USE OF THE YAK-24 HELICOPTER IN CONSTRUCTION WORK.

In the town of Pushkin near Leningrad, work is now proceeding on the restoration of a magnificent monument to the Russian architecture - the Catherine Palace which had been destroyed by the enemy during World War II. In particular, the Great Hall, with a floor space of 900 sq. m., is being restored. A Yak-24 helicopter was used to remove the old wooden trusses from the Great Hall of the Palace and to replace them with metal ones. Within two hours, using steel cables, the Yak-24 helicopter had removed the old girders and installed new ones. During that time 32 wooden roof covering girders each weighing 2.6 tons were dismounted and 11 new metal girders weighing 1.8 tons each were installed. The builders thus accomplished the task of restoring the roof of the Great Hall of the Catherine Palace, and did it five hundred times faster than could have been done by conventional methods. This feat shortened the period for the complete restoration by 45 days.