Harbin Z-5
Encyclopedia
The Harbin Z-5 (Zhishengji - helicopter) is a Chinese copy of the Soviet Mil Mi-4
Mil Mi-4
The Mil Mi-4 was a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles.-Design and development:...
piston engined helicopter. It was produced in the city of Harbin, China. The USSR provided China with blueprints in 1958, a few years before the Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
. The first flight was in 1959, but serial production was delayed and didn't start until the mid-1960s. China has produced a number of unique variants, and the Z-5 was in use with the PLA
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
, PLAAF and PLANAF in large numbers, although it might still be in reserve. China also exported a number of Z-5 to client states. About 545 were built. A few Z-5 helicopters were modified to carry machine-guns and rocket pods.
Z-6
Harbin Z-6 (Zhi-6) is an Chinese development of the Z-5. The major difference is that the piston engine is replaced by a turboshaft engine, which is located atop of the cabin. Z-6 hence is the first Chinese helicopter powered by a turboshaft engine. Development began in 1966 at Harbin Airplane FactoryHarbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation , often shortened to Hafei, is an aircraft manufacturing company located in Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang Province of the People's Republic of China....
, but two years later, the major developmental work was handed to the newly formed Helicopter Design Research Institute, but Harbin Airplane Factory still handled the production. On December 15, 1969, the Z-6 prototype test flight was successfully completed by test pilot Wang Peimin (王培民). On August 7, 1972, a Z-6 crashed in Princess Ridge (Gongzhuling, 公主岭) in Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, killing all 6 people on board, including the pilot, Mr. Fu Guifa (傅贵法). It was discovered that the cause of the accident was due to the decelerator locking on the main axis of the engine, resulting in the jamming that stopped the engine, subsequently causing the crash. As a result, there were a total of 11 redesign changes to eliminate the problem, as well as those potential ones that had not appeared.
Fearing a massive Soviet attack after the Sino-Soviet border conflict
Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino–Soviet border conflict was a seven-month military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino–Soviet split in 1969. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii...
, production and development were evacuated to two inland factories: Changzhou Airplane Factory and Changhe Airplane Factory
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
in 1970. However, the political turmoil in China, namely, Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, took a great toll on the production and only 11 were built before the program was cancelled because the single engine design was deemed unsafe and unsurvivable in combat. In fact, the political turmoil had such a negative impact on the program that in was not until 1977 when Z-6 received state certification, long after the production began.
Specifications for Z-6:
- Length: 20.962 meter
- Height: 5.593 meter
- Diameter of the rotor: 21 meter
- Empty weight: 4.82 ton
- Maximum takeoff weight: 7.6 ton
- Speed: 192 km/hr
- Range: 651 km
- Capacity: 12 people or 1.2 ton (normal)
- Power plant: 1 WZ-5 (Wozhou-5, 涡轴-5) turboshaft engine, 1618 kW.
One Z-5 was reengined with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history, and is produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. The PT6 family is particularly well known for its extremely high reliability, with MTBO's on the order of 9000 hours in some models. In US military use, they...
T-6 "Twin Pac" turboshaft in 1979, during the Chinese-Western rapprochement. Some sources refer to this as the Z-6, but the experiment went no further.
Variants
- Z-5 : Military transport helicopter.
- Z-6 : Described above.
- Xuanfeng : Civil transport helicopter.
Military Operators
- Albanian Air ForceAlbanian Air ForceThe Albanian Air Force is the national Air Force of the Albanian military. Currently it operates under the Albanian Joint Forces Command and it is regrouped in the Albanian Air Brigade...
(All retired)
- Korean People's Army Air Force (48 in service)
- People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation ArmyThe People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
- People's Liberation Army Air ForcePeople's Liberation Army Air ForceThe People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...
- People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force