At the XIII International Exhibition of the Helicopter Industry HELIRUSSIA 2020 held at the Crocus Expo IEC in Moscow, Segal Casting and Extrusion Plant (incorporated by the SIAL group of companies, a member of the Aluminium Association) presented prefabricated aerodrome coverings made of aluminium plates.
As an example of a ready-made heliport deck, Krasnoyarsk stand exhibited a fragment of a 5x10-meter “heavy type” structure. This reinforced landing platform, fully assembled, is capable of withstanding an aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of up to 60 tons. For reference, Mi-26, the largest Russian helicopter, has the take-offmass of 56 tons. As for the Robinson R66 helicopter, which was installed on the aluminium demonstration platform, it can easily use a "light type” platform suitable for the aircrafts with a maximum take-off mass of up to 5 tons.
The mobile aluminium helipads are already in use in Russia. For instance, one of the Segal’s heliport decks was installed this spring at the Krasnoyarsk-Severny airport. More than 100 take-offs and landings have been already carried out for the last three months – mainly, the helipad was used by a medium-sized Mi-8 helicopter. On top of this, the final trials for the seasonal operation have been completed recently – the platform withstands the loads and can be used in winter.
For helicopter pilots there is no difference between concrete, asphalt and aluminium platforms,” says Alexey Kiselev, chief designer of Segal. “But unlike the concrete, asphalt and steel ones, our platforms are much faster, easier to assemble, resistant to corrosion and, of course, mobile.”
In addition, the technical staff of the aerodrome noted good maintainability of the aluminium platform. When they had to dismantle one part of it in order to add soil to a sunken spot, the maintenance took them less than 12 hours in total.
At the exhibition session on design and construction of helipads, Aleksey Kiselev spoke on the advantages of his solution, the features of aluminium plates in comparison with analogues made from other materials, and possible applications.
It is worth noting that at the HELIRUSSIA 2020 the chief designer of Segal was recognized Expert of the Year at the 1st Russian annual award held by the Civil Aviation magazine. He was awarded in the “Export” nomination for his successful efforts in promoting Russian products to international markets.