Mi-12

Considering the experience in the creation and operation of the Yak-24 helicopter, in February 1958 a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued on the development of a draft of a new heavy four-engine helicopter. Yakovlev Design Bureau proposed a helicopter of the longitudinal scheme - Yak-60 , but the helicopter work did not go beyond the technical proposal due to the refusal of OKB-115 from helicopter topics and the closure of its Leningrad branch with subsequent reorientation of plant No. 272 . The development of a new heavy helicopter was entrusted to Mil Design Bureau. The first research on the design of the super-heavy helicopter, which received the factory designation B-12, began in 1959. Design began in 1963 .

To reduce the cost of development, as well as accelerate the construction and implementation of the helicopter, the designers decided to create it by doubling the Mi-6 rotor - motor groups (main rotor, power unit, main gearbox and control system), already tested and in serial production and in wide operation. The project of the air giant was a four-engine apparatus according to a twin-screw transverse circuit. At the ends of each truss wing console was a nacelle nacelle with two D-25VF gas turbine engines with a capacity of 6500 l. with. each. The back-restriction wing had a small transverse V. Inside it passes a transmission shaft that synchronizes the revolutions of both screws. The fuel was in the wing and external outboard fuel tanks.

The V-12 fuselage was made in the form of a giant semi-monocoque . Its front part was occupied by a two-story crew cabin. In the rear part of the fuselage there was a power gangway with side wings, which, when opened, formed an opening for the entry of self-propelled equipment and loading various cargoes using powerful electric hoists and telphers . The central part of the fuselage was occupied by a giant cargo compartment with dimensions: 28.15 × 4.4 × 4.4 m.

The helicopter made its first flight on July 10, 1968 (test pilot V.P. Koloshenko ). In February 1969, it lifted 31,030 kg of payload to a height of 2,910 m . August 6, 1969 - The B-12 lifted a cargo of 44,205 kg to a height of 2,255 m , setting a world record for helicopter carrying capacity, which has not yet been broken. The second prototype V-12 made its first flight on May 28, 1973 (test pilot G.V. Alferov ).

The first B-12 with registration number CCCP-21142 / H-833 was shown at the exhibition in Le Bourget in 1971 . The American Helicopter Society awarded the M. Mil Design Bureau with the Prize of I. I. Sikorsky for the creation of a super-lifting B-12, awarded for outstanding achievements in helicopter engineering (the V-12 was more than double in size and more than four times its weight the heaviest American helicopters: CH-53 Sikorsky and Boeing-Helicopter " Chinook "). In total, two prototypes were built (some sources mention the third prototype B-12, which allegedly crashed during the tests, but this information is not confirmed in any way). According to some reports, this version could be caused by distorted rumors about the unsuccessful first flight in June 1967, when due to the excessive sensitivity of the control system, the vibration of the cockpit was perceived by it as a control action, and caused the helicopter to swing, resulting in a hard landing with damaged landing gear . ^[one]

Despite the achieved results in carrying capacity, the program was recognized as ineffective - by this time the military no longer needed a helicopter of such carrying capacity due to the creation of more effective and lighter strategic missiles on mobile launchers, and all the needs of the national economy and the Armed Forces were successfully met by Mi helicopters -6 and Mi-10 . Therefore, the development of the B-12 was discontinued, and the second prototype helicopter was transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino . The first pilot is in storage in Tomilino, Moscow Region, on the territory of the Moscow Helicopter Plant .

On the birthday of M. L. Mil, the B-12 in the territory of the Moscow Helicopter Plant was turned into a museum.

Data Source: Sky Corner

Specifications

• Crew : 6-10 people
• Passenger Capacity: 196 people
• Length : 37.00 m
• Rotor Diameter: 35.00 m
• Height : 12.5 m
• Rotor swept area: 1924.2 m²
• Empty weight: 69100 kg
• Normal take-off weight: 97,000 kg
• Maximum take-off weight : 105,000 kg
• Powerplant : 4 × D-25VF
• Engine power: 4 × 4847 kW

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed: 260 km / h
• Cruising speed : 240 km / h
• Practical range: 500 km
• Ferry range: 1000 km
• Practical ceiling : 3500 m
• Static ceiling : 600 m

In late March - early April 2009, media reported that the American company Hotelicopter was allegedly building the world's first flying hotel, a four-story hotel-helicopter with 18 rooms ^{[2] [3]} , and the base for it was one of the B- 12, purchased, according to the company, back in 2004. However, later it turned out that the messages about this project are just an advertising move to draw attention to a certain Internet service, which was launched about a week after these messages. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

• Air Transport

• Mi-12 at the Air Force Museum in Monin