In the Sverdlovsk region, designer Evgeny Zhelnin created a six-meter single-seat helicopter with his own hands. The device was assembled in a hangar on the outskirts of Uralmash from improvised materials.
The engine of the aircraft is from a snowmobile, the muffler is from a sports motorcycle, and the seat is from a racing car. The speedometer case was replaced with a metal bowl, and the frame was assembled from an aviation alloy.
I have been involved in air ventilation all my life. And for the last ten years I have been designing equipment related to aerodynamics. Therefore, assembling a helicopter was interesting from an engineering point of view.
Zhelnin clarified that he did not use parts from serial helicopters, he reproduced all the drawings from memory from the Soviet magazines "Modelist-Constructor". Master turners helped to manufacture spare parts according to these schemes, the mass of the structure is 116 kg.
On the ground, the helicopter was fixed with slings to prevent it from being blown away by the wind. Evgeny cannot yet lift it into the air, since there is no pilot's license and permission to fly. However, he is sure that when this becomes possible, the device will definitely fly.