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“Made of creative energy”

Since Ukrainian UL-aircraft company Aeroprakt has switched to CNC-machining,  its productivity has been improved. Labour input was reduced by more than 40%. But to make the most of the company’s new CNC capability, the designers had to adjust their way of thinking; of conceiving and designing a part or component. Eventually, the entire aeroplane was reconceived.

The two founders of Aeroprakt, Oleg Lytovchenko and Yuri Yakovlev once worked together as engineering designers at the famous Ukrainian aerospace company, Antonov. They formed a flying club, which, by 1991, became their fledgling company and which, across the intervening years has built more than 450 ultralight aeroplanes, helping perhaps thousands of enthusiasts around the world to live out their own dreams of flying.

Surrounded by almost impenetrable traffic, Aeroprakt makes its aeroplanes in an unlikely, two-story building in central Kiev, the grey walls of which are patched with colourful posters of all shapes and sizes of aircraft. Evidently, there’s a passion that runs deep at Aeroprakt. Sheet-metal workers, machinists, polishers, composites technicians; whatever its 60 employees do to earn a living, many of them love to earn that living by building aeroplanes. There are countless companies that wish they could emulate that sort of creative energy.

Productivity  is the top priority

But, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, if passion provides the driving force, then reason and good management should hold the reins. Alex Zhurba is Aeroprakt’s factory manager and is endowed with a level-headed pragmatism, especially when it comes to how aeroplanes are built.

“A company’s primary purpose,” he says, “is to make money, right? There are lots of people here who are obsessed with flying but our objective is to build the best aeroplane in the most efficient way possible. My own preoccupation is with productivity.”

Alex Zhurba began the latest phase of his productivity push four years ago when he bought a Haas VF-4 vertical machining centre: a machine that introduced Aeroprakt’s designers to the concept of CNC.

“They had to adjust their way of thinking; of conceiving and designing a part or component,” he recollects. “Eventually, the entire aeroplane was reconceived to make the most of the company’s new CNC capability.” Learning to use a new tool is the very essence of progress, so once Zhurba had shown his designers the way ahead they were ready for the next step. “The VF-4 was followed a year or two later by a Haas GR-5 CNC router. This is an obvious machine for an aircraft builder. We use it to mill moulds for the fibreglass fuselage panels and long structural parts such as wing components. We cut the moulds from model board and use them to create the master moulds, which are made from composite, laid by hand.”

Zhurba also bought a Haas Super Mini Mill that works non-stop on the hundreds of small parts that hold the larger parts of an airplane together. “We need a TL-25 toolroom lathe as well,” he says. “I have one with a sub-spindle on order for later this year.”

Despite the global economic downturn, Alex Zhurba claims that sales of Aeroprakt aeroplanes are robust. The company currently builds around 60 units a year – some as kits, some as ready-built – shipping them to distributors in dozens of countries. “In early 2009 we launched our latest model,” he says, “the A22 – LS ‘Light Sport’, aimed primarily at the US market.”

Labour input reduced by 40 percent

The introduction of the Light Sport license category is expected to increase considerably the number of people who take up flying as a hobby. Sport pilots need fewer hours to achieve certification and, since the aircraft are smaller, lighter and cheaper to run than standard single-engine planes, the cost of learning can be less than half that of the established, private pilot’s route.

“Since we started using Haas CNC machines tools,” says Zhurba, “we have reduced our labour input by more than 40%. If we keep improving our productivity I believe we can build up to 100 aeroplanes a year at this factory. I can’t imagine us wanting to build more than that; the global market for ultralight aircraft just isn’t big enough. Not at the moment, anyway.”

Time will tell. Thanks to companies like Aeroprakt – and in particular, to Alex Zhurba and his efforts to keep overheads low, flying is more accessible and less expensive than it was some ten years ago. Learning to fly can be life-changing. Few things come close to the exhilaration of finding oneself aloft, alone and utterly self-reliant high above the distractions of everyday life. The first time you bring back your aeroplane single-handedly is a moment of intense joy.

Matt Bailey

German  Summary

Produktivitätsschub für Ultraleichte: Seit bei dem ukrainischen Ultraleicht-Flugzeugbauer Aeroprakt schrittweise das CNC-Zeitalter Einzug gehalten hat, ist die Effizienz gestiegen: Der Arbeitsaufwand konnte um 40 Prozent gesenkt werden. Dieser Erfolg war nicht ohne ein Umdenken bei den Konstrukteuren zu haben, denn sie mussten ihre Strategien beim Entwerfen und Konstruieren von Teilen und Baugruppen ändern. Letztendlich wurde das gesamte Flugzeug überarbeitet, um die Möglichkeiten der neuen CNC-Werkzeugmaschine voll auszuschöpfen. Der deutschsprachige Beitrag ist nachzulesen auf: www.aerotec-online.com/aero0111prakt

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