Russia wants to develop a new training aircraft. The Rosaviation applied to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with the initiative. The Agency has already formulated a proposal on what to indicate in the technical task for such an aircraft, said Vladimir Israelev, head of the Flight Operations Department of the Federal Air Transport Agency. Now flight schools train cadets on Western equipment, half of which is faulty, and it is almost impossible to buy new engines and spare parts for them abroad. Because of this, cadets graduate from schools with huge delays. The Federal Air Transport Agency warned: if you do not create a domestic training aircraft, then in the future there will be no one to fly on the new equipment. However, back in 2018, Irkut Corporation proposed to create a new aircraft based on the Soviet Yak-18T, but no decision was made by the aviation authorities.Russia wants to develop a new training aircraft.
The Rosaviation applied to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with the initiative. The Agency has already formulated a proposal on what to indicate in the technical task for such an aircraft, said Vladimir Israelev, head of the Flight Operations Department of the Federal Air Transport Agency. Now flight schools train cadets on Western equipment, half of which is faulty, and it is almost impossible to buy new engines and spare parts for them abroad. Because of this, cadets graduate from schools with huge delays. The Federal Air Transport Agency warned: if you do not create a domestic training aircraft, then in the future there will be no one to fly on the new equipment. However, back in 2018, Irkut Corporation proposed to create a new aircraft based on the Soviet Yak-18T, but no decision was made by the aviation authorities.
The authorities are asking for a plane
Rosaviation has formed proposals in the terms of reference (TOR) for the development of a new aircraft in the Russian Federation — for training cadets of flight schools and colleges. This was announced by the head of the Flight Operations Department of the Federal Air Transport Agency Vladimir Israelev at the general meeting of members of the Union of Aircraft Manufacturers of the Russian Federation at the end of April. Izvestia got acquainted with the video recording of the meeting.
— We have nine flight schools, which are now preparing graduates. All of them use foreign-made aircraft for training. These are DA-40 (Diamond DA40), DA42, Cessna 172, L-410, Eurocopter (manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. — "Izvestia") and Bell helicopters. All schools are experiencing a huge problem with the operation of these aircraft, about 50% of them are faulty. The main problem is the engines, and the solution to this problem is not visible, — said Vladimir Israelev.
Engines for this technique, according to him, are now very expensive and long to import into the country, and sometimes it is impossible at all. For helicopters, for example, the problem is simply unsolvable, the official said. Because of this, they graduate from the Omsk Flight Technical College with a huge delay, Vladimir Israelev added.
— At the Federal Air Transport Agency, we have developed proposals for the terms of reference. Together with GosNII GA (State Research Institute of Civil Aviation), with universities, we worked out in detail the appearance of the aircraft (VS) that we need. We looked at the world experience, took the best, prescribed in as much detail as possible what we need, and sent these proposals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade," the official of the Federal Air Transport Agency said.
If there is nothing in Russia to train pilots on, then in the future there will be no one to fly "on those wonderful planes that you are currently producing," Vladimir Israelev concluded, addressing aircraft manufacturers.
A representative of the Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed that the agency had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in order to update the fleet of aircraft of educational institutions.
— Obviously, the project is at an initial stage and has not yet been sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, — the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia. After its receipt, it will be considered when forming the budget law, they added.
Industry reaction
General Director of Irkut Aviation Corporation (part of Rostec Group of Companies) Andrey Boginsky, in response to Vladimir Israelev's speech at the same meeting, said that back in 2018 he warned about the need to purchase Russian aircraft for schools.
— Colleagues did not buy equipment. As an industry, we have been talking about this issue for a long time. Unfortunately, we did not see any active actions on the part of the aviation authorities at that time — everyone referred to the lack of money," he noted.
Andrey Boginsky added that in 2022 he also proposed to Igor Chalik, Deputy head of the Ministry of Transport, to start production of the Yak-118 aircraft (deep modernization of the Soviet Yak-18T). It remains to resolve the issue of funding sources for the development and production of a new aircraft, the manager stated.
A representative of Irkut confirmed to Izvestia that the corporation had indeed proposed to the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency to consider a project to create a multi-purpose civilian six-seat Yak-118 aircraft. The company has also developed a technical task for this machine, which will be submitted for approval to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The result of this work should be the opening in 2024 of development work on the creation of such an aircraft in the interests of the Ministry of Transport, the representative of Irkut added.
The estimated maximum take-off weight of the aircraft will be up to 2.3 tons, it will be able to rise from unpaved runways, a representative of the manufacturer told Izvestia. In addition to the tasks of initial training of civil aviation pilots, it will also be able to carry out passenger and cargo transportation, sanitary flights, and terrain monitoring tasks, he added.
Rostec stressed that the corporation is ready to start work on the Yak-118 in case of a positive decision by the interested departments.
Graduation of cadets
The Federal Air Transport Agency also reported on the chronic underfunding of training programs for cadets of flight schools in its final report for 2022 at the board of the department in March.
The allocated amounts of funding do not cover the costs of purchasing fuel and lubricants, aviation fuel, spare parts for the repair and maintenance of training aircraft and helicopters, as well as for the remuneration of flight instructors and engineering personnel providing such flights. This has already led to the formation of debts for the release of commercial pilots, the report says. What is the amount of this debt, the department does not disclose.
934 people were accepted for training in flight specialties of higher and secondary vocational education in 2022, how many of them were released — the Rosaviation report does not say. In total, 7,047 people entered the civil aviation organization (not only for the specialty "pilot") last year, 5,710 (81%) graduated, it follows from the data of the departmental report.
In the comprehensive program for the development of the aviation industry until 2030, written by the Ministry of Transport and adopted last summer, it was reported that an average of 800 pilots are produced annually in the country. At the same time, about 300 flight personnel are written off every year for health reasons.
Oleg Panteleev, Executive Director of Aviport, stressed that educational institutions certainly need their own Russian aircraft for initial pilot training. But the Yak-118 project is unlikely to be suitable for this — it was planned to be equipped with a German-made diesel engine, access to which is now difficult. According to the expert, the Yak-118 is unlikely to be implemented.
— Now work will actively continue on the creation of a Russian engine with a capacity of about 500 hp for such a training aircraft. There are at least two projects that Russian developers are leading in this direction. The presence of the engine will allow us to start designing a training aircraft," the expert believes.
Thus, the Central Institute of Aviation Engine Engineering (CIAM) is working on the adaptation of the Aurus engine for aviation. The Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) has its own engine project, but it is unclear at what stage it is, Oleg Panteleev added. At the same time, he continued, the situation is no easier for helicopter pilots — they also need a training vehicle. Russian Helicopters (part of Rostec) does not currently have a single project of such a vessel in the active phase, the expert noted.
According to Anastasia Miroshnichenko, CEO of Aviapersonal, it is impossible to calculate the exact number of new pilots released last year, since the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport do not disclose these figures. And besides, graduates can get a graduation diploma, but not get the pilot certificate itself until they "fly" the required number of hours.
To form a proper demand for a Russian training aircraft, it is not enough just to order from state schools. Private aviation training centers should also be given the opportunity to train pilots and, accordingly, also purchase this equipment, Anastasia Miroshnichenko believes.
Anastasia Lvova
