It is known that an aircraft generates income for the operating airline only when it is in the air. Being on the ground, at the airport, airlines incur high costs for aerodrome maintenance of the aircraft. The longer the aircraft is stationary on the ground, the shorter the actual flight time of the aircraft. In this regard, the possibility of implementing one of the promising principles for the creation and effective operation of modifications of aircraft of the transport category - the modular principle - has been analyzed. The prospects for the implementation of modular modifications in domestic airlines in the context of further development of the market economy are considered. Modifications based on the implementation of the modular principle are classified into two types - created in the form of autonomous modules placed in the fuselage during aircraft operation and in the form of a removable modular compartment of the aircraft fuselage. A review and analysis of existing projects of these types of modular constructive and technological solutions, a comparison of their advantages and disadvantages in the technical and economic aspects of the prospects for their feasibility are carried out. The possibility of effective implementation of the modular principle of modifications of aircraft of the transport category was assessed, for which a generalized analysis of domestic and foreign information related to the state of the problem under discussion was carried out, on the basis of which an enlarged block diagram of a comprehensive methodology for analyzing the efficiency of operation of modular modifications in the air transportation system was synthesized in comparison with traditional (existing). The key aspects of the content of the main blocks of the scheme are revealed, including the main provisions of the maintenance and repair of aircraft in modern conditions of their operation, based on foreign experience, as well as the main aspects of the content of the blocks for accounting for weight losses in the design and implementation of traditional and modular modifications of aircraft. The generalized information related to the implementation of the synthesized block diagram, focused on subsequent addition, should form the basis of compliance methods and regulatory documentation in the design and implementation of promising domestic modifications of aircraft of the transport category.
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