First Mongolian-built TVS-2MS to fly in April
The engineers at MIAT Mongolian Airlines are gearing up to take the first TVS-2MS aircraft for its maiden flight in April. The aircraft is an upgraded and re-engined version of Antonov An-2 passenger biplane designed by Russia’s Siberian Aviation Scientific Research Institute (SibNIA). The modernization is being carried in Mongolia, at MIAT base in Ulan-Bator. At the moment there are two aircraft fully ready for installation of Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engines.
MIAT technical director Ayush Tuvd told Russian Aviation Insider at the MRO Russia and CIS 2018 convention that the airline has plans to upgrade five more An-2s this year, while the total plan includes 24 aircraft. He also commented that the entire fleet is required for the airline, so it is not considering any external orders for the modernization just yet.
The Mongolian aviation authorities have already validated the Russian airworthiness certificate for the TVS-2MS. The aircraft re-engined in Mongolia will have a letter M added to their designation, TVS-2MS-M, which stands for “modernized”. The main difference from the basic TVS-2MS is Garmin 800 avionics suite instead of Garmin 500, and a proposed installation of a Honeywell-made APU in the future. Tuvd explained that the APU is required because the aircraft will be operated far from the maintenance base, and the APU will help solve the issue with charging batteries.
There are currently 23 MIAT Mongolian Airlines engineers involved in the project, but the operators intends to send 17 more to be trained in Novosibirsk.
By Artyom Korenyako
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.