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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 1536.PDF
China's industry Known as the "Moscow of the Orient", Harbin still betrays its strong Soviet links a quarter- century alter China severed relations with its communist neighbour. The architec ture, and even the food, remind a visitor that the Russians helped build this century-old industrial city in northern China. Winter still clung to Harbin when Flight visited in mid-April, metre-thick chunks of ice littering the banks of the Songhua river. Despite Chinese efforts to brighten their city by spraying everything in sight a creamy yellow—none too carefully—this oriental Moscow remains rather drab under its industrial haze. Harbin is famous for its heavy industries—generators, steam turbines, and boilers for the power industry, machine tools, aluminium, and aircraft and aero engines—all established with Soviet assistance. The city has long been associated with China's aircraft industry. "The factory was set iip in 1952, initially to repair aircraft, then in 1958 began licence-manufacture of the Soviet Ilyushin 11-28 light bomber and Mil Mi-4 helicopter, as the H-5 and Z-5 respect ively," says Li Guangshu, general manager of the Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. "Today the factory has the capability to design, develop, and test its own aircraft." Production of the Z-5 helicopter ended in 1979 after some 1,000 had been built for civil and military use. The Z-5's HS-5A radial engine (Shvetsov ASh-62IR) was produced at the nearby Harbin engine factory. Around 1980 Harbin developed a turbine-powered derivative of the Z-5, the Z-6, which resembled early single-engined versions of the Mil Mi-8. Only a handful of Z-6 prototypes were built, however, the helicopter proving underpowered, says Li. The Z-6 was probably powered by the locally built 2,400 s.h.p. WZ-5 turboshaft, a derivative of the Shanghai-built WJ-5A turboprop (Ivchenko AI-24A) and the engine which powers China's Y-7 airliner (Flight, last week). Production of the H-5 light bomber, including two-seat trainer and tactical reconnaissance versions, ended around 1982 after some 500 had been built. Harbin continues to overhaul these aircraft, and a number were on the flight- line at the time of Flight's visit. In 1975 Harbin began work on perhaps the first aircraft to be totally designed in China, the Y-ll utility transport. Powered 42 Through international co operation, China is producing aircraft which it hopes to export, principal among them by two 285 h.p. HS-6A (Ivchenko AI- 14RF) radial engines, the seven-seat Y-ll flew around 1978 and received its Chinese certificate of airworthiness in 1981, when it entered production. The Y-ll is now out of production, 40 having been built, says Li. The aircraft is used for agricultural and forestry work, crop spraying, geological survey, and short-range passenger transport. Experience gained with the Y-ll was then applied to the Y-12, a much- improved utility transport, the design of which began in 1981. The Harbin Y-12 is therefore the first Chinese aircraft to be designed and developed after the end of the Cultural Revolution, and its design reflects the outward-looking policies of the present Government. Before design began, the Government Heading The Harbin Y-12-2. Left Harbin's Li Guangshu FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 5 July 1986
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