Era

Kearney & Trecker

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Kearney & Trecker Milling Machine Company was — probably still is — located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the 1950’s and 60’s they leased 2 hangers on the west side of General Billy Mitchell Field in Milwaukee next to the Air National Guard with it’s F-86’s. The north hanger housed the business aviation division of the milling machine company. They had a DC-3, a Cessna 182, a Piaggio Royal Gull, and an aero-coupe.

I was 10 years old in 1958 and my dad (Brian Heath) was the mechanic for the operation, co-pilot on the DC-3, and pilot on the others. They flew milling machine sales people and maintenance people around the eastern U.S. And they often flew the company owners and brass on vacations and fishing trips.
The south hanger housed Kearney & Trecker’s other business investment — a contract with Piaggio in Italy to assemble and sell Royal Gulls. Later the P-166 executive plane was added. The first P-166 at Mitchell Field was a prototype. It was the only one I ever saw, but I did ride in it several times. While the two businesses were legally separate, the mechanics/pilots often consulted with each other.
Brian Heath

Keane HKL-27

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Designed by Horace Keane, the HKL-27 was a short-lived redesign of the Aeromarine Klemm AKL-26. A two place, open cockpit, low wing monoplane, the wood frame work was fabric covered.

Five were produced at $1800 around 1929.

Engine: Ford V-8, 82hp
Wing span: 36’8″
Length: 23’4″
Useful load: 650 lb
Max speed: 112 ph
Cruise: 94 mph
Stall: 47 mph
Range: 450 mi
Ceiling: 12,000′

Keane Aircraft Co

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Horace P. Keane

Horace Keane was born July 29, 1885 and was raised in the town of St. Joseph, Michigan. His family was well known in theatrical circles. Horace had a genius for things mechanical, and received an engineering education at Armour Institution of Technology.

After graduation, he assisted Augustus Herring in building gliders. At the age of 17, he made his first solo in a glider from the top of a sand dune along the shore of Lake Michigan. In 1903 he toured Europe with Octave Chanute, building and flying planes of his own design. Upon his return to Amereica, he went to work for the Chicago Milwaukee Electric Railroad helping to design interurban cars.

His main interest was aviation and he was soon busy building and flying planes of his own design. Later, after World War I, he bought up a number of war surplus planes and went into barnstorming. None of his promotions proved to be financially successful.

1920: (Horace) Keane Aeroplanes, North Beach, Long Island NY.

c.1921: Acquired inventory and manufacturing rights to ACE (Aircraft Engr Co, NY). Photos of the ACE K-1 appeared in some Keane ads.

c.1925: Keane Aircraft Corp, Keyport NJ.

The Klemm design was briefly revived by Keane Aircraft Co, Keyport, in 1937.

In 1940 he organized the Zodiac Aircraft Company to produce training planes. Contracts for the planes were obtained but Keane soon found himself edged out of the picture.

After World War II, he served as a consulting engineer to a number of aircraft firms. Upon retirement, he went to live in Topanga, California. At the time of his death May 7, 1974, he was visiting his daughter in England.

Kazurov-Poluchkine-Rusakov Chtyvnoplat (Hybrid)

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A single seat single engined high wing monoplane with hybrid control circa 1983. Wing has unswept leading and trailing edges, and constant chord. Yaw control by rudder. Control inputs through weight shift for pitch/yaw/roll.
The Chtyvnoplat appears from the very sketchy information available to be a Russian equivalent of the Quicksilver E. It differs from the Eipper-formance machine in that the pilot lays prone, but the control system is similar, being primarily weight shift but assisted by a rudder. The high rectangular wing has a large dihedral and a single boom supports the tail, the whole structure being supported in flight by a web of cables of considerable density.
The claimed glide ratio is 15 17/1.

Length overall 17.1ft, 5.20m.
Wing span 31.5 ft, 9.60 m.
Constant chord 4.8 ft, 1.46 m.
Total wing area 151 sq.ft, 14.0 sq.m.
Wing aspect ratio 6.5/1.

Kazan BK-7 / LAK-9 Lietuva

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It is believed to have been designed originally by Balys Karvyalis and first flown, under the designation BK-7, in 1972. It had a Wortmann FX-67-K-170 wing section and a retractable monowheel landing gear, with tailskid. The BK-7, which was of glassfibre construction, was subsequently reported to have entered series production and a Polish journal later referred to a ‘BK-7A Lietuva’ with a wing span of 20 m (65 ft 7.5 in), length of 7.27 m (23 ft 10.25 in), weight of 380 kg (837 lb), best glide ratio of 46 and max speed of 210 km/hr (113 kt).

An almost identical aircraft was flown by O. Pasetnik in the Open Class of the June 1976 World Championships in Finland but withdrew from the last two days of the competition because of aileron damage. This aircraft was referred to as the LAK-9 Lietuva and it was reported that the three LAK-9s then built had not, at that time, fully completed flight testing. The LAK-9 is the first Soviet sailplane to compete in the World Championships since 1968.

