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As reported earlier - one of the Mil-34C (Hermit in NATO terms) helicopters is now with Heli Maintenance at Christchurch with intentions of being placed on the NZ civil aircraft register.
The first example selected from the batch of six imported, ex the Nigerian Air Force, is NAF 557 (c/n 9783034102005).
This has a date of manufacture of 28-11-2001 and has accumulated all of 127 flying hours - last flight being in 2003.
The four bladed main rotor and the two bladed tail rotors are of composite material.
The engine is the Vedeneyev M14B26B radial of around 330hp and is mounted north/south.
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Also at Heli Maintenance today was the Wairakei Holdings Ltd's Aero L-29 ZK-JRF (c/n 892851) ready for CAA inspection.
Getting those Hermits onto the CAA regime is going to be some Herculean exercise! But not insurmountable given the other ex Soviet Bloc aircraft around. But these will be the first fling wings to grace the ZK files won't they??
ReplyDeleteCould you explain the North - South orientation? I understand North - South and East - West as it relates to a car engine, but am not sure how a round engine can be pointing in a particular direction. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAs they say - "nothing is impossible - it just takes longer and costs lots more".
ReplyDeleteAFAIK it will be the first ZK'd fling wing although there have been several heavy lift machines about - mostly on the RA register.
North - South.
Hard to put into words at this hour of the morning. But if you take the engine of the front of a Yak 52 - grab it by the prop shaft and turn the whole unit through 90 degrees so the shaft pokes horizontally out the side - add a gearbox and then cram it behind the cabin. Does that make sense ?