Ilyushin has signed an agreement with Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr covering the sale of four Il-96T freighters, with two options.
The aircraft manufacturer's chief designer Igor Katyrev says the agreement does not constitute a firm contract at this stage, although Volga-Dnepr has scheduled the first delivery for 1999.
Volga-Dnepr operates from Ulyanovsk with a fleet primarily made up of Antonov An-124-100 and Ilyushin Il-76s. The agreement follows a similar document signed with Aeroflot, which wants to buy 17 Il-96M passenger variants and three freighters.
The first Il-96T first flew on 16 May this year, and will be introduced into Aeroflot's fleet at the end of the year, says Katyrev. The first production Il-96M will be finished in mid-1998, and is to be delivered by early 1999.
Katyrev says that Ilyushin is now negotiating a further order for 26 aircraft from another, unnamed, customer. The mix of types has not yet been agreed, but an order is expected "in the near future".
The terms of sale or lease under which Aeroflot will take the aircraft are still under discussion. As yet, no leasing companies exist in Russia, and negotiations aimed at establishing such a company are now under way involving Ilyushin, its suppliers, Aeroflot and "several" Russian banks. Talks could be concluded this year, says Katyrev.
The Il-96T and M, and the earlier -300 variant, are manufactured at the Voronezh, Russia?? production plant. The aircraft is powered by four, 36,000lb-thrust (164.6kN) Pratt & Whitney PW2337 turbofans, and is fitted with an avionics suite from the Collins Air Transport division of Rockwell Avionics and Communications.
Collins is integrating its systems, and subsystems from 18 different Western suppliers, with the Russian equipment on the Il-96M/T. So far, this has involved the modification of about 300,000 lines of software code.
Collins is now working with the Russian Aviation Registry and the US Federal Aviation Administration to get certification by mid-November. This will include verification of avionics software designed to DO-178A industry standards, under joint development by Rockwell and GosNIIAS.
Ilyushin is to make a go-ahead decision on its planned Il-114-100 64-seat turboprop by the end of this year, says Katyrev. The -100 is a 3,050kW (2,750hp), Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127-powered, variant of the current Il-114 - which has slightly less powerful, 1,840kW (2,500hp) Klimov turboprops. The aircraft will also have an avionics package from Sextant Avionique of France. Like the current version, the -100 will cruise at 300kt (500km/h), and will have a 23.5t maximum take-off weight and a maximum range of 4,800km (2,600nm). Katyrev says, however, that the new engines will bring life- cycle and maintenance improvements, combined with the benefits of P&WC's global support infrastructure. The aircraft could reach certification within three years of a launch, he adds.
Source: Flight International
