Celestial Atlantean Mi-26

The end of the sixties was the time of the most rapid development of Soviet heavy transport aviation. This process was conditioned both by the military doctrine that was in effect then , and by the needs of the national economy. As it turned out later, the need for such heavy vehicles still exists, not only in Russia, but also in other countries, practically on all continents.

The Mi-26 helicopter was originally conceived as a deeply modernized version of the proven and very good rotary-winged Mi-6 machine, but already in the process of development, the engineers of the design bureau M.L. Mile it became clear that to fulfill all the terms of the technical assignment, it would be necessary to develop a completely new aircraft.

The experience of building "flying cranes" KB already had, on its account were such masterpieces of the world aircraft building as Mi-12, Mi-8, Mi-10 and the already mentioned Mi-6. Now I had to exceed my own level.

With a large selection of schemes, design bureaus. Milya and General Designer Smirnov stopped at a traditional single screw. The endorsement of the advance project took place at the end of 1971.

Simultaneously with the launch of design work on the helicopter, the development of a turboshaft engine also began. The Progress Bureau was engaged in it, and the power of each of the two Mi-26 engines envisaged was supposed to exceed 11 thousand horsepower.

Such force was needed in special gearboxes, for which the aircraft operators, contrary to tradition, took their own. The work of the entire power plant was controlled by an automatic stabilizing screw rotation system and power synchronization.

To facilitate the 32-meter eight-bladed propeller of the Mi-26 helicopter, it was made of metal-plastic, and the bushing was made of titanium. The steering screw received fiberglass blades. The result of all these efforts was the relatively small weight of the huge machine, it corresponded to the Mi-6 mass with a cargo compartment and load capacity twice that of it.

The air intakes were protected from dust, and the operation and ground handling were eased as much as possible, in particular, the tail boom was equipped with a special passage so that technicians could do the work, if necessary, without disassembling the skin.

The first prototype of the Mi-26 descended from the MVZ in the city of Panki in the fall of 1977, and in December, he got into the air, for a start, for three minutes. The first long flight was successful two months later.

At the international aerospace show in Le Bourget 1981, Mi-26 produced a sensation. It has become the largest helicopter in the world, and its design is so ahead of time that it remains so until now. The carrying capacity of the giant is 20 tons.

The hardest in the literal sense, and sometimes even dangerous work is entrusted to these machines. They had to cut the radioactive air of Chernobyl, to fire refugees from burning Karabakh, to swim in the red-hot Afghan sky. Tajikistan, Chechnya, Yugoslavia, and Cambodia also did not pass it. Painted in white with the letters "UN" on board, Mi-26 visited other hot spots: Burundi, Somalia, East Timor.

This giant has always carried out unique rescue and transport operations. If the aircraft or helicopter makes an emergency landing, then for its delivery to the repair site is called Mi-26. The photo, which he carries with him the American Chinook, the Boston bomber of the times of the war or the Be-12 seaplane, always provokes interest, because this can not be a single rotorcraft in the world.