RuAviation

Active preparation for serial production of MC-21 airplanes continues at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAZ). One of the key steps is the installation of additional assembly stations in the shops of civil aircraft assembly production, which will reduce the load on the existing equipment and increase the efficiency of production processes, as well as increase the capacity of the enterprise as a whole. This was reported in Yakovlev PJSC.

As part of the production capacity expansion program, it is planned to install an S31 assembly station doubler in Shop 255 to implement an accelerated manufacturing process of the F3 compartment component – the main landing gear support recess and the air conditioning system (ACS) compartment.

“The additional equipment will allow to accelerate the production of subassemblies of the main landing gear niche and AHU, which will further reduce the time required to lay down the F3 compartment. Installation of the assembly slipway is planned to be completed at the end of November, and already in December the assembly fitters will start manufacturing of the airframe compartment,” in Yakovlev said.

In addition, new stations PF.20.1 and PF.30.1 are being installed in shop 246, which will be involved in the process of final assembly of the half-fuselage. After their commissioning, the existing PF.10.1 and PF.10.2 stations will be relieved and the work will be paralleled across four stations, which will make the redistribution of labor more flexible and efficient. The transition to an additional two stations is planned for December this year.

In addition to the implementation of these measures, further modernization is planned for 2025 to increase the assembly rate, which includes the installation of a double station for the assembly of emergency and passenger door openings in shop 205, as well as a double station for assembly station P005 in shop 255. These measures are aimed at efficient resource allocation, ensuring production capacity growth and maintaining the required rate of MC-21 aircraft assembly within the deadlines set by the Russian government – 36 aircraft in 2027.

Earlier it was reported that a new longitudinal milling machining center for machining keel attachment assemblies is being completed in shop 246. The equipment will significantly simplify and speed up the process of preparing holes in the assemblies, as well as allow the aircraft factory to maintain the pace of production in the face of increasing workload of the enterprise.

At the end of August this year, Alexander Veprev, Director General of IAZ, reported that nine MC-21 airframes are at various stages of readiness in the assembly and test shop. Parts for the next four machines are also being manufactured, and materials for the 16th, 17th and 18th production airplanes have already been prepared. In the next two to three years, the plant needs to achieve stable production of at least three MC-21 aircraft per month, which requires timely completion of modernization of production facilities and provision of import-substituted systems, Alexander Veprev noted.