Russian Mi-26
Posted on 03/08/2016 5:32:33 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
China and Russia have conducted the seventh round of negotiations on their joint development of heavy-lift helicopters. Both sides have reached a consensus on the core technology, said Yu Feng, President of AVIC Helicopter Co. Ltd. on Monday.
The talks, held from Feb. 29 to March 4, are of great significance for further promoting strategic cooperation between China and Russia, Yu Feng, also an NPC deputy, told reporters at the ongoing Two Sessions meetings on March 7.
The development of heavy-lift helicopters makes China the third country after Russia and the U.S. to boast the capability. Thus, China has become one of the world's few countries with a complete spectrum of helicopters.
The heavy-lift helicopter, which is currently in the research and development phase, has an maximum take-off weight of 38.2 tons, a maximum cruise speed of 300 kilometers per hour, a service ceiling of 5,700 meters, and a range of 630 kilometers.
It is designed to undertake tasks such as large-scale rescue, vehicle transport, fire transport, personnel transport and other heavy lifting.
China and Russia signed the cooperative framework on the advanced heavy-lift helicopter on May 8, 2015. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attended the signing ceremony.
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Russian Mi-26
Russian choppers are always ugly.
So why do they call the B-52 the BUFF?
So is OUR A-10, affectionately called the Wart Hog, but it works great. Does this Russian work? I think that what counts in the end.
The A-10 is awkward-looking, but not ugly. US aircraft design had some strange-looking stuff back in the 50s and 60s (NB dates are when a particular craft became prominent in service, not when it was actually being designed), got better in the 70s, and by the 80s had much more attractive proportions. By the 90s, they were actually starting to look a bit chunky and overweight.
Russian designers have a weird visual language, so their stuff (at least to my eye) really does look ugly. The MiG fighters in particular, with the Ilyushin craft coming in second, look particularly strange. Sukhoi is better, but even the various shapes in their craft seem to be joined in odd ways. Some of the Russian helicopters have no grace at all, particularly the cargo machines. Their combat helicopters look better.
You’d think that upon reaching a certain size it would be more efficient and powerful to use a twin rotor system, if that is still done nowadays.
In the U.S. the largest twin rotor is the CH-47 Chinook with a 28,000 lb payload, and the largest single rotor is the CH-53K King Stallion with a payload of 35,000 lbs.
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