Page 53 - World Airnews Magazine January 2021 Edition

NEWS DIGITAL

Kazan Ansat has proved
popular for EMS operations
which is available with wheeled landing gear as the GrandNew, or Russian Helicopters, an enduring presence higher up the weight
equipped with skids in its Trekker guise. range, is beginning to see success with the Kazan Ansat light-twin,
The latter variant scored its first win in the USA in 2020 with a notably in the emergency medical services segment. In some ways
contract from Life Link III, an emergency medical services operator the Ansat is an outlier in the Russian Helicopters line-up, featuring
in the upper-Midwest, covering Minnesota and Wisconsin. In an engine from a non-domestic supplier - the Pratt & Whitney
addition, the type also won its first success in France, securing a Canada PW207K.
contract to serve Rouen hospital in Normandy. With a maximum take-off weight of 3.6t, the Ansat can typically
To date, around 70 examples of the light-twin have been sold. accommodate seven passengers. While most deliveries to date
Powered by the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207C engines, have been within Russia, in November 2020, the manufacturer
and equipped with a Genesys AeroSystems glass cockpit, the announced the initial handover of the type in Europe - the first of
GrandNew and Trekker are largely identical, with the performance three units to Republika Srpska.
difference confined to a 25kg lower MTOW for the latter. Other modifications to the Ansat this year include the develop-
Bell competes in the light-twin market with the 429, which is ment of modules to allow the transport of coronavirus patients
powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW2017D1 engines, and infants, plus Russian certification of an emergency floatation
each rated at 600shp (450kW) at take-off power. While there have system. China has also validated the light-twin, allowing deliveries
been few developments to the basic helicopter this year, Bell has to start of 20 examples for the country’s disaster relief authority.
been testing a new tail rotor architecture on a 429 prototype. Russian Helicopters has developed the “Aurus” VIP cabin for the
The Electrically Distributed Anti-Torque (EDAT) system - which Ansat - seating two VIPs and three other passengers - which was
comprises four electrically powered fans in the tail - has been approved by Russian regulators in early 2020. Also in the light-twin
tested at the company’s Mirabel plant in Canada. segment is the Kamov Ka-226T.
The EDAT stops moving once the aircraft is on the ground, Powered by a pair of Safran Helicopter Engines Arrius 2G1s and
reducing danger to bystanders, says Bell. It also costs less to using a coaxial rotor system, the rotorcraft has a maximum take-off
operate, has fewer mechanical components and is significantly weight of 3.6t. Very much a utility workhorse, Russian Helicopters
quieter. Moreover, because it is turboelectric-powered, instead is committed to building the Ka-226T in India as part of an offset
of shaft-driven, it reduces the helicopter’s carbon emissions, the contract. Q
company says. Article courtesy: https://www.flightglobal.com/helicopters/

Bell has been developing electric
tail rotor system on 429

World Airnews | January Extra 2021
— 6 —