Polish engined An-28 Bryza gets new US five blade propeller in upgrade

Published: 2/10/2000

An upgraded version of a Polish Navy An-28/M-28 Bryza will soon begin a certification programme of a new propeller on the Rzeszow TWD-10 engine. The maritime reconnaissance aircraft will use the Hartzell five blade HC-B5MP propeller, fitted on the civilian version of the Bryza, the M-28 Skytruck. The propeller will be fitted to the original power plant of the M-28 and the An-28, the WSK-PZL Rzeszow TWD-10s, as opposed to the Skytruck"s P&W PT6-A-65Bs, mounted on only one engine for certification; the other retaining the original three blade Stupino AW-24AN. The new propeller according to Hartzell should improve the aircraft"s take off and climb and bring some benefits in cruise The original concept of the five-blade propeller was first tested last year. The one potential problem of installing the Hartzell propeller on the Polish engine was the lack of de-icing on the propeller"s spinner given the TWD-10"s forward intakes, this has however been tackled by Meilec/Rzeszow according to Hartzell. The adoption of the five bladed propeller has come from the Polish operator, Aerogryf: an operator of the P&WC/Hartzell Skytruck, which lobbied hard for the inclusion of a composite material five blade Russian propeller on the Polish powered aircraft. The concept was tested by WSK PZL Meilec before they went bankrupt, so halting its development and was restarted recently with the Hartzell at the rescued Meilec facility. Further development of the programme includes an upgrade of the aircraft"s undercarriage, using a retractable system from the similar take off weight PZL I-22 Iryda, to a single aircraft. The upgrade will be certified over the next few weeks. The Bryza and the Skytruck remain a good source of business for PZL-Meilec. The Venezuelan National Guard is its leading customer, although Turkey has recently expressed interest in the Bryza, which is reported to have performed well in recent NATO exercises in Norway, with its PIT SRN-400 radar, although discussions took place late last year about retro fitting Ericsson radar for the Navy"s existing Bryzas. The Polish Navy is still waiting for the delivery of three aircraft and is thought to have a potential requirement for ten aircraft for coastal patrol. Associated articles: www.concise.org 23rd May 1997; 26th May 1999; 11th August 1999; 26th August 1999

Article ID: 1408