The Russian Helicopters holding company, part of State
Corporation Rostec, and the
Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) have delivered
technical and operational
documentation for the Mi-171A2 helicopter to the Brazilian
National Civil Aviation Agency.
Brazilian aviation authorities will decide on the
certification of the helicopter for the local market
based on its application.
“Brazil is our long-time partner and one of the key
countries in South America for the promotion of
Russian helicopter products. Mi-171A1 helicopters have been
successfully operating in the
country for more than 10 years, and I am sure that the new
helicopter will soon also have the
opportunity to earn a positive reputation. Brazil’s
certification authority is processing the
documentation received on the Mi-171A2. Considering
experience certifying the Mi-171A1
helicopter, I think that this issue will be resolved in a
short time,” said general director of Russia
Helicopters Andrey Boginsky.
“In light of Brazil’s high demand for mid-class multipurpose
helicopters, we are bringing to the
local market a new machine — modern, roomy and reliable. The
Mi-171A2 helicopter provides
long range, which is important for a country where the
machines are operated in hard-to-reach
areas. We intend to develop after-sales service as part of
an international partnership to
guarantee maximum operational life and as a prerequisite for
flight safety,” added director of the
Rostec aviation cluster Anatoly Serdyukov.
In 2005, the Mi-171A1 helicopter optimized for the
requirements of European commercial
operators and the FAR-29 aviation regulations received
approval for the Type Certificate in the
Brazilian Aviation Register. During its development, special
attention was paid to safety issues. In
the same year, the first Mi-171A1 helicopter was delivered
to Brazil.
In 2010, the Mi-171A1 helicopter, presented by the operating
company Atlas Taxi Aereo, won a
Brazilian state oil and gas company Petrobras tender to
carry out aerial work in the Amazon due
to its positive characteristics and price/quality ratio.
The T-HUMS system (onboard monitoring and diagnostics
system) was installed in the new Mi-
171A1 helicopter for the first time on an order by the
Brazilian company. It provides automatic
monitoring of a large range of nodes in real time,
significantly increasing flight safety. The use of
the T-HUMS system also makes it possible to transition to
maintenance “as-is,” and not according
to the regulations, which can significantly reduce the
financial costs of the operating company and
increase the efficiency of the helicopter business.
Mi-171A1 helicopters were used by Atlas Taxi Aereo in harsh
environmental conditions to support
Petrobras drilling in the rainforests of Brazil, and they showed
their best side. In a year of intensive
operation, one helicopter, for example, flew more than 1,000
hours (an average of 120 hours per
month), moving about 600 tons of cargo, mainly drilling
equipment, on an external mount.
The Mi-171A2 was developed based on this helicopter, the
result of a thorough modernization of
the Mi-8/17 helicopters. More than 80 changes have been made
to the design of the Mi-171A2.
The helicopter is equipped with VK-2500PS-03 engines (a
civilian version of the engines installed
on the Mi-28 combat helicopters) with a digital control
system. One of the most important
differences between the Mi-171A2 and the helicopters of the
Mi-8/17 family is the new carrier
system. The helicopter has a more efficient X-shaped tail
rotor and a new main rotor with integral
composite blades with an improved aerodynamic layout. In
August 2017, the helicopter received a
Type A certificate from the Russian Federal Air Transport
Agency, which indicates implementation
of the most stringent safety requirements for civilian
helicopters.
