Helicopter V-12 (Mi-12). Unsurpassed masterpiece

"Even in our time, it's not that impressive, it's stunning. Especially if you get inside. Emotions from feeling inside this huge apparatus are overwhelmed simply because you understand that IT could not just fly, but also with benefit. " (Military Review).

"The hulk weighing about 100 tons has risen with amazing ease, in the sky it was unusually beautiful." This outstanding helicopter was tested by the great test pilot, V.P. Koloshenko: "The flights showed very good handling and stability of the V-12. The helicopter flew steadily with an abandoned control stick from three to seven minutes. There was no flickering before the eyes of the propeller blades, vibrations and noise: I seemed to swim on a huge ship. "

Such comfort in flight can boast only a helicopter of the cross-section scheme, in which the carrier screws are carried from the fuselage to the ends of the wings, which neutralize the vibration from N.V. More wings in flight partially unload the main rotor, due to which the cruising speed and range of flight are increased. It is to increase the range of the Mi-8 helicopter inside the fuselage that there is always a barrel with fuel of the capacity of 800l, which creates certain inconvenience when loading and unloading the helicopter, not counting its burden in the fire-fighting sense and in the fuselage it is superfluous! But everyone was accustomed to this and this position was included in the "norm".

And I retell to the fact that the designers of the cost center do not produce new models, but have succeeded in modernizing helicopters, created by M.L. Mil himself. For example, the Mi-24 has been converted into both the Mi-28 and the “high-speed” helicopter “flying platform, which looks very beautiful. Maybe it's time for them to think about modernizing solid equipment: the B-12, so that after their modernization it would be even more beautiful! But unlike the Mi-24, you will have to work hard here, because the V-12M was supposed to have 20.000hp engines, but here the propeller-driven installations from the Mi-26 helicopter will be very useful! The main rotors of the V-12 rotate with an overlap of 1,5 m. The length of the blades of the Mi-6 helicopter is 17,5m, while that of the Mi-26 = 16m, so the overlap disappears by itself with the same wingspan.

But today's demands carry additional tasks to rotorcraft: an increase in cruising speed over 300km / hour, which in turn will cause propulsion screws, so it will not be superfluous, following the example of its teacher and creator ML Mil, rotorcraft Ka-22, which in flight with increasing speed the power of the engines smoothly flowed onto the pulling screws, unloading NV. But even here today it will be necessary to go further: in the modern rotorcraft, the pulling screws should not be propellers like Ka-22, but the capped coaxial rotors, which are much smaller than diameter, are safe for ground composition and significantly reduce noise in flight.

And the chassis will also have to be redesigned, since with the old truss mounts of the wheel struts, high flight speeds will not work. And a pair of huge wheels with a diameter of 1,7 m will have to be positioned not transversely to the flight, but along the longitudinal axis of the rotorcraft, i.e. one after another. Non-retractable chassis are still desirable as they are acceptable for speeds> 300k / h. The fact is that in helicopters, unlike airplanes, flights with frequent takeoffs and landings are not uncommon, which makes retractable landing gear unprofitable, and non-retractable landing gear can be performed with low drag, and how much this work will be done in an original and competent manner depends only on from the designers.  

On the fuel tanks. All helicopters from the last century fuel tanks were suspended on the sides of the fuselage and fastened with metal bands, like the famous Mi-8.

In the rotorcraft, the main fuel tanks are located in the wings, and the suspended ones should be placed on pylons under the wings, approximately the same as on my favorite MiG-15 fighter

It should be assumed that the Ministry of Defense will resume the practice of specific orders for helicopters for the needs of the army aviation and with a specific contract term, instead of waiting for another promise from the KB of the cost center for unrealizable mythical PSV.

 But how good it would be for the first flights to the airfield Kotelny (Arctic) rotary-wing aircraft with propulsion propellers of type B-12М instead of the devastating Mi-26! Take care of the general designers of the MVZ about this in advance and similar rotorcraft wings would have long ago mastered both the Arctic and the Arctic with the Far East instead of the elderly "Mi". Here, the American helicopter designer S. Sikorsky, after his first acquaintance with B-12 at Le Bourget, managed to see its significance: “This helicopter is one of a kind and will be used to perform unique operations. I mean expeditions to areas of the Arctic or the search for oil fields. The helicopter will replace the railway where there has not yet been set foot person. ("Science and Life", №8, 1998). But Moscow designers from the cost center still do not know that a B-12 type helicopter is as vital for our State today as combat aircraft and helicopters in Syria!

“If you need to use the Mi-12 as a civilian vehicle, 220 people could sit in it comfortably. The helicopter was able to fly 1000 km with a normal load of 25-30 tons, at a cruising speed of 240 km / h. (VPK.name 01.04.2014).     

I believe that with more powerful engines, plus the replacement of old materials with modern composite ones, the load will increase significantly, say, at a distance of 500 km. the modernized V-12M will transport more than 40 tons, and at a distance of 200 km. -> 50t. with a cruising speed of 320-350 km / h.

Appearance: transverse diagram based on V-12; power plants with rotors - from the Mi-26 helicopter, chassis - with low resistance. And the price will not rise by much, because the main and most expensive units are serial!   

As for the control of the rotor screws, this issue on V-12 is resolved and there should not be any problems.

There is a hope that designers of the MVZ will work with real projects with the new Glavkom VKS, and the designers of the Kamov company will be really financed and then the real modern projects Ka-92 and Ka-102, which our Army primarily needs, will be really continued; Instead of junk Mi-8 in operation more compact and more power-hungry Ka-32-10AG will start to arrive; will resume the release of the world's best military helicopter Ka-50 "Black Shark"

 and for the Mi-28NM helicopters there will be a queue of foreign customers, because "as it turned out, even before the tests were completed, the Mi-28NM attack helicopter was able to interest potential customers in the face of foreign countries." (Military review August 30, 2016)

"Mi-28NM has all the advantages of a helicopter, which is in demand today in the market. Tests are now at the finish line, "Borisov said." (tvzvezda.ru 25.08.2016).

Vitalii Belyaev.