Ilyushin, PWC looking to resume Il-114-100 production

This version of the Russian turboprop is powered by PW127H engines (Leonid Faerberg / transport-photo.com)

Russian aircraft manufacturer and Pratt&Whitney Canada (PWC) have signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way to a possible series production relaunch for the Il-114-100 regional turboprop with PW127 engines. The preliminary agreement was concluded at the Paris Air Show 2017.

The Canadian engine maker agreed to support the program at the initial stage by providing two powerplants. The partners also decided to sign a new long-term agreement to produce the regional airliner for Russia and other markets.

The Canadian-powered Il-114-100 made its first flight in 1999. The Aviation Register of the CIS-wide Interstate Aviation Committee (AR IAC) certified the type the same year.

This version of the aircraft was assembled by Tashkent-based Chkalov Aviation Production Plant (now Tashkent Mechanical Plant) from 2002 ti 2012, when the facility discontinued aviation-related programs. Ten such PWC-powered airliners were assembled in Tashkent for Uzbekistan Airways, which still operates the type.

The closure of the Tashkent assembly line effectively froze Il-114 production. Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has recently relaunched production in Lukhovitsy outside Moscow. This time, however, it is a different version of the airliner: the Il-114-300.

The UAC estimates it can produce a total of up to 100 airframes at an annual rate of 10 to 18. The first flight of a Russian-assembled Il-114-300 prototype powered by indigenous Klimov TV7-117ST engines is scheduled for 2018.

UAC President Yury Slyusar said on June 19 that the Russian government had allocated 1.5 billion rubles ($25.8 million) in support of the program in 2016, and that the sum reserved for this year stands at 4.7 billion rubles. A further 4 billion rubles is to be allocated in 2018. The program is being funded out of budget revenues generated by state-owned oil-and-gas corporation Rosneftegaz.