Helicopter Service Company offers pre-owned Mi-26 parts

Russian Helicopters' subsidiary Helicopter Service Company, which specializes in supplying parts for Russian-made helicopter types, is intensifying aftermarket operations. For example, by early 2016 the company had procured significant amounts of pre-owned parts for Mil Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopters.

“We are very active on the market for pre-owned Mi-26 parts,” managing director Dmitry Borisenko told Show Observer. “For example, a new main gearbox for the type comes with a prohibitive price tag of between 160 and 200 million rubles [$2.4 million to $3 million]. Few operators can afford to buy one. Our company has amassed a certain stock of pre-owned parts for Mi-26 main gearboxes, tail rotors and main rotor heads, as well as other components for this model.”

Borisenko says the company is even prepared to swap new parts for defective and past-service-life components that have a traceable past.

 “We count the price of the old components sourced by our clients towards the price of the new parts; this allows the operator to get a serviceable component faster. They no longer have to send their part to a repair shop and wait for it to be fixed”, he explains.

There were 65 Mi-26T helicopters registered in Russia as of April 2016; of these, 22 aircraft were in operation with seven commercial companies.