Movements CHARZ ‘Remont’ at Chuhuiv ARZ News Shows Wim Sonneveld Fred Hovestad Erwin van Dijkman Trips Looking immaculate in its shiny blue and yellow new livery, this Albatros was shown off by the Kazakh Air Force at this year’s KADEX. Having been overhauled and upgraded by the Chuhuiv Repair Plant in the Ukraine. (Astana, May 2012, Erwin van Dijkman) Ukraine boasts a sizeable network of aviation rework facilities. In this article we zoom in on the Chuhuiv (Chuguyev) aircraft repair plant, its history, most important projects, current work, and future plans. Articles The network of aircraft repair plants is governed by the State of Ukraine. In order to streamline cooperation and chances on the international market, the state economic association Ukroboronprom was established by presidential decree on 28 December 2010. All state aircraft repair facilities resort under that state association. Its director-general is appointed by the president to underpin the importance of this sector. You are therefore likely to see a joint presentation of all Ukrainian repair facilities at international military exhibitions. But the roots of CHARZ can be traced much further back of course; in fact, next year will see its 75 year anniversary! The CHARZ stylised emblem. Scramble 402 Short history Having been founded on 1 September 1938 as part of a military aviation school, emphasis lay on training technical personnel on a wide variation of military aircraft combined In the dark years of war, the facilities were evacuated to Shymkent, Kazakhstan, from 1942 to 1945. In that period hundreds of aircraft still passed through the workshops. The unit duly returned to Chuhuiv after the Great Patriotic War ended. Obviously, its task was purely military in those early years. It received several number plates in the Air Force order 140 of battle, like 1246 (Aircraft Repair Facility), (Military Unit) 36986, and 536 (Aircraft Repair Plant). The abbreviation for the latter in Russian is ARZ, a familiar acronym for many of such facilities throughout Ukraine and Russia proper. Types serviced throughout the years Polikarpov Po-2 Yakovlev UT-2 Polikarpov I-16 Sukhoi Su-2 Ilyushin Il-2 Polikarpov I-15bis Lavochkin La-5 Yakovlev Yak-7 Lavochkin La-7 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Aero L-29 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Aero L-39 1938 – 1947 1938 – 1947 1939 – 1946 1941 1941 1941 1945 – 1947 1944 – 1946 1946 – 1950 1953 – 1977 1961 – 1965 1966 – present 1975 – present 1994 – present In the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic-era, industrialization further progressed, especially in the 1950s when the jet-age provided new training needs. Main types present at CHARZ for maintenance, overhaul and upgrades were MiG15/17s and L-29s. In 1975, the MiG-23 was added to this line-up. On 16 July 1990, Ukraine declared state-sovereignty within the Soviet Union, and a year later the parliament passed the Act of Independence, on 24 August 1991. This had a great impact because all of a sudden, Ukraine incorporated all Soviet military material present on its soil. This inheritance can still be witnessed today, with well over 200 frames potentially to be upgraded by CHARZ. Nowadays, the Chuhuiv ARZ is a modern aviation repair facility. It is AS/ and ISO 9001 for quality management; obviously it has come a long way from being a collection of military workshops. L-39s we tend to encounter at US air shows will never pass this particular program, it will simply be too expensive for most private owners. Hence the L-39D program was incepted. Examples of recent L-39 maintenance projects Movements News again and handed over. Also, some arrive and are redelivered by air under their own power. It should be noted that this is tions on or above the original manufacturer’s requirements Upgrade and smoke dispensing system for the aerobatic team Equatorial Guinea Georgia Sale and delivery of refurbished aircraft Sale and delivery of refurbished aircraft Shows with the airframes, avionics and other components. The entire process, obviously depending on the state of the air6 months and 20.000 man hours. The workforce is trained L-39D upgrade With the experience of overhauling hordes of L-39C, L-39ZA and L-39ZO aircraft and being well aware of the growing market for privately owned L-39 aircraft, the Chuhuiv team set out to design a dedicated package tailored to that market. Idea was to provide refurbished and de-militarized airframes, and include a suite of regularly required state-of-the-art avionics at the same time. Dubbed L-39D, the new incarnation of the L-39 features the ability to use navigation aids like GPS, VOR/ DME and ILS. Equipment that can fall under military use is removed and replaced by civilian style radio equipment and transponders. It keeps its AI-25TL engine, albeit reconditioned by Motor-Sich, and gets a service life extension. Additionally, a smoke dispensing system, an extra external fuel tank system, and a plug-in aircraft maintenance test bench, to read out the condition of the aircraft, can also be delivered. The all-red prototype can sometimes be seen at aviation exhibitions, as well as the striking black example with dragon art work. With a cradle of around 50 airframes still in their back yard, we will probably see a steady trickle of these aircraft onto the market for many years to come. Work in progress in the main rework hall as stripped and cleaned airframes are being readied for parts installation and reassembly; headed by ‘55’. (August 2012, Erwin van Dijkman) Examples of private L-39D clients Australia Estonia Russia South Africa Ukraine United States 141 Trips Meanwhile, the stripped frames are meticulously inspected, Tailored to the customer, the aircraft can be inspected on site, Articles by CHARZ. As the Albatross is a very widely spread and successful aircraft, many other countries entrust CHARZ with their L-39s. It is fair to say that, despite other such centres, the Chuhuiv plant carries the burden of military grade heavy maintenance on the L-39. Instead of just providing regular overhaul, the aircraft are returned to service with another 1600 hours of service life before they need a major overhaul again. After they are taken in and checked out, the airframes are stripped bare. Avionics and other components are processed by dedicated on-site workshops, inspected and repaired or replaced as necessary (IRAN). On top of that, CHARZ has designed its own upgraded avionics suite for the L-39, more about that later. aviation technical training in Ukrainian technical colleges. Scramble 402 L-39 maintenance First and foremost CHARZ’ legacy of providing heavy maintenance on front line aircraft is still one of its most important activities. The Ukrainian Air Force being a prime Movements News Shows Trips pitch the de-militarized L-39 refurbishment and upgrade package to potential customers. (L-39D c/n 530530, August 2012, Erwin van Dijkman) MiG-23 maintenance and upgrade after all useable parts are removed. So the ultimate fate after Another type that can be found in the grounds of the de-militarization for these stored aircraft, is the axe. repair complex is the MiG-23. This type was used by many Towards the future countries over the years but is being replaced by most air Besides the successful L-39 programs, CHARZ embarked on forces nowadays. Work on the MiG-23 is becoming a bit of a niche market but on the other hand, this means there are not indigenously designed UAV Strepet-L, -S, and -VM. The many places to turn to if you need them looked after. Some Strepet-S is a 200kg class launchable tactical UAV with a 50kg payload and maximum range of 3000km, depending on the Examples of recent MiG-23 projects India Libya Sale and delivery of refurbished MiG-23UB Maintenance and upgrade Kazakhstan Maintenance and upgrade Articles countries will still operate the type for a number of years, alongside the MiG-27 as trainers mostly. This year’s KADEX at Kazakhstan showed their MiG-23/27 program is alive and kicking. Of course, the Indian Air Force still has a sizeable numbers of MiG-23 are in stock, most will be disposed off a parachute to be recovered. Strepet-L and -VM are believed to be somewhat heavier and self-propelled. Strepet-S was tested by the Ukrainian armed forces’ 61st services this will probably be the main business for CHARZ for many years to come. Credits and sources: We would like to thank commercial director Dmitriy Shlyaev and director Oleg Solovyov. Scramble 402 And this is the end result you get as customer, provided you have the funds to pay for this brand new looking L-39. It has the original colours 142
