Teknologi Canggih #07: Helikopter Angkut Besar Mi-26T & Mi-12 buatan Russia

In October 1999 a Mi-26 was employed to transport a 25 ton block of ice encasing a well preserved 23,000 year old Woolly Mammoth from the Siberian tundra to a lab in Khatanga, Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, where scientists hoped to study the find and perhaps try cloning it. The weight was so great that the Mi-26 had to be returned to the factory immediately after the lift to check for structural excesses that could have warped the airframe and rotors.[1]

Afghanistan, Chinook recovery

In spring 2002 a civilian Mi-26 was leased to recover two U.S. Army MH-47E Chinook helicopters from a mountain in Afghanistan. The Chinooks were being operated by 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and had been employed in Operation Anaconda, an effort in early March to drive al Qaeda and Taliban fighters out of the Shahi-Kot Valley and surrounding mountains. The Chinooks ended up stranded on the slopes above Sirkhankel at an altitude of 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) and 3,100 metres (10,200 ft). The Chinook stranded at 3,100 meters was deemed too badly damaged to recover, but the other one at 2,600 meters was repairable. With all fuel, rotors and non-essential equipment removed the Chinook was estimated to weigh 12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb), too much for another Chinook (the CH-47 is the US Army's heavy-lift helicopter) at that altitude, which could only lift 9,100 kilograms (20,000 lb) at 2,600 metres (8,500 ft). An Mi-26 was located through Skylink Aviation in Toronto, which had connections with a Russian company called Sportsflite that operated three civilian versions of the Mi-26 called Heavycopters. One of the aircraft was in Tajikistan doing construction and firefighting work. The aircraft was leased for the recovery of the Chinook for $300,000. The Chinook was snatched with a hook and flown to Kabul, then later to Bagram Air Force Base in Parvan, Afghanistan for shipment to Fort Campbell in Kentucky for repairs.[1] Six months later a second Army CH-47 that had made a hard landing 100 miles north of Bagram at an altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) was recovered by another Heavycopter operated by Sportsflite at a cost of $350,000.[1]

Chechnia, crash

On 19 August 2002, Chechen separatists hit an Mi-26 with a surface to air missile, causing it to crash-land in a minefield. Reportedly, a total of 127 people on-board were killed in the crash.[3]

China, Wenchuan "Quake Lake" emergency

As the result of the magnitude 8.0 Sichuan earthquake on 12 May 2008, many rivers became blocked by giant landslides, which resulted in the formation of "quake lakes"; massive amounts of water pooling up at a very high rate behind the landslide-formed dams which will eventually crumble under the weight of the ever increasing water mass,[4] endangering the lives of potentially millions of people if the water is to build up, and then break downstream. The most precarious of these quake-lakes is the one located in the extremely difficult terrain at Tangjiashan mountain, accessible only by foot or air, in which at least one Mi-26 heavy lift helicopter belonging to a branch of China's civil aviation service is used to bring heavy earthmoving tractors to the affected location[5]. This was in conjunction with PLAAF Mil Mi-17 helicopters bringing in combat engineers, explosive specialists, and other personnel to join 1,200 soldiers who had already arrived on site by foot. Five tons of fuel to operate the machinery had also been airlifted onto location, where a sluice was constructed to allow the bleeding off of the bottlenecked water.

Afghanistan, helicopter shot down

A Moldovan Mi-26 belonging to Pectox-Air aviation was shot down in Helmand province with the loss of six Ukrainian crew. The aircraft was said to be on a humanitarian mission and was under NATO contract.[6]

Variants

V-29 Prototype. Mi-26 (NATO - 'Halo-A') Military cargo/freight transport version. Mi-26A Upgraded version with an upgraded flight/navigation system. Mi-26M Upgraded version of the Mi-26, designed for better performance. Mi-26MS Aeromedical evacuation version. Mi-26NEF-M Anti-submarine warfare version. Mi-26P Passenger transport version, with accommodation for 63 passengers. Mi-26PP Radio relay version. Mi-26PK Flying crane helicopter. Mi-26S Disaster relief version. Mi-26T Civil cargo/freight transport version. Mi-26TC Cargo transport version. Mi-26TM Flying crane helicopter. Mi-26TP Fire-fighting version. Mi-26TS Export version of the Mi-26T. Mi-26TZ Fuel tanker version. Mi-27 Proposed airborne command post variant, only two prototypes built.

Specifications (Mi-26)

General characteristics

• Crew: Six – 2 pilots, 1 navigator, 1 flight engineer, 1 loadmaster, 1 radio/electronic systems operator
• Capacity:
  • 80 troops, 60 litters[9]
  • 20,000 kg cargo (44,000 lbs)[9]
• Length: 40.025 m (131 ft 4 in) (rotors turning)
• Rotor diameter: 32.00 m (104 ft 11.8 in)
• Height: 8.145 m (26 ft 9 in)
• Disc area: 789 m2 (8,495 ft²)
• Empty weight: 28,200 kg (62,170 lb)
• Loaded weight: 49,500 kg (108,900 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 56,000 kg (123,500 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Lotarev D-136 turboshafts, 8,380 kW (11,240 shp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 295 km/h, 183 mph (160 kt)
• Range: 1,952 km, 1,240 miles (1,080 nautical miles)
• Service ceiling: 4,600 m (15,100 ft)

Comparable aircraft

• Mil Mi-6
• Mil Mi-12
• CH-47 Chinook
• CH-53E Super Stallion

(Mil Mi-26)

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Mil Mi 26T RA-06291 at Lausanne