Friends of The Helicopter Museum

The European Rotorcraft Forum 2002

The European Rotorcraft Forum held its 28th annual meeting in Bristol from 17th to 20th September 2002. These meetings take place in various countries in Europe including Russia. The first was held in Southampton, England in 1975.The Forum discusses advances in research, development, design, testing and operation of rotorcraft and aims to foster exchange of information.

Papers presented to the Forum in 2002 included:-

Design peculiarities of the Coaxial Helicopter and the contribution of Nikolai Kamov to the development of the Coaxial Rotor Scheme, by Veniamin Kasyanikov the Deputy General Designer for the Kamov Company in Russia.

The All-Electric Rotorcraft -- Challenges and Opportunity by A.Staple and A.Hancock of Westland Helicopters, UK.

Structural Properties of Helicopter Rotor Blade Sections by G.F.H.Hill and P.M.Weaver of the University of Bristol, UK.

A total of 98 papers were scheduled for presentation in the course of the 2002 Forum.

On 19th September 2002 a party of delegates and their partners visited The Helicopter Museum for a buffet supper, a talk by the Chairman of the Museum Trustees and a tour of the exhibits. Among the visitors was Veniamin Kasyanikov, Deputy General Designer of the Kamov company in Russia, who was photographed beside DDR-SPY, the Kamov Ka-26 whose restoration was nearing completion.

Other visitors from the Forum included long time friends of The Museum, Nadejda and Helena Mil, daughters of Mikhail Mil. Mikhail Mil was the founder and designer general of the Moscow Helicopter Plant until his death in 1970. Representing Mil products in the Museum are the Mi-1, Mi-2, Mi-4 and Mi-24D helicopters.

The next European Rotorcraft Forum, the 32nd, was held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 12th to 14th September 2006. Nadejda and Helena Mil presented a briefing on their father's notes and sketches for his first heavy-lift helicopter, the Mi-6.

Kamov Ka-26 Restoration