Mil Mi-26 Halo
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Mil Mi-26 Mi-26T Heavy Transport Helicopter
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The Mil Mi-26 (NATO reporting name: Halo) is a Russian heavy transport helicopter designed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant which is in service with several different civilian and military operators. It is the largest and most powerful helicopter to have gone into series production. The Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter is designed to airlift troops and material, and transport cargoes inside or outside the fuselage. The transport, troop-carrying, medevac, flight-refuelling are available.
The Mi-26 was designed as a heavy-lift helicopter for military and civil use, and was to replace earlier Mi-6 and Mi-12 heavy lift helicopters, with twice the cabin space and payload of the Mi-6, then the world's largest and fastest production helicopter. The primary purpose was to move military equipment like 13 metric ton (29,000 lb) amphibious armored personnel carriers, and mobile ballistic missiles, to remote locations after delivery by military transport planes such as the Antonov An-22 or Ilyushin Il-76. The first Mi-26 flew on 14 December 1977 and the first production aircraft was rolled out on 4 October 1980. Development was completed in 1983, and the Mi-26 was in Soviet military and commercial service by 1985. The Mi-26 "HALO" is currently in use in several air fleets: Russia (+10),Algeria (6 on order), Belarus (7), Cambodia (?), Democratic Republic of the Congo (?), Equatorial Guinea (?), India (4), Kazakhstan (10-12), Mexico (1), North Korea (?), Peru (3), Ukraine (?), Venezuela (3). |
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- Mi-26A: Upgraded version with an upgraded flight/navigation system.
- Mi-26T: Basic civil transport (Izdelie 209), generally as military Mi-26. - Mi-26MS: Medical evacuation version of Mi-26T, typically with intensive care section for four casualties and two medics, surgical section for one casualty and three medics, pre-operating section for two casualties and two medics, ambulance section for five stretcher patients, three seated casualties and two attendants; laboratory; and amenities section with lavatory, washing facilities, food storage and recreation unit. - Mi-26NEF-M: ASW version with search radar in undernose faired radome, extra cabin heat exchangers and towed MAD housing mounted on ramp. - Mi-26TP: Firefighting (pozharnyi) version that appeared in 1994, with internal tanks able to dispense up to 15,000 litres fire retardant from one or two vents, or 17,260 litres of water from an underslung VSU-15 bucket, or from two linked EP-8000 containers. - Mi-26TZ: Tanker version that emerged in 1998, with 14,040 litres of T2, TS1 or R2 aviation fuel or DL, DZ or DA diesel oil fuel and 1,040 litres lubricants (in 52 jerry cans), dispensed through four 60m hoses for aircraft, or 10 20m hoses for ground vehicles. - Mi-26M: Upgrade under development; all-GFRP main rotor blades of new aerodynamic configuration, new ZMKB Progress D-127 turboshafts (each 10,700kW), and modified integrated flight/nav system with EFIS. -Mi-26T2: Upgrade under development, will enter in production in 2015. Equipped with modern BREO-26 on-board avionics, NPK90-2 flight and navigation system, five LCD displays. Avionics of the Mi-26T2 integrate an around-the-clock gyrostabilized optoelectronic system, backup device system, modern communications system and on-board control system. Night vision goggles are also available as an additional option. |
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The multipurpose heavy lift helicopter Mi-26 "Halo" is a third generation helicopter continuing the line of development of Russia's heavy lift helicopters, designed for transportation of self-propelled and non self-propelled vehicles and large-size cargo in the cabin, and using external load with the total weight of up to 20 tons. Mi-26 is characterized by high operating efficiency and has no analogues in the world as regards its load-lifting capacity.The helicopter is produced using a single-rotor scheme with a tail rotor.
The Mi-26 is the first helicopter with an eight-blade main rotor, which is mounted above the fuselage midsection on a hump. Two turboshaft engines are mounted on top of the cabin with round air intakes above and behind the cockpit and exhaust ports at the sides of the engines. The long, bus-like body with fixed tricycle landing gear tapers to the nose and rear, with an upswept rear section and rounded nose and stepped-up cockpit. The tail is swept-back with a slightly tapered fin with large rotor on right side. The flats are forward-tapered and low-mounted on leading edge of the fin. The length of the landing gear struts can be hydraulically adjusted to facilitate loading through the rear doors. The tailskid is retractable to allow unrestricted approach to the rear clamshell doors and loading ramp. The cargo compartment has two electric winches (each with 2,500 kg capacity) on overhead rails can move loads along the length of the cabin. The cabin floor has rollers and tie-down rings throughout. The Mi-26 does not have stub wings as fitted on the Mi-6. It has fixed tricycle landing gear, with dual wheels on each gear, and a tail bumper to deal with ground strikes. The height of the main landing gear can be hydraulically adjusted to assist cargo loading, and sensors are fitted to the landing gear to give the loaded weight of the machine through a cockpit control-panel indicator. The airframe features built-in handholds and footholds to help in field maintenance, with engine service doors able to be used as work platforms. There are 40 fold-down seats along the cargo bay, and 60 more seats can be fitted in the center aisle of the cargo bay. There are three passenger doors, two on the left and one on the right, that open downward and have built-in steps. |
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Propulsion
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The Mi-26 is powered by two Lotarev D-136 turboshaft engines. Each engine can produce 8,380kW of power. The synchronisation of outputs between the two engines maintains a constant rotor rpm. The Mi-26 is capable of single-engine flight in the event of loss of power by one engine (depending on aircraft mission weight) because of an engine load sharing system. If one engine fails, the other engines output is automatically increased to allow continued flight. Each engine bay is manufactured with titanium to safeguard against fire. The maximum internal fuel capacity of each tank is 12,000l. The Mi-26 features VR-26 fan-cooled main transmission, rated at 14,914kW, with air intake above rear of engine cowlings.
The Mil Mi-26 is fitted with an eight-blade main rotor, with the blades made from fiberglass with steel spar cores and fitted with titanium on the leading edges. The rotor blades have an electrical de-icing system -- all the de-icing is electrical, in fact -- and the rotor hub is made of titanium. It is the only production helicopter in the world with an eight-blade main rotor, which Mil officials claims gives a very smooth ride, much smoother than that of the Mi-6. The tail rotor has five blades, made of fiberglass. The tail is fitted with a fixed tailplane to help maintain pitch stability. The incidence of the tailplane can be adjusted by ground crews. |
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Avionics
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The Mi-26 Halo is fitted with all items necessary for day and night operations in all weathers ate standard. The radar system is a Groza 7A813 weather radar fitted in hinged (to starboard) nosecone. Flight systems include integrated PKV-26-1 flight/nav system and automatic flight control system, Doppler, map display, HSI, and automatic hover system. A GPS can be installed in option.
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Hatch for load sling in bottom of fuselage, in line with main rotor shaft; sling cable attached to internal winching gear. Specialised versions can utilise firefighting equipment. The Mi-26 also has a closed-circuit television system to observe positioning over a sling load, and load operations. Military versions can have IR jammers and suppressors, IR decoy dispensers and colour-coded identification flare system. The Mi-26 can also be fitted with the ASU-2V chaff/flare dispensers.
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