LAK-9 Lietuva
Wing span: 20.02 m / 65 ft 8 in
Length: 7.27 m / 23 ft 10.25 in
Height: 1.53 m / 5 ft 0 in
Wing area: 14.99 sq.m / 161.4 sq ft
Wing section: Wortmann FX-67-K-170
Aspect ratio: 26.8
Empty weight: 380 kg / 838 lb
Max weight 580 kg / 1,278 lb
Water ballast: 100 kg / 220 lb
Max wing loading: 38.69 kg/sq.m / 7.92 lb/sq ft
Max speed: 121 kt / 225 km/h
Stalling speed: 35 kt / 64 km/h
Min sinking speed: 0.51 m/sec / 1.67 ft/sec at 40 kt / 74 km/h
Max rough air speed: 113 kt / 210 km/h
Best glide ratio: 48 at 55.5 kt / 103 km/h

Kazan Ansat

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Design began at Kazan in 1993, with design subcontracts to Kazan State Technical University for structural strength and aerodynamic calculations; Aviacon Scientific and Production Centre for rotor; and Aeromekhanica for transmission.

A fuselage mockup was exhibited at the 1995 Paris Air Show, followed by a considerably revised engineering mockup (001) at Paris ’97. By August 1998, now marked ’01’, this had accumulated 10 hours of ground running with engines and rotors, and totalled 800 hours by February 2003.

The design features a traditional metal structure and meets FAR Pt 29 Category A and Russian AP-29 requirements. A hingeless main rotor hub with glass fibre torsion bar, has four main blades; two-blade tail rotor. A two-stage, VR-23 main rotor reduction gear in magnesium case ahead of engines has ratio 16.4; rotation speed 365.4 rpm; blade tip speed 220m/s, and transmission rating 769kW. Tail rotor speed 2,000 rpm via single stage conical geabox. Rotor brake. Manual blade folding. Main rotor aerofoil section NACA 23012.

The aluminium alloy fuselage has sparing use of composites, layered glass fibre main rotor blades, window frames and nosecone. The landing gear has twin skids with Kazan transverse shock-absorbers, tail bumper to protect anti-torque rotor, and wheels optional in tricycle configuration, with Yaroslav tyres and Gidroagregat (Balashikha) brakes.
Power is from two P&W Rus XRK206S turboshafts, each rated at 477kW for T-O, 418kW max continuous, in prototypes. Production version with PW207Ks, rated at 470kW for T-O, 410kW max continuous, 529kW for 30 s, 470kW continuous OEI and 491kW 2 minutes OEI. FADEC standard. Fuel capacity 700 litres in either external panniers or underfloor. Optional internal ferry fuel. Alternatively, two Salyut TV-500A turboshafts, each 478kW.
Seating is for up to 11 persons, including one or two pilots, on energy-absorbing seats; or two stretcher patients and three attendants; or internal or externally slung freight. Two forward-hinged doors each side of flight deck; two horizontally split doors each side of cabin, forward; baggage bay behind cabin, with rear-facing door. Baggage door also used for loading stretchers of medical variant. Accommodation ventilated and heated; optional air conditioning.
Avionika FBW controls comprise quadruples electronic system and duplex hydraulic system. Automatic flight control is standard on all piloting functions and optional on navigation functions. Current FBW system to be replaced by KSU-A digital control system. Main transmission drives two alternators (each 200V, 400Hz), two generators (each 27V), two fans and two hydraulic fuel pumps for separate systems. Electrical system 27V, with battery; optional AC system, with second battery. Electric de-icing optional.
First flight was scheduled for late 1997, but initial designated flight trials aircraft (02) exhibited at Farnborough in September 1998, still unflown. First flight (02) was 12 minute hover on 17 August 1999, with an initial forward flight on 6 October 1999. Trials halted in November 1999, after 4 hours, due to gearbox problems, but resumed in the second quarter of 2000 with a strengthened and redesigned main transmission, scarfed engine exhausts and new identity ‘902’. Total 120 hours up to February 2003.

The third (second flying) prototype (03) was to have joined the programme in late 1999, but was not completed until August 2001. First flown 27 December 2001, this is to preproduction standard with small, detachable, pannier tanks, increased fin area, PW207 engines, additional side window and flatter windscreen combined with revised nose shape; will add 400 hours to trials programme. Certification flight resting began in October 2002, for completion before end of 2003; by early 2003 had been renumbered ‘904’.

On 14 September 2001, Ansat declared winner of competition to supply 100 training helicopters to Russian armed forces by 2015.

Aircraft No.5 was to Ansat-U standard, including dual controls and wheel landing gear. Optimised for training (uchebni).

Russian Federal Border Service (Federalnaya Pogranichnaya Sluzhba) requirement for 100 notified in 1997. Total 12 civil sales reported by late 2002, including one for export.
The price was US$2.0 million for utility version (2003). Kazan’s development expenditure had reached Rb200 million by mid-2000.

