carr wrote:
I thought I'd share a closer look at the Kirov class flight decks as I came to understand them while working on my 1/350 Trumpeter Kirov.
the three sets of double rails that are used to help guide the helo to the elevator. I don't know whether this incorporates a powered system to pull the helo or just a guide rail. Regardless, note that the center set of rails is actually offset ever so slightly to port. I've got photos from other angles that further confirm this. You can also see the offset by comparing the run of the rail towards the stern and seeing the offset from the centerline flag pole at the stern deck edge. I first noticed this when I wondered whether the center white stripe was painted over the rail. It turns out that the stripe is centered and the rail is offset. Maybe the helo's nose wheel is offset?
Bob,
sorry to re-open a topic that you dealt with so long ago, but as I have been looking into flight deck operations it seems worth posting some information.
The Kamov helicopters have a pair of nose wheels, one of which lines up with the centre track when the centre of the aircraft is over the white centre line on the deck. This photo probably give the best idea of how it all lines up.
Attachment:
Helideck 3.jpg [ 66.85 KiB | Viewed 2240 times ]
I haven't found any pictures of the gear that goes in the track, though there must be something. When the aircraft is pulled to the brink of the elevator there is a short section of the recovery track at an angle, towards the centre of the hangar. You can just see it in the picture. The elevator floor then has some odd features, some also set at nose-wheel width and some at rear-wheel spacing to aid recovery. If you want to see pictures of these please ask and I will post them, though they are already on the thread somewhere.
The outside tracks are apparently used to park helicopters to port and starboard of the elevator doors. These tracks are also offset, so when parking to port it looks as though you need to hook the gear in the track onto the nose wheel on the right hand side of the aircraft. And vice versa if parking up to starboard.