The Aerokopter AK1-3 is a

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, designed and produced by Aerokopter (also spelled "Aerocopter") of Kharkiv. The aircraft is supplied as complete ready-to-fly-aircraft. 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 CS-27 standard. The aircraft features a single main rotor with a tail rotor, a two-seats-in side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit, skid-type landing gear 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 automotive engine. The aircraft's diameter three-bladed Starflex rotor has a chord of and employs a unique torsion bar 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 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 (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 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 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 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.

Specifications (AK1-3)

Notes

External links