The Mikoyan MiG 18-50 (Cyrillic Микоян МиГ 18-50) was a 1990s Russian project to develop an aircraft that could be configured as a regional airliner or as a business jet with intercontinental range.[1] [2] The 18-50 designation reflected these two roles, referring to the 18 seats it would have in business-jet configuration, or its 50 seats as an airliner.[1] [2] Mikoyan did not put the design into production, and by 1993 it was taken up by Aviaprom for further development, first as the Eurasia 18-50 (Евразия 18-50) and then evolved into an 8- to 18-seat business jet as the Aviastayer (Авиастайер).[3]
The design of the 18-50 was similar to other aircraft of its type.[2] [4] It was designed as a low-wing, cantilever monoplane with a cruciform tail and all flying surfaces swept.[2] Two turbofan engines were to be mounted in nacelles on the sides of the rear fuselage.[2] It was to be equipped with retractable tricycle undercarriage.[2]
In business jet configuration, it was to be equipped with a comprehensive communications suite including telephone and telefax systems.[4] As an airliner, passengers would be seated four abreast, with a centre aisle.[2] Mikoyan also considered a 75- to 100-seat version with a stretched fuselage.[2]
The 18-50 project originated in collaborative design studies carried out in the late 1980s between the Tajik Aviation Association, the Saratov Aviation Factory, and the Riga Civil Aviation Engineers Institute (RKIIGA)[4] [5]
During the final years of the Soviet Union, aviation manufacturers came under government konversiya directives that aimed to repurpose Cold War military manufacturing capability to peaceful purposes. Business jets — termed "administrative service" (административно служебными; administrativno sluzhebnymi) aircraft — were a promising and hitherto unexplored market,[3] and industry research indicated strong international demand for such aircraft.[4] In 1990, Mikoyan commenced development of such an aircraft as a konversiya project,[2] based on the previous design studies[4] and in conjunction with the original partner organisations.[4] [5] This would be only one of several such designs from the Russian aerospace industry around this time.[3] It was distinguished from its competitors not only by its communications suite, but a truly intercontinental range, and a very high level of interior comfort.[4] Mikoyan presented the business-jet version at the Asian Aerospace 1990 airshow in Singapore.[6] Aviation trade publication Air International judged the project to be "a good prospect for Western collaboration" in the context of the "fast disintegrating Eastern bloc."[6]
The following year, the Soviet Ministry for the Aviation Industry created the Aviaprom organisation to co-ordinate activities across the whole aviation sector, and by July, it had become a Joint Stock Company.[4] Mikoyan shared development of the 18-50 with this new enterprise, where it gained the new name Eurasia 18-50[5] By the time Aviaprom publicly exhibited the design at the 1993 Paris Air Show, it was named the Aviastayer. As the Aviastayer, it was configured for 8 to 18 passengers and its range had been extended from 10000km (10,000miles) to 12000km (7,000miles).[3]
Work on the Aviastayer continued until at least 1994, when the design underwent wind-tunnel testing at TsAGI.[4] Mikoyan's contribution to the project was conducted from the company's branch office in Dushanbe. The ongoing Tajikistani Civil War contributed to the demise of the project.[7]