Published: 6/19/1998

The KUNAPE factory in Kumertau rolled-out the first Ka-226 on 29 May, with strong hopes for a production run of 400-500 such helicopters. Meanwhile, the first pre-series Ka-226 nears completion at the Strela factory in Orienburg. Last year the Orienburg regional administration granted Strela $2m to set up manufacture of this helicopter as a part in the plan to convert its production lines from themanufacture of missiles to that of civil products. It is hoped to assemble 200 Ka-226s at Strela by 2010. Sergei Mikheyev, general designer at Kamov, said that the first Ka-226 prototype assembled at the pilot plant in Lubertsi and flown for the first time in September last year is soon to be joined by the second prototype. "We hope this addition will speed up the certification process, which so far has been going slower than we wanted", he confessed. Together with a bigger Ka-62, the Ka-226 is a top priority for Kamov, says its general designer. The Ka-226 is a twin-engined version of the previous Ka-126 powered by a single 720-hp TVO-100 turboshaft engine, which never entered mass production due to non-readiness of its powerplant. In its turn, the latter was based on the Ka-26 piston helicopter, which was used in 850 units since entering mass production in 1969. The Ka-26/126/226 family boasts a coaxial rotor system, an H-like tail unit and a removable cabin module. The latter gives these helicopters a high degree of versatility: by attaching various versions of the cabin module the aircraft can be easily converted from one role to another. Kamov has developed several of these modules for medical evacuation, search-and-rescue, fire-fighting and other duties. Other design features of the Ka-226 are a hingeless rotor hub, glass-carbon rotor blades and a foreign-made navigation suite from AlliedSignal Aerospace. The latter includes KY196A, KN53, KLN90B, KR87 ADF and KT-70 units. Rolls-Royce supplies the 420-hp Allison 250 C20B engines. The Ka-226 was developed to meet the requirement of Russia's Ministry for Emergencies (MChS) for a twin-engine light-weight utility helicopter capable of being easily prepared for a medical evacuation mission after transportation inside of the Il-76 airlifter. Currently, MChS uses the Eurocopter BO-105 and VK-117 helicopters in this role. In 1997, the Ministry agreed to provide financing for the development of the Ka-226, hoping that this model would be much cheaper (at $1.5m apiece) than its western counterparts. Last year, MChS announced its plans to order 20-25 Ka-226s. Except for MChS,interest in the Ka-226 has been expressed by the Moscow City Government and RAO GAZPROM, which are considering ordering 15 and 75 airframes, respectively. The first batch of series-built aircraft should be delivered to the customers during next year.(IN698.4) (VK)  

Article ID: 190