"Аллигатор" учитя летать

Первого июля новейший боевой вертолет Ка-52 "Аллигатор" успешно выполнил первый полет с площадки летно-испытательного комплекса фирмы "Камов" в подмосковных Люберцах. Легко подняв десятитонную машину в воздух, экипаж ...

Легкие вертолеты в России
Joint stock company "Mi light helicopters" specialises in development and production of the Mi-34S helicopter and its modifications, as well as sales, maintenance and technical support for Mil aircraft in service, pilot and ground crew training. Production of the MI-34S is set at Arseniev-based Progress factory with a yearly manufacturing capacity of 350 airframes. Apart from high performance, the Mi-34 differs from western aircraft in economics of operation, maintenance procedures and reliability. In the future the Mi-34 will be operated "on condition", needing no overhauls. Its initial lifetime is set at 5,000 flight hours or 25 years. Mi light helicopters' strategic goal is to fulfil the "Light aviation of Russia" program and create a wide network of air routes.

Три новые ступени КНР в небо
By signing, on 14 June 1990, an inter-state agreement Russia and China restored their military-technical co-operation. In 1992 China purchased about thirty Su-27 fighters and then, in 1996, placed a follow-on contract for an additional batch of aircraft, air-to-air missiles and licence-production of over 100 Su-27s. According to current plans, the country is going to replace by tile year 2000 half of the existing military aviation inventory, orienting on the indigenous designs J-8-IIM, J-7, FC-l, J-IO and Russian Su-27. Various programs on licence-production and modernisation of existing hardware jointly with foreign partners are also being considered. The fleet renewal program is divided into three states that together will run until 2049 and would result in China reaching the level of the world's leading aviation countries. In the last five years China's military expenditures increased five times.

Сибирская закалка Су-27
Superb performance and huge development potential of the Su-27 fighter gave birth to the family of successful aircraft - the Su-27UB, Su-30, Su-33, Su-35 and Su-37. The family was conceived by the three forces - Pavel Sukhoi's idea of an integral, statically-unstable design, Mikhail Simonov's creative will, intuition and perception, and SibNIA's large experience of wind-testing. At first, the Su-27 project did not go well. The first series of wind tests conducted in 1975 on a preliminary model highlighted a lot of shortcomings. The shape of the wing, location and geometry of the empennage and other elements were met with a storm of criticism. Almost all components in the initial aerodynamic layout needed changing. SibNIA continued wind tests, trying various configurations of fuselage extensions to the wing. Basing on the rich experience of the wind tests, Mikhail Simonov formed a new layout in 1976, introducing a principally new element, the adaptive deflection of the wing's leading and rear edges. From its side, SibNIA looked carefully at the plane's aerodynamics performance in unstable, non-sustained flight regimes. Also conducted were numerous experiments and studies on aerodynamic damping and finding areas of cinematic parameters where "anti-damping" occurred. A few "exotic" configurations were also tried, including ones with canards. As a result the initial Su-27 turned into a radically-new highly-successful fighter.