RUSSIAN HELICOPTER manufacturer Kamov plans to fly its Ka-62 medium utility helicopter before the end of 1995, with the first prototype being displayed on the static line at the Zhukovsky show.
A first flight of the prototype had been planned for 1994, but funding difficulties are thought to have delayed work.
Sergei Mikheyev, Kamov's general designer, says: "The first prototype is now being prepared for flight tests." He adds that construction of a second prototype is also under way.
The basic Ka-62 design, claim some sources, originated in a mid- to- late 1980s Russian army aviation requirement for a military-utility helicopter.
According to Mikheyev, the bureau abandoned its traditional approach of co-axial contra-rotating rotors on the Ka-62 to improve passenger comfort.
"A co-axial system has its own advantages, particularly in terms of the hover, but a single-rotor approach is more comfortable," he says.
In terms of the marketplace, Mikheyev compares the S-62 to helicopters in the class of the Sikorsky S-76, and claims that it will be priced competitively against this. He cites a price in the range of "$4-5.5 million" per aircraft, depending on the avionics fit.
Source: Flight International