Ansat
Engine: 2 x Klimov / Pratt & Whitney Canada PW 206 C, 631 shp
Main rotor diameter: 11.5m
Fuselage Length: 37.861 ft / 11.54 m
Length with rotors turning: 13.77m
Height: 11.286 ft / 3.44 m
Rotor diameter: 37.73 ft / 11.5 m
Max take off weight: 7276.5 lb / 3300.0 kg
Cruising speed: 129 kts / 238 km/h
Max speed: 280km/h
Economic cruising speed: 140km/h
Service ceiling: 19685 ft / 6000 m
Hovering ceiling, OGE: 1800-2700m
Maximum range: 335 nm / 620 km
Range: 281 nm / 520 km
Endurance: 3 h
Crew: 1
Payload: 8 pax / 1300 kg int. max. / 1650 kg ext. max.

Kazan Aktay / White Colt

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Work beginning in 1996, the project was revealed at the Moscow Air Show, on 19 August 1997, with display of a mockup. A second engineering mockup was built in 1998. Kazan decided in mid-2001 to begin building a prototype to fly in 2003.

Intended for light transport, patrol, medical evacuation and training, certification was to be to FAR Pt 27. A conventional pod and boom configuration with T tail, semi-articulated three-blade main rotor, tapered blades on production version. The max (emergency) rotation speed is 2,586 rpm. A rotor brake is standard but no provision for folding. A Krasnyy Oktyabr VR-10 main gearbox, rated for 216kW, receives an engine input of 6,000 rpm. A XP-10 gearbox is fitted for the two-blade tail rotor.
Extensive use of composites is made throughout, including main rotor blades.
The landing gear is a conventional, non-retractable skids on arched support tubes, with spring shock absorbtion.
Power is by one 201kW VAZ-4265 rotary engine mounted above the cabin and behind the gearbox and operating on 92/93 grade petrol. Rpm control is manual. Fuel capacity is 300 litres. A refuelling point is on the left side. Oil capacity 20 litres.

The pilot and two passengers, all side by side, in individual seats, have a forward-hinged door each side. Twin clamshell doors are at the rear of the pod, below the tailboom, provideding access to the flat freight floor. One casualty stretcher can be loaded through rear doors when a passenger seat is removed. Alternative access via door on starboard side. Optional, rear-facing seat in luggage bay. Optional heating and air conditioning.
The electrical system with accumulator and M-16 generator has a max rating of 16kW. Anti-icing is fitted for the main rotor blades.

Engine: 1 x 201kW VAZ-4265 rotary
Max take-off weight: 1050kg
Payload: 300kg
Empty weight: 2402kg
Max speed: 190km/h
Cruising speed: 155km/h
Hovering ceiling, OGE: 1300m
Service ceiling: 4700m
Range with 300kg payload: 100km
Range with 190kg payload: 600km
Max endurance: 6h
Crew: 1
Passengers: 2

Kazan KAI-14

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The Kazan Aviation Institute at Kazan designed and produced the KAI-14 high performance Standard Class single seater. Designed by a team headed by M. P.Simonov; of all-metal construction it made its first flight in about 1962, and two KAI-14s were entered in the 1965 World Championships held at South Cerney in England.

Two versions of the type have been produced, the first being for competition flying with the pilot seated in a reclining position under a long flush-fitting one-piece transparent canopy; this version has a polished metal finish to reduce drag.

The second version, intended for series production, is similar except that the pilot sits upright in a conventional seat under a raised cockpit canopy, and is unpolished. Both versions are otherwise the same, with cantilever shoulder wings with a forward sweep of 2° at the leading edges and compound taper on the trailing edges; the inset ailerons are each in two sections and small trailing edge air brakes are featured. The wings are metal-covered as is the semi-monocoque fuselage, in which the forward section tapers to a slimmer rear half carrying the all-metal cantilever ‘butterfly’-type V-tail. The landing gear consists of a non-retractable monowheel faired into the bottom of the fuselage, with a brake that is linked to the air brakes, and a tail bumper.

KAI-14
Span: 49 ft 2.5 in / 15.0 m
Length: 19 ft 1 in / 5.82 m
Wing area: 107.7 sq.ft / 10.0 sq.m
Aspect ratio: 22.5
Max weight: 573 lb / 260 kg
Water ballast: None
Max wing loading: 26.0 kg/sq.m / 5.32 lb/sq ft
Max permissible diving speed: 155 mph / 135 kt / 250 km/h
Max aero-tow speed: 87 mph
Landing speed: 43.5 kt / 80 km/h
Min sinking speed: 1.90 ft/sec / 0.58 m/sec at 56 mph / 48.5 kt / 90 km/h

Kazan Aviation Institute

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Russia
Founded 1939, and since 1951 has manufactured Mil helicopters.
The Kazan Aviation Institute at Kazan on the River Volga, nearly 500 miles east of Moscow, has designed and produced some of Russia’s most notable sailplanes, especially the very advanced KAI-19 high performance all-metal single-seater which, in two-seater form, broke the world’s 300km closed circuit speed record on 1 August 1964, and the KAI-17 training glider.
Own designs are Ansat twin-turboshaft light multipurpose helicopter (first flown 1998) for up to 10 persons, and Aktay three-seat piston helicopter (to fly about year 2000).