The Omsk Engine-Building Production Organization (Baranov OMPO) plans to increase
the TVD-20's price from 3.6m ($130,000) to 3.9m rubles this year. Raising the
price further in 2001 to 5m rubles.
Despite the price increase, OMPO are confident that the brisk demand for the
An-3 will assure them of a steady stream of customers. The final emergence of
the TVD-20 powered An-38-200 for certification in addition to the Polyot produced
An-3 has also buoyed their optimism. According to OMPO, the An-38 powered by
the TVD-20 will make its maiden flight within the next few months with certification
targeted for 2001. According to sources at OMPO, the impact of the replacement
of the aircraft's Honeywell TPE331-14GR-801Es by the TVD-20 will be to reduce
the $4m cost of the An-38 by $1m. Reflecting the significantly higher price
of the Honeywell engine, reported to be at least triple that of the TVD-20.
This price decrease according to Alexander Usachev, head of marketing at AVPK
Sukhoi , NAPO's parent company , will boost sales in Russia and the CIS by making
the aircraft more financially viable for struggling airlines.
TVD-20's life extended
The 1,375hp TVD-20's current life of 1,500hrs is also to be increased to 3,500hrs,
and according to its producer could be stretched 5,000 - 6,000hrs. Ten TVD-20s
were sold in 1999 and twenty sales are targetted for 2000, with fifty sales
a year thereafter. NAPO has even suggested that the engine installed on the
An-38 could have its life stretched to 10,000 hours, with considerable marketing
benefits at home and abroad.
TVD-20 powered An-38-200
The installation of the engines on the An-38-200 has been expected for some
time. The current operators of the aircraft and its engines however, are generally
pleased with its performance, particularly Vostok Airline's, which has chartered
the 2 of its aircraft to operate in Malaysia and is reported to be planning
to do the same with a third. Alrosa is however, reported to be less enthusiastic
with the aircraft. Until recently the airline had both its aircraft grounded
due to a number of problems relating to vibration and other operating difficulties.
Sources however, report that the airline's problems are largely attributable
to the airline's operation of the aircraft and problems in getting parts to
the airline due to Russian customs problems.
Further sales of the An-38-100 outside of Russia are potentially constrained
by the ability of NAPO to offer a sufficiently high level of support. Some level
of support is in place for the Malaysian deployment of Vostok's aircraft, but
extensive sales will require considerably more infra structure than currently
exists particularly in the distribution of parts, according to sources. NAPO
is however, reported to be keen to market theAn-38-100 outside of Russia at
least and has already made efforts in Korea and India and is currently looking
for assistance in Africa and Latin America.
Honeywell production line closure
An additional problem for the two producers in certifying the Russian engine
is the potential failure to do so could leave them without a power plant. The
only other aircraft currently in production using the engine besides the An-38-100,
is the Dash 14, which is due to a wind down production in 2001, when the TVD-20
is due to be certified on the aircraft. Given the present lack of ongoing orders
for engines for the An-38, this would probably lead to the closure of the Honeywell
line and a future restart, would significantly push up unit costs according
to Honeywell. The Deputy Chief Designer of OMKB, Vladimir Ustyugov however,
seems unconcerned and refutes the view from some US sources that the TVD-20
is not a viable alternative to the Honeywell product and that the TVD-20 is
too heavy for the aircraft. He says that there appears to be confusion between
the two sides regarding what "dry weight" actually defines and in his view the
current engine after an upgrade will come down from 285 kg to 245kg and will
therefore be within the limits for the aircraft. Yevgeny Sharapov, the Deputy
Chief of Engineering of OMPO, is even more emphatic on the weight issue and
saying that the engine was suitable for the Omsk produced and smaller An-3,
let alone the An-38.
Sharapov was reluctant to discuss sales of the engine on the An-38 and said
the current focus of the producer was on engines to power the An-3. Demand for
the engine will depend on the ability of the NAPO to sell the Russian engined
version after certification. Shaparov added that the closure of the line in
the US may in fact serve to bolster the attractiveness of the TVD-20 to potential
customers given OMPO's long term production plans. Illustrating NAPO's increasing
enthusiasm for a Russian powered aircraft. NAPO Sales Director Magmad Smoyan
noted that the manufacturer was encountering problems with the after-sale support
of the Honeywell TPE331-14GR-801E. The main problem being the delivery times
of spare parts from the US, although sources within Honeywell and outside have
suggested that this has more to do with Russian customs than the speed of delivery
by Honeywell. It has however, resulted in long delays, reported in some cases
to be months with the commensurate impact on the airline's operating the aircraft.
For Smoyan an An-38-200 with TVD-20s will be more attractive for domestic customers
on the basis of price: he said that using the cheaper engines would bring prices
down by 25%, after-sale support, and less customs hassle. Smoyan did however,
add, that certain potential foreign customers such as India, have only expressed
interest in the Honeywell powered An-38-100.
According to Smoyan, while the An-38 is included into the Aviation Program
till 2015, financing from the budget in insignificant and the programme is largely
funded from NAPO's own resources.
