RuAviation

On 9 August 1996, the first flight of the Be-12P-200 aircraft, a flying laboratory designed to test the fire-fighting system of the Be-200 amphibious aircraft, took place. The machine was lifted into the sky by test pilot Konstantin Babich.

In the mid-90s, TANTK was working on the development of the Be-200 amphibious aircraft, one of the functions of which was to be firefighting. It was decided to work out a new system of fire-fighting equipment, allowing to draw water while gliding at optimum speeds, providing minimum load on the bottom of the aircraft and piping system on the Be-12 anti-submarine amphibious aircraft. The Be-12P-200 flying laboratory helped to solve this complex technical task. The machine was created under the direction of Deputy General Designer of TANK V.F.Ponomarev.

A serial aircraft Be-12 (s/n 8601301) was taken for modification. The work was carried out in TANTK from August 1994 to June 1996. Bomb armament and other anti-submarine equipment were removed from the aircraft, a 4500 litre tank was installed in the cargo compartment, two tanks with a total capacity of 1500 litres were installed in the nose section, a system of water intake from the reservoir and its discharge was installed, and equipment for water refuelling at the airfield was installed. In addition to the water intake equipment, the flying laboratory was equipped with control and measuring equipment, sighting devices for water discharge, and devices for assessing the environment in the fire zone.

When hydroplaning on the water surface at a speed of 120 km/h, it took no more than 50 seconds to fully fill all three tanks, and it could be discharged to fire areas up to 100 kilometres away from the water body.

From August to October 1996, 37 modes of water intake and discharge were performed. The test results confirmed the correctness of the adopted design solutions. The system ensured water intake at glide in just 12-20 seconds and precise discharge to the fire centres. The aircraft was capable of delivering and dropping up to 140 tonnes of water into the forest fire zone during a single fueling. In addition, the Be-12P-200 can provide a barrier to fire spread in windy conditions. And its equipped with a power plant of two AI-20D turboprop engines allows the aircraft to operate in hot climatic conditions at air temperatures up to +45°C.

The Be-12P-200 aircraft was operated in real forest fires in the Irkutsk region, in the areas of Gelendzhik and Yalta, in the Rostov region, Chukotka, Yakutia and Sakhalin. In addition, the aircraft was demonstrated at the MAKS-97 and MAKS-99 air shows, as well as at the Hydroaviasalons in Taganrog.