Kamov helicopters – our priority

The KumAPP Kumertau-based Aircraft Production Company is an advanced enterprise specialising in mass production of various aircraft. The company was set up in November 1962. In March 1967, the Kumertau-based Engineering Plant was assigned to mass-produce the Ka-26 light multipurpose helicopters. From that time on, the company has been closely and successfully cooperating with the Kamov Helicopter-Building Research and Development Design Bureau.

The first Kumertau-built K-26 took to the air on 31 October 1968, with the helicopter exports launched in December 1969. The Ka-26 has been mass-produced for ten years, with the total number of 814 helicopters, 235 which were exported to Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, France, the United States, Mongolia, and Sweden. It is noteworthy, that at that time, the Ka-26 was the only Soviet helicopter with the international certificates allowing it to be exported to highly developed industrial nations of the West.

The Kumertau blade production is unique not only due to its specific adhesive and assembling technology. It is full-cycle production, since present-day economy has to produce what was purchased before. The plant begins from the production of materials – prepreg (the main component of the fiberglass design) and the filler for the polymeric honeycomb packs, and finishes with a full blade test cycle, including vibrations test.

Well-equipped flying and testing grounds ensure practically all types of helicopter bench tests. The company has a training centre, which currently hosts a group of South Korean pilots.

The company focuses its undivided attentions to the extensions of its markets and constantly improves the Ka-32 helicopters design. Owing to cooperation with the LG International Corporation (the Republic of Korea) and Simplex Company (USA), the helicopter has been fitted with water tanks and is successfully employed as fire-fighting versions. As a result of cooperation with the Allied Signal Company (USA) the Ka-32 has been equipped with state-of-the-art avionics.

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2.Найдите русские эквиваленты следующих слов и словосочетаний:

foundry,

to forge,

welding,

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full-cycle,

to improve,

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assembling,

testing grounds,

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Coaxial-rotor System

Coaxial rotors or co-rotors are a pair of helicopter rotors mounted one above the other on concentric shafts, with the same axis of rotation, but that turn in opposite directions (contra-rotation). This configuration is a feature of helicopters produced by the Russian Kamov helicopter design bureau.

Distinctive features of coaxial helicopters

Coaxial-rotor system, which possesses advanced lifting properties, made it possible to put in practice aero-dynamical, tactical, exploitative and constructive advantages of the coaxial helicopter in comparison with the standard single-rotor analogues due to:

• aerodynamic symmetry.

• absence of the power plant output consumption for helicopter trim balance;

• absence of the anti-torque tail rotor

Aerodynamically symmetric helicopter:

• is less sensitive to the external influence of the force and direction of wind during the takeoff, landing, hovering and vertical maneuvering;

• has low vibration level

• much simpler in terms of piloting and training due to a low level of carriage loading.

Absence of the power plant output consumption for helicopter trim balance during the flight provides:

• considerable advantage in power, degree of efficiency, freight-carrying capacity and climbing capacity;

• safe maneuvering under the conditions of restricted space and modern densely built up cities.

Absence of the anti-torque tail rotor makes it possible:

• to reduce overall size of the helicopter and inertia moments;

• to remove restrictions of the angular velocity;

• to perform takeoff and landing from the ship deck-landing platforms of limited size;

• to eliminate the loss of control of the helicopter during the flight with the damaged tail section;

• to avoid the risk of damaging land-based communication lines and traumatizing the ground staff with the revolving tail rotor.