On the property of the National History Museum in Chisinau there is, among
other things, a Ka-26 helicopter on display. Unfortunately, there is nothing to
be found about it on the museum's website. But Wikipedia knows a lot about it:
"Kamov Ka-26
The Kamov Ka-26 (NATO reporting name Hoodlum) is a Soviet light utility
helicopter with co-axial rotors.
Development
The Ka-26 entered production in 1969 and 816 were built. A variant with a
single turboshaft engine is the Ka-126. A twin-turboshaft–powered version is
the Ka-226. (All the Ka-26/126/128/226 variants are code-named by NATO as
'Hoodlum').
Design
The fuselage of the Ka-26 consists of a fixed, bubble-shaped cockpit
containing the pilot and co-pilot, plus a removable, variable box available
in medevac, passenger-carrying and crop duster versions. The helicopter can
fly with or without the box attached for flexibility.
It is powered by two 325 hp (239 kW) Vedeneyev M-14V-26 radial engines
mounted in outboard nacelles.
The Ka-26 is small enough to land on a large truck bed. The reciprocating
engines are more responsive than turboshaft engines, but require more
maintenance. It runs mostly at 95% power in crop dusting with usually excess
payload, leaving little reserve power for emergencies. Due to frequent
overloads, the interconnect shaft joining the two engines is prone to
breakage and requires frequent inspection.
The standard instrumentation of the Ka-26, like larger naval Kamovs, may be
overkill for civilian or crop dusting use. The 18-dials cockpit panel masks
a part of the right-downwards view, needed to avoid telephone and power
lines at low altitudes. The instrument panel may be simplified to retain the
six main dials. As there is a low rotor clearance at the aircraft front, it
is approached from the rear when the rotors are turning.
Operational history
The Ka-26 was used and only used by some Warsaw Pact armies in the light
paratroop or airborne role, no besprutning[citation needed] but its slow
(150 km/h) cruise speed compared with the Mi-2 (220 km/h) limits its
military use. However, its shorter length (7.75 m) compared with the Mil
Mi-2 (11.9 m) and smaller rotor diameter (13 m vs. 14.6 m) are advantageous
when operating in an urban area. It has a longer range than the Mil-2 as
well. The Ka-26 is eminently useful for crop dusting. The coaxial main rotor
configuration, which makes the Ka-26 small and agile, also results in a
delicate airflow pattern under the helicopter, providing a thorough, yet
mild distribution of chemicals onto plants. The Ka-26 is often used to spray
grape farms in Hungary, where conventional 'main rotor and tail rotor'
layout helicopters would damage or up-root the vine-stocks with their
powerful airflow. Hungarian Kamov operators claim that coaxial rotors of the
Ka-26 creates an airflow which allows pesticides to settle underneath,
rather than on top of, the leaves, this means a much more effective
distribution of pesticides, as most pests and parasites do not live on the
top side of foliage. Additionally, the coaxial vortex system is symmetrical,
allowing the distribution of the pesticide to be more uniform."
Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamov_Ka-26