Kamov Ka-26 RA-24231, August 1, 2026, Show Flight at Pervushino, Ufa, Bashkiria, Russia

Raw unedited footage. Camera: Sony PXW-Z90, 4K25p, built-in microphone.

Kamov Ka-26 (NATO codename Hoodlum), tail number RA-24231, performs a show flight at the 20th Russian Aviation Amateurs Meetup at Pervushino Airfield near Ufa, Bashkiria, Russia on August 1st, 2026, at about 16:30 UTC+5. Captain Dinar Shaibakov, first officer Sergey Goncharov.

This machine is named after Rafail Rafikov, Bashkirian Soviet and Russian aviation engineer and manager who played the key role in mass production of Ka-26 at Kumertau Helicopter Factory (KuMAP) in Kumertau, Bashkira, Russia, promotion and export of this aircraft type, and then preservation restoration to airworthy condition of surviving machines as the CEO of TechMontazhServis, Ltd. (ООО «ТехМонтажСервис»).

This specific helicopter was manufactured in 1977, MSN 7706113, for geophyisical surveys. Originally it had a ring antenna around the hull, as well as relevant equipment and a hatch/window in the passenger cabin floor. Only three of "geophys edition" Ka-26 were ever made, none were preserved in this configuration because of technology change and development, and this one is the only surviving among those.

Restored (2018–2022) and operated by TechMontazhServis, Ltd. for civilian and show purposes in passenger configuration.

M-14V26 radial piston engines, while uneconomical in terms of fuel consumption and longevity, and designed to run on SB-78 fuel (a mix of 75% B-70 and 25% of B-91/115 aviation gasolines; can also use A-95 car gasoline and AvGas 100LL), are the main advantage of Ka-26, as they immediately react to the slightest change of thrust and allow for exceptional maneuverability with utmost precision.

The main problem in restoration of Ka-26 are not even engines and instruments but composite rotor blades. Very few of those survived in airworthy condition despite having almost unlimited lifespan by design. TechMontazhServis company intends to manufacture rotor blades to restore more Ka-26s. The distance between rotors is 117 cm.

Ka-26 was designed to have a modular cabin and various configurations: passenger (4 persons comfortably), air ambulance (patient and two medics), crop duster (with sprinkler booms on sides), geophysical survey (with ring antenna around the fuselage and sensor equipment in the back cabin) and flying crane (winch instead of back cabin). A crew of 3 technicians can change configurations in under 2 hours. In total, 816 of Ka-26 were made between 1969 and 1985, 257 of them were exported to East Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries. In the USSR they were used in all configurations both by civilian and military. In Hungary it was used mostly for crop dusting, in Bulgaria for police and passenger flights, in Germany for police. As well, Ka-26 was the first Soviet helicopter to be certified according to the US FAR-29 (in 1969).

This model was later developed into, first, Ka-126 (single TV-O-100 720 h.p. gas turbine engine; 3 prototypes were made in Russia and 12 serial in Romania at IAR factory in Brašov, 1989–1991) and then Ka-226 (dual Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20R/2 gas turbine engines, 269 were made since 1998; since 2020 being redeveloped for VK-650V engines) Ka-226 in various modifications is in production as of 2026.

Caption by Ignat Solovey, no AI used.