On 7-8 July, Russian pilots Fyodor Konyukhov and Igor Potapkin attempted the world’s first successful flight in the high-latitude Arctic in a two-seat powered parachute (also called motorized paraglider) from the Franz Josef Land archipelago to the geographic North Pole. The crew was transported to the starting point of the route by the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy owned by Atomflot, a Rosatom company.
Rosatom supplied high-tech materials to make a unique fairing that was fitted to the paraglider. The fairing with integrated fuel tanks was designed and manufactured under scientific guidance and technological supervision of the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Carbon and glass fiber-based fabrics were used to make this product. The resulting aerodynamic parameters of the paraglider allowed increasing the maximum flight range for the Russian crew from 900 to 1200-1300 km.
The record setting was monitored by the expedition headquarters on board the icebreaker and in Moscow. The record-setting flight in the high latitudes of the Arctic covering 440 km lasted 10 hours and 13 minutes from 16:29 7 July to 02:42 8 July (Moscow time) and took place in the airlane of 57-60 degrees east longitude at an altitude of 267 to 835 meters above the surface. The average speed was 47 kilometers per hour.
The pilots flew over the North Pole and ended up in the Western Hemisphere. Having chosen an ice floe to land on, they made a difficult landing in strong winds and with no meaningful landmarks in sight.
After landing, the travelers reported by satellite phone on their successful flight and reaching the North Pole, after which they set up camp and prepared for a day’s drift while waiting for the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker. They are being regularly contacted via satellite, and their buoys are transmitting coordinates automatically. The pilots will be located and picked up from the ice floe in a routine operation as per the pre-designed procedure.
“Rosatom has always provided me with technological support. It is no exaggeration to say that the Rosatom specialists working with composites have made a significant contribution to the success of our project. Today, Russia’s composites industry has also set a record, because the glass and carbon fiber used in the paraglider has been tested for durability in harsh Arctic conditions,” Fyodor Konyukhov commented on the flight.
After analyzing the data from the on-board satellite trackers, a proper record-setting case will be filed for reaching the geographical North Pole on a motorized paraglider.
Reference
Rosatom State Corporation is a multi-profile holding company that combines assets in power engineering, mechanical engineering, and construction. Its strategy is to develop low-carbon generation, including the wind power sector. The State Corporation is a national leader in electric power generation (about 20% of total yield) and ranks first in the world in terms of the largest portfolio of orders for the construction of nuclear power plants: 33 power plant units are at various stages of implementation in 10 countries. The Rosatom activities also include the production of innovative non-nuclear products, logistics and development of the Northern Sea Route, and the implementation of environmental projects. The State Corporation unites more than 450 enterprises and organizations employing over 350 thousand people.
