Flight personnel of the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant owned by the Russian Helicopters Holding Company (part of Rostec) has been given simulation and practical training on Mi-171A2 helicopter. Now the pilots from the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant are going to use their skills in check tests of all the production helicopters of this type manufactured by the company.
Training on experimental prototypes of Mi-171A2 was conducted at the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, the helicopter's developer. In the course of check and training flights, the pilots have assimilated the elements that they would need in the future to test this type of aircraft.
In particular, they worked overlanding approaches with landing systems and with duplicate instruments, as well as flights with simulated engine failure. They conducted desired track flights with the use of embedded navigation systems, as well as area flights in accordance with Visual Flight Rules at night.
All the pilots who took training have valid pilot’s licenses for Mi-8AMT (Mi-171) helicopter. Moreover, they took a course of classroom training for Mi-171A2 in October 2017.
“Mi-171A2 is a brand new helicopter with an advanced flight simulator and up-to-date airborne equipment. It retained all the advantages of its predecessors from the Mi-8/17 family, but in order to use its potential in full and to assimilate its new capabilities, it is necessary to undergo classroom and practical training. Our pilots have done a good job of it and are now ready for mandatory flight tests on all the machines delivered to our clients”, saidLeonid Belykh, Managing Director of Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant.
In the course of training, the pilots have developed practical skills for preparation, testing and operation of Mi-171A2 systems and equipment, worked over the crew cooperation in normal conditions as well as in contingency and emergency situations. They have reinforced their skills in Mi-171A2 flight techniques, actions in case of systems and equipment failure in contingency and emergency situations.
According to the chief test pilot of Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant V.Matveyev, “flights on Mi-171 and on Mi-171A2 are quite different. The digital navigation instrumentation of the avionics set KBO-17 with display data indication allowed reducing the crew to only two people and at the same time changed the load on commander and co-pilot. Different load and different responsibility for pilots: Mi-171A2 has a new control system, a more sophisticated cockpit and navigation instrumentation.”
Based on the test flight results, the commission has decided to accept Yuri Kozhnyakov, a pilot from the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, as a commander of Mi-171A2 helicopter. Chief test pilot Vasily Matveyev and Hero of Russia, test pilot Taygib Tolboyev, who had conducted 47 training flights, have been qualified as flight instructors for Mi-171A2.
