ST.PETERSBURG, August 21 (AVN) - The local Klimov plant is one year behind the schedule in production of TV7-117VM engines for the MI-383 helicopter, a spokesman for the plant administration told the Military News Agency on Tuesday.
Under the auspices of the long-term state defence order which implementation started in November 2000 the plant is to develop two helicopter variants of the engine. One of them is TV7-117VK with the backward power output from the free turbine. It is intended for KA-50 Hokum and KA-52 helicopters of the Kamov company. The other is TV7-117VM with the forward power output. It will be installed in MI-383 choppers.
The TV7-117VK engine's experimental variant is already created and worked for some 60 hours on the bench.
In spite of the delay the works on both engine variants will be carried out simultaneously due to high unification level of engines that will be installed in KA and MI helicopters. Particularly, the work on TV7-117VM will be completed three to four years after the beginning of tests when the act on state tests completion is received.
The take-off capacity of TV7-117S will be 2,800 to 3,000hp in the regular mode and 3,750hp in the emergency mode. The service life of the engine will reach 20,000 hours while the serial TV7-117S engine has the service life of 3,000 hours before the first repairs. The plants in Omsk and Moscow handle serial production of the TV7-117S engine.
The Klimov plant and the Kamov company are considering the possibility of installing TV7-117VK engines in KA-32 Helix helicopters in order to boost their flight specifications.