In June, the prototype of the Russian high-speed helicopter, known by the acronym PSV, is promised to take off for the first time and accelerate to a speed of 450 km / h. Does this mean that we are on the verge of a breakthrough in the practical creation of truly high-speed helicopters?
On Thursday, May 19, the international helicopter exhibition HeliRussia 2016 opens in Moscow. At the press conference preceding it, it was announced that in June our promising helicopter would reach a record speed.
We really need rotorcraft flying at such speeds. For the first time they started talking about them at the HeliRussia 2009 exhibition. Then they solemnly announced that work was beginning on the project of a domestic high-speed helicopter, which became the main and very joyful sensation of the exhibition that took place seven years ago.
It is worth recalling that high-speed rotorcraft are being actively tested in the USA and Western Europe today. They do not succeed in everything, but their helicopters fly, consistently show speeds of about 400 km / h, and are demonstrated at many air shows. And we shouldn't have lagged behind them in any way.
HeliRussia 2009 showed a number of options for possible layouts of promising high-speed machines. The Ka-92 helicopter project was chosen as a working concept. According to the declared characteristics, the car was supposed to carry 30 passengers for one and a half thousand kilometers at a speed of 450 km / h, take off and land on any unequipped, but flat area. Such a rotorcraft, if implemented, could revolutionize the transport of hard-to-reach territories of Russia.
It was assumed that the main customers of the high-speed helicopter and the financiers of its creation would be oil and gas companies, which are rapidly moving to the North and even to the Arctic. The best machine for ensuring shift shifts and eliminating possible emergencies where no plane will land, and a conventional helicopter to fly for a long time and costly, you cannot imagine.
According to the then head of the helicopter industry, Andrei Shibitov, the project should have taken no more than eight years. According to the developers, with proper funding, the Ka-92 could be lifted into the air and even prepared for serial production in five years, that is, in 2014-2015.
Let us remind you that seven years have passed since the demonstration of the layout of a promising high-speed helicopter. Where is the car?
Model Ka-92. Photo: Vitaly V. Kuzmin / wikipedia.org
It never appeared in metal. But without unnecessary advertising noise, they built a kind of flying laboratory called PSV - a promising high-speed helicopter. A lot of money was spent on PSV from the budget. This miracle of technology was first shown at last year's MAKS-2015 air show. It is PSV that is supposed to reach a record speed of 450 km / h in June. According to the scheme, this is a classic helicopter with main and compensating rotors.
As it turns out now, the appearance was ultimately determined by managers and financiers. There was only one criterion. A high-speed car should not be much more expensive than a classic one. And her form should be classic. That, according to helicopter builders, is impossible in principle.
At first. If we talk about cost, jet planes were initially many times more expensive than piston ones, but today the whole world flies mainly on expensive jet engines, and not antediluvian pistons. And a high-speed helicopter will in no way be able to compete in price with conventional machines, it will definitely and much more expensive.
Secondly. For some reason, effective managers also ignored the opinion of aerodynamics - a high-speed helicopter cannot be built according to the classical scheme with main and compensating propellers, like PSV. Inevitably, there will come a time when no tail rotor can compensate for the roll-over force of the rotorcraft. His speed will be deliberately limited.
High speed characteristics are provided only by the coaxial scheme. In this case, the main rotor should no longer be long and flexible, but short, rigid and rapidly rotating. These screws provide sufficient lift. But to give the required speed, a pushing propeller or even a jet engine is needed. In this case, the speed of 450, 500 km / h and even higher will become familiar, economical and safe. According to this scheme, it was supposed to build the Ka-92.
The termination of financing of the project announced many years ago was traditionally explained by the crisis, the reduction in revenues of the oil and gas complex, and a decrease in its ambitions. But one must think about the future and about state interests in their entire complex.
Our regional air traffic has practically collapsed. Many airfields in the Russian hinterland are an eerie sight. Their restoration probably already requires hundreds of billions, if not trillions of rubles. Where can I get them? But high-speed helicopters do not need any concrete runways. All you need is a level platform. And if we take into account the costs of restoring regional airfield infrastructure throughout the country, in comparison with the costs of creating a high-speed helicopter as soon as possible, even effective managers should understand what is more profitable for the country from any point of view.
Alas, now the issue is almost always decided not from the point of view of general government benefit, but taking into account the interests of individual holdings or corporations.
Meanwhile, in addition to the civilian aspect of high-speed helicopters, there is also a very important military component. At previous HeliRussia salons, the concepts of attack combat vehicles were openly shown, taking off in a helicopter, then folding the blades and turning into jet attack aircraft-interceptors, developing speeds of up to 900 km / h. Moreover, these machines are already in the project adapted to work in the Arctic. Fantastic! But it could also be realized.
The time for creating domestic high-speed helicopters has been lost, but still not lost. And what path the Russian helicopter industry will take - we will see in the near future.
If the mysterious PSV really takes off in June and accelerates to 450 km / h, it will be not bad. The billions spent on it can be justified. In addition, it is argued that a helicopter propeller created from new structural materials and a new configuration can be tested at the flying laboratory. And that's good too.
But neither PSV, nor its flexible propellers, even the newest generation, will have anything to do with really promising high-speed helicopters - just according to the laws of aerodynamics. So the question of creating domestic high-speed rotorcraft remains open.
