Russian Helicopters has finally achieved civil certification of the Kazan Ansat light twin, albeit with hydromechanical controls rather than the fly-by-wire system initially proposed.
Kazan started work on the current iteration of the Ansat in 2011 after encountering difficulty in the certification process for the fly-by-wire controls. The first prototypes of the helicopter made their appearance in the late 1990s.
"No commercial fly-by-wire helicopter had obtained certification anywhere in the world, and there were no established requirements for such a helicopter," says Russian Helicopters.
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To speed up the civil approval process, it dropped the more advanced technology in favour of a traditional control system.
Russia's defence military will eventually take delivery of the fly-by-wire-equipped Ansat-U trainer for its flight-training schools. Additional examples will be handed over to the Russian air force in November.
The civil Ansat is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207K turboshafts and boasts a maximum take-off weight of 3,600kg.
In addition, Russian Helicopters has received approval for the VIP transport variant of its Mil Mi-171 medium twin.
Source: Flight International