

The situation is similar with many other state establishments, which gives Yakovlev a good starting position with acquiring state support for the Yak-48. The many years the project was shelved were not spent in vain: this allowed the Ukrainian engine-maker ZMKB Progress to finish development of the AI-22 engine and put it to the test.

This new power plant is intended for the Tu-324 50-seat jet, but it also suits well the Yak-48. Should the latter aircraft be relaunched, series engines would be ready in time for production aircraft.

There is one more factor in favour of the Yak-48 and Galaxy. The market for regional jets (RJs) is growing fast and it is believed that RJ versions of the Israeli plane might get new customers.

Galaxy Aerospace and IAI are considering a new variant with an extended fuselage to accommodate 30-50 passengers. In 1993-95 Yakovlev engineers did some work on an extended fuselage for the Galaxy. With help of insertions, three metres in length, the plane's seating capacity might be increased to 27-33, Gurtovoi says. If RJ version of the Galaxy even comes into existence, it will feature a new wing larger than the one currently used.

Galaxy Aerospace says it has a two-year backlog for Galaxy production, which means that additional manufacturing capacity would be needed should the RJ version find customers.

Should the Yak-48 get off the shelf and go into production, it might find a larger market than it could in the early 1990s. Except for business and regional jet variants, it can provide a base for special versions of the plane to carry military equipment. Russia and Israel are now cooperating on many military programs, such as the Ka-50-2 Er-Dogan helicopter, MiG-21-93I upgraded fighter for India, A-50 flying radar for China, and a suitable airborne platform for electronic or antisubmarine warfare equipment.

• Article by Vovick Karnozov. Information extracted from www.AeroWorldNet.com.