KAZAN, February 12 (AVN) - The Kazan helicopter plant is about to finish building the third Ansat helicopter, a spokesman for the plant's management told the Military News Agency on Monday.
Series delivery of the aircraft is not expected until 2002. In the meantime, helicopter designers have to increase the service life of the main units and the chopper proper.
Tartar 'ansat' stands for simple. The aircraft features a rather simple design of the rotor, which makes it much easier to assemble. The helicopter is easy to handle, too, as instead of usual pedals and control wheel the pilot's cockpit is equipped with a pad that resembles of a joystick for computer games. Nearly all electronic equipment and instruments of the helicopter are Russian-made.
Ansat's maximum take-off weight is 3,300kg. Apart from the pilot, the helicopter can take up to eight passengers aboard. Its maximum horizontal speed is 280 km/h, ceiling is 3,000m and flight range is 600km.
Ansat is powered by two 620-strong RK-206S engines produced the Pratt & Whitney/Klimov Russian-Canadian joint venture. The specific fuel consumption is 0.256 kg/hp/km.
Experts say Ansat may have to compete with other Russian helicopters, such as Mil's single-engine MI-34 and Kamov's KA-226 Hoodlum. Having modernised the well-known Soviet KA-26 Hoodlum light helicopter, the Kamov plant has already concluded a contract to supply KA-226 choppers to the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Among the foreign rivals of the Ansat multirole twin-engine helicopter are French-German Eurocopter and US McDonnell Douglas. Ansat's advantage here is the price estimated at USD1.2bn-1.5bn, which is two to three times as low as that of its western analogues.
Ansat attracted attention of the border guards, rescuers, gas and oil companies, geologists and doctors. The potential market of Ansat in Russia is estimated at 700-900 aircraft for this decade.