Published: 6/19/1998

The Transport Ministry of Canada issued a FAR-29 type certificate on 11 May for the Kamov Ka-32A11BC (BC for British Columbia) helicopter and, at the same time, a FAR-33 certificate for its Klimov TV3-117VMA engines being built at the Motor-SICh factory in Zaporozhiye, the Ukraine. Thus, Kamov and Klimov became the first aircraft and engine developer, respectively, in the CIS whose designs have been certified in the West to FAR standards. Presenting the two certificates on 10 June at the company's headquarters in Lubertsi near Moscow, Sergey Mikheyev, general designer of Kamov, said that the certification of the Ka-32A11BC helicopter in Canada is the first such event in the 75-year history of Russian civil aviation. "This is a very important achievement for our country, whose aviation industry has reached a new quality level for its products", he commented. An application for certification of the Ka-32A was submitted to the Canadian authorities almost four years ago, soon after obtaining a Russian airworthiness certificate. The Ka-32 design was based heavily on that of the Ka-27 ship-borne helicopter accepted in service with the Soviet Navy in 1972. Mikeyev confessed, however, that over 300 changes were made to the basic Ka-32 airframe, first flown in 1973, to achieve the national certification and approximately the same number of changes to get the Canadian certificate. According to Mikheyev, Kamov specialists managed to reduce by half the operational expenses on the "British Columbia" version, in comparison with the series-built Ka-32As. "The situation where Russian helicopters were cheap to buy but expensive to maintain has been overcome. I am proud to say that the level of operational expenses for the Ka-32A11BC is the same as for its western counterparts", he said. Kamov's partner on the Ka-32A in Canada is a timber-logging company, which first proposed to use the type ten years ago. "These ten years were spent developing the respective technologies and then to polish and master them", Mikheyev commented, adding that "now the helicopter is an essential piece of machinery effectively employed along with tractors and trucks". At first, the productivity ofthe Ka-32A was 40 cu.m of timber per hour, but it has risen three to four times. Before applying for the Canadian certificate, Kamov amassed 1500 hours in timber-logging operations on specially-modified airframes. Then, in April 1997, it sent two Ka-32A11BC prototypes to the island of Vancouver, and set up its maintenance and training base in Canada, investing $1.5m. This base has been used for light and heavy maintenance on the two helicopters, which were operated jointly by the Russian and Canadian pilots and technicians. Full-scale operational trials in British Columbia began in May 1997, after obtaining permission from the Canadian Ministry of Transport. Since then one helicopter has flown 1750 hours, the other 1500, and continue to "work fairly actively". Kamov has an order for 15 Ka-32A11BCs from Canada, Mikheyev said. These are to be built at the KUMAPE factory in Kumertau, Republic of Bask-kortostan. The Ka-32A has also found applications in Korea, Switzerland and other countries. According to Mikheyev, a total of 22 have been delivered to Korea. Some of the Ka-32s in service in Russia and abroad are fitted with equipment from Simplex of the US and LG International Corp. of Korea, for use in the fire-fighting role. Mikheyev said that other countries who might be interested in the Ka-32A11BC are Malaysia and Latin American states. He added that work is in hand on certification of the helicopter in two other countries, which he would not name for commercial reasons. (IN698.2)(VK) At the event to mark the Ka-32A receiving its certification in Canada, the general designer and head of Kamov company, Sergei Mikheyev, told ConCISe that "This is the first aircraft which has been certificated in Canada in compliance with international standards." And according to the Klimov's general designe r, the certification of the Ka-32A helicopter in Canada is"evidence of the maturity and capacity of the Russian aircraft industry and science to uphold their positions on the world aircraft market." The certification will allow Russia to compete more successfully with western aircaft. "The absence of an international certificate was the main argument for those who wished to prevent an advance of this Russian helicopter to the international services market," Sergei Mikheyev pointed out. The Chairman of the Aircraft Register Interstate Aircraft Committee, Anatoly Kruglov, remarked: "This is the most important breakthrough", as the certificate was issued by a "most powerful aircraft country, which itself manufactures remarkable helicopters, aircraft engines and aircraft."(IN698.2a) (VZ)

Article ID: 188