Z-8 and Z-18 transport helicopter - family & versions

Aniah

Senior Member
Registered Member
Three more screen grabs...

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That last image is triggering my trigger disipline.
 

by78

General
Can anyone help to identify since I have no access to my images at home … is this a Z-8L under construction or something new?

View attachment 76233

It's the AC313A, which is the civilian version of the Z-8L. I posted about this about two years ago, although at the time I didn't know it was based on the Z-8L because that designation was still unknown.

AC313A is an improved civilian variant of the Z-8. Bullet points are as follows:
- Optimized engine layout, reducing engine installation loss (?) by more than 3%.
- New high-performance engine with improved lifespan and performance.
- Can operate 200% longer when carrying an external load of five tons, with great-than-40% high-altitude carrying capacity.
- Implemented HUMS (Health and Usage Monitoring System) and anti-icing system, improved safety, now capable of operating across all terrains and geographies.
- Better ease of maintenance, improved efficiency, reduced life-cycle cost.


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superdog

Junior Member
Can anyone help to identify since I have no access to my images at home … is this a Z-8L under construction or something new?

View attachment 76233
As stated by @by78, this is a test platform for AC313A. Besides some subsystem improvements, the most notable difference to current Z8L would be the use of new engines/transmission and new engine layout. The new triangular layout would be similar to the EH101. Compared to the "staggered" layout of Super Frelon and previous Z8, a triangular layout offers improved output efficiency at the cost of taking up more horizontal space. Perhaps it wasn't possible with the narrow body Z8, but with the new wide body it is only natural to take advantage of the more efficient layout. If you scroll up for the Z8L frontal picture a few posts ago, you'll see the engine bay has some unused width and it doesn't fit very well to the wide body. In that sense one may think that Z8L is only an intermediate evolution, while the AC313A would be closer to the "final form".

I think it is quite likely they will follow up with an AC313A based Z8(?) for future military orders, but for now we can wait patiently.
 
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