The Ansat light multipurpose helicopter is currently undergoing certification trials at Kazan Helicopters’ facilities. The machine has all chances to become as popular in the world as the famous helicopters of the Mi-8 / Mi-17 family which have been produced by Kazan Helicopters in quantity of over 7,500. The Ansat’s designers went for a rational balance between innova­tive and traditional solutions, structural materials and technologies to make the machine competi­tive owing to its operating capabilities and price. For instance, instead of much-praised compos­ites for the airframe, preference was given to a simple enough full-metal structure similar to that of the Mi-8/Mi-17 manufactured by Kazan Helicopters. At times, the full-metal airframe ensured some weight reduction. As to the opera­tional considerations, it featured better field reparability. Only some non-load-bearing ele­ments of the Ansat airframe are made of composites. Along with traditional technologies the Ansat embodies many up-to-date solutions. The rotor blades are made of layered fibreglass. The main rotor hub is hingeless, since hinges were replaced with a fibreglass torsion bar. Such a blade attachment system both stepped up con­trollability and manoeuvrability and reduced oper­ating costs sizeably. For the first time in the national helicopter industry the Ansat features a fly-by-wire control system. The chopper’s instruments are cutting-edge too, including an onboard monitoring information system (BISK). The helicopter is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW-207K engines, which are pro­vided with a full-authority digital engine control system (FADEC). The helicopter features the optimal cost effectiveness and meets the most stringent flight safety requirements. From the outset, the Ansat was designed in compliance with the new Russian AP-29 airworthiness requirements adapted to satisfy the FAR-29 international standards. A primary purpose of the certification tests currently underway is to confirm that the Ansat complies with these standards. More information about the ansat certification see in newsletter July-September,2003.