Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, designed and produced by Aerokopter (also spelled "Aerocopter") of
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
Some sources refer to the AK1-3 as the ''Sanka'' or ''San'ka'' while others do not.
Design and development
The AK1-3 was designed to comply with the Ukrainian AP-27 rules, which are similar to the
European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
CS-27 standard. The aircraft features a single main rotor with a
tail rotor
The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. The ...
, a two-seats-in
side-by-side configuration
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
enclosed cockpit, skid-type
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
and a four-cylinder, air-cooled,
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
,
Subaru EJ25
The Subaru EJ engine is a series of four-stroke automotive engines manufactured by Subaru. They were introduced in 1989, intended to succeed the previous Subaru EA engine. The EJ series was the mainstay of Subaru's engine line, with all engines o ...
automotive engine.
The aircraft's diameter three-bladed Starflex rotor has a chord of and employs a unique
torsion bar
A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...
blade mounting that allows blade movement to produce pitch angle changes, flapping, as well as lead and lag. The main transmission consists of belt drives, with the tail rotor driven by a solid shaft. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is .
The design received a Ukrainian
type certificate
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
in 2006.
In 2009 Aerokopter (DB Aercopters) was acquired by the Perla Group of companies Perla Aviation division, with the stated intention of moving the assembly line of the AK1-3 to the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
(UAE).
By December 2020 the company reported 102 helicopters had been delivered.
Operational history
By December 2020 one 2008 model AK1-3, serial number 1001, had been registered in the United States with the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
in the Special Certificate of Airworthiness ''Experimental-Exhibition'' category. It was registered in January 2018. The same aircraft, serial number 1001, had been previously registered with
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
in the ''Special Certificate of Airworthiness - Limited Category'' from 2009 to 2015, prior to being exported to the US in 2015.
Variants
;Aerokopter ZA-6 San'ka:Original design forming the basis of the AK1, with a five-bladed main rotor and powered by a
Subaru EJ22
The Subaru EJ engine is a series of four-stroke automotive engines manufactured by Subaru. They were introduced in 1989, intended to succeed the previous Subaru EA engine. The EJ series was the mainstay of Subaru's engine line, with all engines o ...
converted automobile engine.
;Aerokopter AK1-5:A development prototype modified from a ZA-6 with a five-bladed main rotor. Registered as GL-0478 and displayed at the 2002 ''Kiev Manufacturing and Security Exhibition''.
;Aerokopter AK1-3:A second stage of development resulted in the AK1-3 with a three-bladed rotor, (also displayed incomplete at the 2002 Kiev exhibition). Other changes included a tailplane with end-plate fins and tail rotor transferred to the right side of the tail boom.