Airplanes must fly

A significant event took place at the airfield of the 61st Fighter Airbase on 1 December 2015: the overhauled military aircraft entered into service. This was possible due to the order of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko; in April 2014, the aircraft arrived at the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant to undergo a scheduled overhaul.
The official ceremony of handing over to the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence (AFAD) of eight MiG‑29s for the 61st Fighter Airbase and two Su‑27UBKs for the 116th Guards Ground Attack Airbase was attended by Deputy Minister of Defence for Armament, Chief of Armament, Belarusian Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Igor Lotenkov. He noted that the overhauled aircraft were ready to perform training and combat missions. And in confirmation of his words, the airfield saw the first scheduled flights in the new 2015/2016 training year, which began in the Armed Forces on that day.
Having fulfilled aircraft repair obligations on time, the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant made a nice
gift to the airmen, which will allow them to fully implement the training programme in the new
training year, according to Commander of AFAD Col. Gen. Oleg Dvigalev. Cooperation with the Aircraft Repair Plant is profitable for the military. The overhaul of a combat aircraft costs by 2–2.5 times cheaper than a new aircraft. Besides, warranties provided by the plant are attractive.
“From now onward, the airframe and aircraft units allow the military to continue to operate them
without any fear,” said Andrei Tuchin, acting director of the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant. “Moreover, we assist in studying the problems and eliminating the defects during and after the warranty period. And I can say with full confidence that according to statistics, which we are accumulating, the number of failures of the aircraft that were overhauled by the plant does not increase. That is, the operation is stable,” he added.
Warranty lasts two years. The overhauled aircraft of this type can be in operation for eight years.
“The aircraft underwent the second repair, and one of them underwent the third repair,” said Andrei Tuchin and added: “Neither any country, nor plant has carried out the second overhaul of
aircraft yet.”
Acting director of the plant said that Russia did not have techniques for the second repair, but the plant had developed such documentation and informed the Russian Aircraft Corporation about this.
The second scheduled repair of MiG‑29 type aircraft was for the first time carried out by the plant in 2008. According to the survey of technical condition of MiG‑29 type aircraft, which arrived for the second scheduled repair, in cooperation with RAC MiG (Russia), which is a manufacturer of the aircraft, the plant developed technical documentation to perform the necessary work.
From now onward, the plant carries out the second overhaul of MiG‑29 type aircraft with design
and technological support from the manufacturer of the aircraft by fulfilling all bulletins and technical specifications required for extension of specified service life rate
“We examine the technical condition of each aircraft and decide on specifying a new overhaul
period for the aircraft,” said acting director of the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant Andrei Tuchin.
“We need to carry out the work so that there is enough reliability for the next period of operation. In particular, we replace from 600 to 1,000 or more elements only for one simple reason: according to our statistics, these elements have been out of order more than once. And they are in radio, weapon and aviation systems. In addition, we examine primary elements of structure and carry out improvements associated with enhancement or replacement of weak points in an aircraft,” he added.
A lot of improvements are made in the process of repair. And the plant workers work together
with representatives of the manufacturer of the aircraft and OKB Mikoyan.
“Experts from these companies examine the aircraft and give their recommendations for improving the structures,” said Andrei Tuchin.
Cooperation between Russian and Belarusian counterparts is useful not only in terms of exchange of experience. When disassembling an aircraft in the course of overhaul, experts can more accurately assess and examine its condition after prolonged operation.
As for the fighters and attack aircraft that returned to operation in the Belarusian Armed Forces, the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant not only repaired the combat aircraft, but also equipped them   with new systems, for example a flight parameter video recording system for a better objective control.
After a flight in one of the MiG‑29s that were accepted into service, Commander of the 61^st
Fighter Airbase Col. Alexander Potekhin said that they, as befi ts these aircraft, behaved well in the air. As a professional pilot, he is sure that the MiG‑29 front‑line fighter is the world’s best in its class and well suited for the tasks assigned to the personnel of the airbase.
The entry into service of the overhauled aircraft will significantly increase the level of flight personnel training and enhance the combat capabilities of the 61st Fighter Airbase and the
service branch of the Armed Forces as a whole.
The 558th Aircraft Repair Plant has great experience in repair, upgrade and integrated logistics support of MiG-29 type aircraft. From 1994 till the present, the plant has carried out overhaul and reconditioning of 148 aircraft of this type. Of these, 30 aircraft have undergone the second scheduled repair, and one aircraft has undergone the third repair.
To date, the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant is a dynamically developing, economically successful and leading company specialising in aircraft repair and upgrade, which is known far outside Belarus. Customers of the Aircraft Repair Plant have long been convinced of its reliability. The plant carries out the full service repair of airframe and components of MiG-29, Su-27, Su-25, Su-22 and An-22 airplanes, as well as Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters.
The plant also offers warranty and post-warranty service. The plant also carries out improvements of aircraft and additional preventive measures that increase the reliability of aircraft. Particular attention is paid to fault detection using up-to-day methods of non-destructive
testing: magnetic, eddy current, resonance, X-ray TV and other testing. The accredited Central Plant Laboratory and three-stage in coming inspection system allow imposing strict requirements to all the materials and parts used in the repair.