FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1997
1997 - 2138.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT An-38 prototype: built in the East, but demonstrated in Moscow 2 5. Antonov and NAPO may also seek Western approval, but no decision has yet been taken. Funding for the certification work came mostly from NAPO. Commercial director Vladimir Nokonov says: "Almost no outside funding, including from Government, has been received. We paid for almost everything. 'SMALL AVIATION' DIFFICULTIES "The government of the Novosibirsk region is ...concerned that 'small aviation' [feeder-ser vice airlines] are having real difficulties with money and old equipment, and have asked us to examine the possibility of providing the two development aircraft to a local airline - possibly even a new company to be set up by NAPO for regional services from Novosibirsk." NAPO says diat it has orders for eight aircraft - three from Vostok Avia and five from Chukotka, in nordiern Russia. Vostok has paid for Western equipment for its aircraft, but will need some financing for the balance. "We will complete seven aircraft in 1998 and, if die demand is there, can increase production up to 50 a year. We are conscious of two forth coming rivals, the Beriev Be-32 and die Suklioi S-80, but the earliest date for certification of either of these is 1999," says Nokonov. Vladimir Kuks, project captain for the An-3 8 with Khabarovsk-based Vostok Avia, says: "The Yakutia region ofRussia, which we serve, is dif ficult to access, and the difficult terrain, poor air ports, navigational aids and weather conditions have resulted in accidents in die past few years. "We decided on die An-38 for several reasons - it has excellent take-off and landing character istics, a good GPS [global-positioning system] for precise navigation, plus good radar and autopi lot equipment. It has enough power to get its load out of difficult terrain. We think it is the best that we have seen for our conditions." Nokonov is also talkingto potential An-3 8 oper ators in the Indian subcontinent. Aldiough Russian avionics and instalments are standard equipment, for operators outside the CIS - or diose interested within die CIS - powerplantsupplier AlliedSignal has developed a Western cockpit, including avionics and instrumentation, for the An-38. "The availability of Western engines and equipment is a plus for outside [the CIS] cus tomers. We have had considerable interest, and we will have to develop our market and support programmes to turn die interest into sales. Today, we are working with the Tolmatchevo [Novosibirsk Airport] training centre to convert aircrew and maintenance staff onto die An-38 - this is just a first step, and the programme has NAPO meets airline representatives, March 1997, to discuss An-38 operation been approved by Russia's Federal Aviation Service," says Nokonov. Antonov and NAPO see the An-38-100 (die first production version) as being in a class sim ilar to that of the Shorts 330 and the CASA C-212. Like them, itwill be offered for a variety of roles: passenger and cargo versions, ambu lance, survey, photographic, maritime-patrol, firefighter, reconnaissance, troop-carrier and paradrop variants are on offer. Working with the former Aeroflot training centre at Novosibirsk, NAPO can arrange training of flightcrew and technical staff. It describes the An-38's maintenance needs as essentially "on condition" - a feature new in Russia and based around Western experience and equipment on the programme. A major corrosion check will be required on 20-25% of the fleet every six years, and the results of diat check will dictate what, if any, work is needed. Operators may choose between two equip- mentsuites; the basic AlliedSignal Bendix/King Silver Crown, or die Gold Crown, which has a full electronic flight-instrument system, with four display units, and odier extras. Standard in bodi versions is a radio altimeter- a useful tool in mountainous regions. Fuel-flow rates are given for different alti tudes and weights. At 4,200m and 9,300kg, for example, 196kt will result in consumption of 0.36t/h, or 27g/passenger kilometre. Range at the maximum take-off weight of 9,500kg, and with 45min fuel reserve, is 825km (445nm). The An-38 is seen as a natural successor to the elderly, 11-passenger, An-2,and to the 16-to 19-passenger Let 410, some 600 of which were delivered to die Soviet Union. FINANCIAL AND MARKETING ADVICE Faced widi the challenge of marketing the air craft, Antonov and NAPO, widi support from the Russian Project Finance Bank, asked major international accounting firms to make propos als for the programme, and Price Waterhouse's •Moscow Aviation Group was chosen to advise on financing and marketing. Group leader Jean Michel Jefferson says: "We started by looking closely at the costs. Widi the foreign engines, propellers, avionics and interiors coining in at Si .65 million and the aircraft provisionally priced at S2.6 million plus VAT [value-added tax], it did not take long to decide that the price did not cover costs. Now, it has risen to $3.6 million plus VAT of $900,000, which will fully cover all outgoings. We looked at what the aircraft was intended to do, then contacted potential users to assess their needs and how the An-38 could meet them. We soon found that funding was going to be the prob lem, so we are currently working to build a finance structure for die programme." NAPO has shown flexibility in solving prob lems, and a good team seems likely to ensure that a much-needed answer for regional airlines in Russia's Far East and other parts of Asia will find a market for the future. • 42 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 27 August - 2 September 1997
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
