OMKB on path to recovery with renewed focus on engine overhauls (430 words)

Published: 11/21/2001

Vladimir Ustyugov, Deputy General Designer of the Omsk Machine-Building Design Bureau (OMKB) has confirmed that OMKB has completed an upgrade of its auxiliary power unit (APU) VSU-10, currently used on the Il-86 and Il-96. Ustyugov said that the upgrade of the unit was made at the request of its customer, Aeroflot, and the result is an increase in the unit's power output from 40kWt/hour to 60kWt/hour. The upgrade may go some way to resolve some of the concerns of the pilots of the Il-96, who considered that the lack of power in the APU was one of its shortcomings, with reports that the development there had been 331-500(I) APU, a derivative of the 331-500(B) APU designed for the Boeing-777, in the Il-96T. The modified VSU-10 will allow the simultaneous start-up of two engines, significantly reducing time before take-off and therefore saving fuel. The new APU will be installed in early 2002 on one of the Aeroflot's aircraft and it is expected that the Il-96-300, operated by Rossiya for Presidential flights, will also have one fitted. Established in 1956, OMKB has historically designed small gas-turbine engines, developing the main gearbox and the 900hp engine (1,800hp twin power unit) for the Ka-25, the 340hp TVD-10 engine for the Be-30, TVD-10B for the An-28 and the recently certified TVD-20 for the An-3 and An-38. OMKB also designed the turbojet two-stage two-shaft TRDD-50 for light aircraft and drones and is developing the 720hp TV-0-100 engine for the Ka-126 helicopter. The company is recovering from a period of substantial decline having seen its workforce fall from 2,500 in 1990 to a low of 700. In 1999, it certified the TVD-20 and in spring 2001, it signed an agreement with RAKA for R&D to increase the lifetime of the TVD-20 by almost 100% to 7,000 hours. OMKB says that the engine will then be handed to NAPO for installation on the An-38 for which the state has allocated Rb9.5m ($250,000). The project is, however, significantly delayed and is currently running some four years behind its original timetable. OMKB is 51% owned by the state, with the remaining 49% held by its workforce and revenues primarily coming from engine overhaul. The business started in 1997, with 18 engines overhauled in 2000, typically the TVD-10B used on the 100 An-28 currently operating in Russia. It is now targeting airlines based in Khabarovsk, Magadan, Krasnoyarsk, Chukotka regions and Kazakhstan for its overhaul business, with the aim of undercutting competition from Poland (Rb1.3m vs Rb1.5m).

Article ID: 2916